@WindWarrior … thank for the insight. I agree, I did the SSBHV I and II, build and seem to have lost fitness last winter as I came into spring… I am thinking more about “doing my own thing”. Looking back at 2021 to see what did work… coming out of strictly TR plans last winter 2022/2023, I was a lot less fitness than the year before.
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My performance is better when doing intensity all year.
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Here you go
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Yes that was it. I could only find Rønnestad’s article about vo2 maintenance in football players 
Not sure what thread but I think a post from @kurt.braeckel mentioned success from his masters athletes that did at least one VO2 every two weeks in the off season. Not sure what kind of VO2 (30-30s, longer reps) or if it even matters.
This. When I go into maintenance I roughly halve the volume but maintain frequency and intensity. I’ve found this is enough to maintain fitness and then when I’m ready to commence building fitness again I start applying progressive overload and recovery again etc.
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In my view as a masters athlete, maintenance needs to include high intensity. I’m another master (57) who does VO2 max intervals year round.
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I’d love to know your frequency, protocol, etc., especially during base season. What workouts? 30/30 type work? Or 5x5 type work? Or both?
Will you reduce TiZ during base season vs. when building?
I’m 49, and I struggle with year round vo2 because I do a TON of tempo work during base, as well as incorporating strength work 2x weekly … so I’m always recovering from something. Vo2 works seems like I’d be flying to close to the sun with the other work lol.
Always interested in how other balance it all. In some ways, I think a build into a race or event is easier than base season because it has a singular focus…
The frequency is easy, once a week and it’s usually a Tuesday with Monday being a rest day.
Protocols is a mix. I might do one protocol for a block of a few weeks, then I’ll switch.
I am a fan of doing my structured workouts outside if I can. Living in England that’s generally possible year round with the odd days and weeks when VO2 max needs to be indoors.
I have a local hill, grade 6.2% which I use for 3.5 min to 4 min VO2 max. Protocol is hard start and hang on. The first hill repeat usually gives me a feel for what I might be capable of managing in subsequent repeats. Recovery is brief break at top to drink a carb solution, or snack on something, then roll down hill and repeat.
Number of repeats can vary from 2 to 8 typically.
Once it gets below a certain temp I find VO2 max outdoors can see me develop a cough from the dry air. I then switch to indoors.
Indoors I do 30 / 30s or 40 / 20s in resistance mode and feel my way into what I can sustain over number of intervals per set and number of sets. Number of sets generally varies from 3 to 6, and number of intervals per set from 7 to 10.
You’ll see that the VO2 max work varies from about 7-8 minutes to 25-32 mins cumulative depending on where I am in my season and training cycles etc.
The next day is usually a shorter Z2 or a Z3 Strength Endurance session.
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Yes, during build I usually include Threshold on a Friday. During base I make Friday a recovery or rest day ahead of a Saturday long Z2 day.
If you were to characterise my TID it’s pyramidal. It was Polarised for a while, but I’ve settled In pyramidal as I like the variety of workouts that puts at my disposal which has led to better consistency and results.
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For future sake here is a free version of the full test article mentioned…
@GoLongThenGoHome , I REALLY appreciate your insight here. I will move to SSBMV and add my own to fill in.
Here is a link to an article about 30/30 intervals…
AND if you want to try 30/30 intervals trainer road has a series of workouts called “Sleeping Beauty”… From Sleeping Beauty -5 to Sleeping Beauty +8
Sleeping Beauty -5 - TrainerRoad
to
Yeah depends on the person but I strongly favor things like 5x3, 4x4, etc. around 115-125% depending on the person again. The two oldest gentlemen I coach are a 70+ and another 65+ both with long histories of volume and racing. I have them do a set like that every other week right now, maintenance. Both ride 12+ hrs per week.
In season building, we’ll do it more often, weekly. I did have the younger do a full VO2 block last year, and he responded, but not like the younger guys. Then I got similar gains from the 70+ just doing it once a week and now I don’t do focused blocks for those guys like I do with younger people. I just don’t think it’s worth the fatigue cost for older athletes when you can see similar gains other ways.
Both won the races they cared about this year, with one or two exceptions where the 70+ was second, so the results speak for themselves.
With older guys without the background these two have, I would do a lower volume (fewer reps, maybe cap at 3min?) of the intensity, but these guys can handle it.
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Hey there!
The answer to your question depends on what you would consider your top priority to be for the coming season. It’s not possible to be at peak fitness year-round, and at certain points in the year, your top-end fitness needs to come down a bit so you can build it back – and ideally up to a higher peak than it was previously!
If you’re in the Northern Hemisphere going into winter now, getting into an SSB plan would probably be the best path to follow. You’ll continue to grow your aerobic base that you’ll need in order to build that “punch” you’re looking for on top of your base fitness later on in the season.
If the indoor racing in January you do isn’t an “A-priority” series of races, I wouldn’t worry about being in peak shape for those. Consider them to be training races and remember the old endurance sports adage, “Winter heroes become summer zeroes.” – in other words, you don’t want to be flying in January just to burn out in the spring/summer if you have other, higher-priority events lined up.
As you progress through your plan, remember that you’ll gradually build up your intensity again with more race-specific efforts incorporated into your training as you get nearer to your A race for the season.
So consider what race is most important to you next year, and then count back from that date to make sure you can get in a Base phase, Build phase, and Specialty phase over that amount of time. Additionally, if you haven’t taken 1-2 weeks totally OFF to rest and recover after a full season of riding, make sure to do that too – your body will thank you and you’ll come back stronger than before!