The topic says it all.
I’m considering starting my season after a block of gym and easy rides with a pure vo2 block. 6 weeks, 2 on-1 rest, 2 workouts a week.
After that, a 8-week SST getting into FTP, working on TTE and the regular progression with a vo2 every once in a while for maintenance.
Am I doing it very wrongly, or would that be ok?
The biggest question is the reason for a VO2 block in the first place.
1st they’re short, 45min and I’m done. I’ll be limited in time and weather. Can go outside only about April. I should add, I don’t like indoor training. I’ll do fatbike, but it’s hard to rely only on a fatbike for base. There’s still the time issue.
2nd, never done it, I’d like to see what would be the result
But, if that is too stupid, I’d go for a more regular approach.
Definitely wouldn’t recommend a VO2 block in that case.
I’m in the same boat regarding weather - we’re holding onto the last bits of warmth, and I probably have less than a week of comfortable road riding, and a month of gravel riding, before switching to trainer and eventually adding fat biking. You can still add a VO2, threshold or SS (2x25 to 1x45 with short w/u) ride into your week, I just wouldn’t start with a VO2 block without a good reason.
This is commonly referred to as “reverse periodization”. Focus on short, high intensity efforts over the winter to increase VO2 and then add in mileage and endurance once the weather warms up.
It can be a sound strategy for long, endurance events. The idea is that you add more specificity in your workouts as you approach your goal race(s) for the year.
It was brought up by my coach last year. Start intense, and short, as you don’t like indoor, do some fatbike as endurance, and build endurance once you can go outside.
Exactly the same boat. The weather isn’t bad, it’s doable until November - really cold, but doable. The problem is that there’s no daylight, so I’m restricted to weekends.
Well, the reason is: I’ll start studying for a CPA certification, I have my daughter in shared custody week on week off, so I won’t have much time. This, associated with the “dislike” of indoor training. I can do a 45min session at 6:00am, and still have time to get her ready for school, and study at night. 2 sessions a week, Monday and Friday to have lots of time to recover. Then, some fatbike when possible. Putting about 3 to 5 hours.
Joe Friel and many other coaches nowadays recommend a VO2 workout every 7 to 10 days when you reach the age of 50 and beyond. All year round.
VO2 max, a measure of cardiorespiratory fitness, is a strong predictor of longevity and can help assess the risk of early death from illnesses like heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.
4 weeks out of 5 doing VO2s might be a reach if you’re doing them all out / max repeatable (as you very probably should be)
You might be better served doing 3 per week for three weeks - while being prepared to bail out early in week 3 if you need to.
Even though I have no major time constraints, and I enjoy indoor interval workouts (but not the endurance ones, hell no), I’ve been thinking a lot about trying the reverse periodization approach for the next season. I just feel like this concept will work well for me. Will it, though? I don’t know. The biggest issue here for me is the lack of such training plans in TR. That would mean I’ll have to spend some time crafting my training plans. I certainly can do that, but I’d rather spend that time riding my bike 
I haven’t decided yet.
With that being said, I’m extremely curious to see how this approach worked (or didn’t) for others.
I’m actually flirting with the same idea and today I actually found this from Friel 2013.
Starting with vo2 and then doing volume might not actually be “reverse” but regular periodisation if the target event requires a deep aerobic base over long hours.
After trying several times the classic base and then build phases, I’m not sure one can build such a proper base indoor during winter and limited, if any, outdoor rides.
If I lived or spent winter in southern spain probably my approach would be quite different.
Which is probably the case for the most typical TR user…
you guys got it. @mirlord @jz91
it’s short sessions, done and dusted. I don’t have races, my goal is the World Wednesdays which only starts about May and goes to a wrap in early September. So No “A” event to be fit for.
Yes, I was thinking of going back to TR for the practical side of it, but I can do it all on my Garmin, to be honest. Building the workout on intervals.icu takes 30 seconds, it shows on my Garmin and is ready to roll.
Eventually, I’ll be back on Zwift for some group rides, I know this day will come hehehe.
Correct…the term “reverse periodization” is a misnomer. Any such plan is a periodization plan and the idea is to match your workouts to your targeted performance goals the closer you get to the event.
It is commonly called “reverse” because these plans flip the traditional off-season focus from endurance rides to intensity rides. But the term really isn’t accurate…