Part XII · Cycling workouts
VO2max Ride: Raising the Ceiling, Off Your Feet
Four-minute hard intervals on the bike, and why the rep is that long.
Workout at a glance
VO₂max · Aerobic ceiling, peak oxygen uptake
50–64 min
- 01
Warmup
Breathe in and out through your nose
You could keep this up for hours
15 min
HR 62–76% · RPE 3/10
- 02
Intervals
In and out through your mouth
You could hold this for a few minutes
3 min recovery · easy spin
4–6 × 4 min
HR 89–96% · RPE 8/10
- 03
Cooldown
Breathe in and out through your nose
You could keep this up for hours
10 min
HR 62–76% · RPE 3/10
The lesson
- 01
VO2max is your ceiling
The most oxygen your body can take in and use in a minute. Lifting it makes threshold cheaper and everything below it more comfortable.
- 02
Ride 4-minute reps
Four to six of them. Your oxygen uptake climbs slowly on a bike, so a shorter rep gives too little time near the ceiling.
- 03
Spin easy for 3 minutes
Not a full recovery. If your heart rate falls all the way back, the next rep starts from the bottom again.
- 04
Spin at 95 to 105 rpm
Faster than anything else you ride. A high cadence puts the load on your heart and lungs rather than your legs.
- 05
Heart rate 89 to 96%
That is 89 to 96% of your maximum, lower than on a run because every bike band sits lower. RPE 8. Chase your running numbers and rep four falls apart.
- 06
Find four clear minutes
A long quiet road, a closed loop or a trainer. A junction mid-rep ends the rep.
- 07
It still takes recovering from
It is easy on the legs but hard on the rest of you.
Demonstration coming soon