VO2 Bike
Just curious how you all do your VO2 work?
Do you change your cadence and stay in the same gear or change gears and stay the same cadence?
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Just curious how you all do your VO2 work?
Do you change your cadence and stay in the same gear or change gears and stay the same cadence?
Comments
Short answer - I vary it --- across the intervals, but not within.
Long answer - For the first interval, I find the gear that is closest to my 'natural cadence.' By that I mean the gear that lets me spin my legs as close to 90ish rpm; as that is what I gravitate towards if I am not chasing a certain power/HR. After the first set of VO2 work (or FTP for that matter), I usually do a one-up or one-down for subsequent sets. I do that so that I can learn to produce constant, steady power at varying cadences.
For VO2 work, I sometimes can't go one-up as I find it near impossible to hit 120% when I am spinning greater than 100rpm. But equally important is the low-cadence work. As you learn to climb hills "the EN way" of constant power, you might find yourself down at 70 or even 60 rpm depending on what gears you have available. My very first Race Rehearsal (with a power meter) had some hills in it. It was a rude awakening to realize that I had to be at a cadence of 60, in Granny Gear, in order to not be pushing too many watts. (which, by the way, taught me that I had been over-doing the hills *big time* prior to getting my power meter...but that is for another thread....)
The reason I do the VO2 max at a higher rpm is that I want to get to the VO2 max work as fast as I can (for me, more rpm comes at a higher aerobic cost).
I'm with Peter: I have my wattage and interval timing pre-set via my ComputTrainer, and I will spin up in the last 10 sec or so of the recovery phase, getting to 94+/- rpm for the work interval. I find I can hold the effort better by spinning rather than grinding.
Using the TrainerRoad Platform...which graphically highlights the target Power and Interval time... I've been playing around with both Gears and Cadence...within a 2-3 gear range and cadence ranging from 80-85 in lower gear to 90-95 up to 100-110 in highest of the range...alternating throughout the workout (not within an interval) ....I like the variation.
FWIW, I usually do all my work at FTP or below around 88 RPMs but I do my VO2 work at about 78 RPMs. I shift down two gears from where I do FTP and just focus on pushing a big gear a little slower but hitting my 120% number.
Guess everyone is different. That'd kill my power! I do about 90 cad for FTP and 92-95 for VO2. Self selected.
Some interesting responses. Not so much related specifically to VO2 work, but cadence in general. Think I'll start another discussion --> HERE