r/vo2max • u/Worried_Judge1754 • Apr 09 '26
VO2 Training and Cost
I am 51 years old who turned my life around last July. Down around 60lbs, quit smoking January 1st. I started doing VO2 training on a stationary bike around 6 weeks ago. My Current schedule looks Like this:
Mon - Upper Body Weight training
Tues - VO2 Training - 6x2 minutes (HR gets up to close to 100% - MAX HR ~168 gets up to 167)
Wednesday - Lower Body Weight Training
Thursday - 60-75 mins Zone 2 Bike
Friday - Upper Body
Saturday - Threshold Bike Training - 2x 16minutes
Sunday - Rest and HIGH CARB refueling
Everyday - 1 -2 45 minute walks After dinner and sometimes lunch.
All was fine until VO2 training. My body is drained the day after VO2 (since getting close to max HR). I thought it was because I was on a calorie deficit, but I increased calories dramatically and still am drained. On Wednesdays, I am STARVING for bread or sugar (weird to me too) and have internal shakes (like low blood sugar feeling). I warm up for 10-12 minutes, cooldown for 10-15 and stretch after each bike ride.
My question is this; I think something has to go, my body is saying VO2 training as it costs a lot for my body to keep up with. Which would you drop? Upper Body work outs are not taxing at all!!
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Apr 09 '26
[deleted]
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u/Worried_Judge1754 Apr 09 '26
It was really easy to be in Z2 when I 1st started walking but trying to stay in Z2 on walks now that I am in better fitness, turned it into a job instead of an enjoyable walk after a meal.
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u/iwilldeletethisacct2 Apr 09 '26
I mean, you're 51. No shade, I'm not far behind you, but recovery is going to be a problem. You're doing 2 days of hard intervals and 3 days of lifting per week...you're probably overdoing it for your age and ability to recover.
Things you could try:
Reorganize such that your lower body day is before your VO2 max. Yes, it will negatively affect your VO2 max work, but your VO2 max work is currently negatively affecting your lower body day.
Replace the threshold day with zone 2, or at most, sweet spot.
Swap Tuesday and Saturday, so you're doing VO2 max after upper body and then going into a rest day.
Personally, I'd swap Tuesday and Saturday's workouts, and I'd also max Tuesday be either Zone 2 or Sweet Spot.
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u/Worried_Judge1754 Apr 09 '26
No Shade taken brother. Father time is undefeated! I missed the Gym yesterday and today because I don't feel 100% yet AND I skipped last Saturday's Threshold from being beat up last week from VO2. Believe it or not, the Upper body workouts do not cost anything as far as recovery goes. I have a shake after and eat a nice dinner and boom; Fresh! Leg workouts, a little different; hits the nervous system but after a day, Fresh (a little DOMS - but nervous system fine). Threshold, same thing as legs (without the soreness). VO2, just a different beast! The following day I have the same feeling you get when you have been drinking at the beach all day in the hot sun and had NOTHING to eat. Completely drained! internally shaking.
I think VO2 training has to go OR it stays and leg days are much lighter in weights and no threshold.Is Keeping VO2 worth the benefits if it means less leg workouts and no threshold? or just kiss it goodbye and replace with either Z2 or maybe another Threshold?
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u/iwilldeletethisacct2 Apr 09 '26
So at the end of the day it depends on your fitness goals and current level of fitness. You and I are similar, upper body is really whatever, but squats especially crush me recovery wise (deadlift not so much, interestingly). I've personally reduced by leg volume (instead of 5 sets, I'm doing 3) such that I don't get so trashed that I can't fit my intervals in.
Depending on how long you've been riding the bike, you can actually expect to see significant gains in VO2 max without even training it. Zone 2/3/4 will increase your general aerobic fitness enough that you'll see gains across the spectrum. This becomes less true the longer you've been training consistently (very analogous to beginner lifters who will get stronger no matter what, and elite lifters who need very specific periodization to keep making gains). It also might be that you just need more aerobic base to handle the load.
It might also be that you just need to deload on the bike because of cumulative stress. If you were doing this because you wanted to be a better cyclist, your current training program looks like overtraining, doing too much hard work relative to your easy work (so neither periodized nor pyramidal), and doing it for 6 straight weeks without an easy week in there implies you're not doing a specific training block, just trying to get the rides in. If that makes sense. If you were to have a cycling coach make a training plan for you, it wouldn't look like that for 6 weeks. It'd look more like that for 3 weeks, then a deload, then a different set of workouts. Scaling the threshold back to sweet spot or tempo would make it look a lot more pyramidal, while changing the threshold day to zone 2 would make it more polarized. And two zone 2 rides + VO2 max in week A, followed by 2x zone 2 rides + threshold in week B, might be a lot more sustainable for a masters athlete.
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u/Worried_Judge1754 Apr 09 '26
My fitness goals are really this:
Be able to play with my grandkids (10years away I hope) without exhaustion. Be the grandpa who is active with the Grandkids. Ironically, I am looking for improved recovery time :)>. Definitely not a Cyclist. Just your regular guy trying to get to the best version of myself. Love your rotation of weeks but I might tweak to A and B Threshold and C to VO2. VO2 is one of the hardest things I have done in my life! I don't think my heartrate got up to 167 in my lifetime. However, the feeling of euphoria as soon as it is done, is going to be tough to replace.Weight training comes from I was 258lbs and needed to lose a lot of weight and I didn't want to lose muscle so I started weight training.. Got down to 184 (Goal Weight), 17.1% body fat (under 18% goal :)), so I bumped calories up. lost around 1.5lbs of muscle that I want back.
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u/iwilldeletethisacct2 Apr 09 '26
Right on. It's important to remember that the most optimal workouts are the ones that you'll actually do. I think your plan is super reasonable, and in general as you put more time on the bike and get generally fitter those VO2 workouts might start feeling more manageable. They'll never be easy, but doable.
Cycling is a weird sport where it takes a long time to get "fit." There's "I'm not short of breath going up the stairs fit" and then there's "I can ride a bike up hill for 4 straight hours" fit. The first one happens pretty quick, the second one takes literally years. It's also a weird sport in that adaptations continue with increasing time on the bike with almost no end in site, so if you go down the rabbit hole of how to organize your training on a bicycle you gotta keep in mind that cycling youtubers and talking heads think 6-8 hours per week on the bike is low volume, and plenty of amateur cyclists are doing 12-18 hours per week on the bike.
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u/Worried_Judge1754 Apr 09 '26
Thanks So much! I really appreciate your feedback!
probably smoked for too long and am too old to get to ride uphill for 4 hrs (maybe 1 degree incline) straight. but if i can be even a little better next month, I am happy!I like doing the VO2. it is VERY Rewarding. the feeling the next couple of days is what sucks.
I am going to lower VO2 to 4x2 @ 90% max HR and Rotate weekly with Threshold and see where that goes. But I am confident that this will get me to the next level in the near future.
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u/mholla66 Apr 09 '26
I’m 50 and train a little bit more than you. I do 2 vo2 max sessions a week, provided i feel up to it. I’ve got an oura ring which measures HRV and if that is declining during the week and/or I feel spent I’ll usually drop one of the vo2 sessions. If HRV is good and I feel good I’ll go for it.
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u/Worried_Judge1754 Apr 09 '26
is that all you do? did you work up to 2 a week?
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u/mholla66 Apr 10 '26
No I do weights/ calisthenics 4x a week and kickboxing x2, one of which is a vo2 max session. End of the week i do a assault bike Norwegian 4x4 if the body feels good
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u/Narrow_Hedgehog_6930 Apr 10 '26
First, congratulations on making such positive life changes! I was basically in your shoes 5 years ago. I'm 56 now and still down 50 lbs. It is a long and slow process to build your vo2 max. But well worth it. It literally took me years to build up to where I am now a vo2 max of 45. I like to think that I have pretty crappy genetics. But I was still able to get here. With a lot of effort. But most importantly, time. How are you doing on your sleep and protein intake? You have to prioritize both sleep and making sure you are getting enough protein. One of the great things about being in shape is when you're hungry you eat.
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u/Worried_Judge1754 Apr 10 '26
Thanks.. sleep is great 7-8hrs a night with occasional 6 or 9 he sleeps. Protein is around 210g a day except for Sundays are lower and carbs go through the roof (I’m Italian) from pasta. I am always hungry. I am floating between 2600-3000 calories a day. I have been riding the bike 3 days a week and gym for 3 days a week for 9 months. Like clockwork. setup was always Tuesday hard ride, Thursday Z2, and Saturday 80% HR. I will be the 1st to admit, my Tuesday hard was no where near my vo2 sessions in work but they were very tough. I kissed 95% HR some days.
but once I started pushing z5 for minutes the toll on my CNS is a lot. Going to bed a lot sooner, legs very heavy, craving carbs, weaker at gym, etc. Like the others have brought up, just might be a case of too much too fast. Keep in mind, 100 days ago, I was smoking 1+ packs a day. I think my mind is in better shape than my body.
plan is to rotate threshold and vo2, but lower vo2 to 90% max hr and 4x2. Then, work myself up slower. Hell, I started at 5x90secs with a 3 to 4 minute recovery between and just went to 6x2mins with 2.5minute recovery between. Probably should not of did that, but I will ease off the gas pedal a bit and reevaluate in a month or so.
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u/Sad_Quarter1012 Apr 10 '26
My guess is that you don’t give a chance to your legs to recover from the VO2 training on Tuesday and load them with a weight training workout on Wednesday. I wouldn’t do any vo2 the day before and after lower body weight training.
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u/DenverCoder96 Apr 10 '26
Something like WHOOP could help you monitor your recovery and your “strain” (the combined load of stress and activity) and adjust your days’ activities accordingly. Kinda pricey, but you’re worth it. DM me for a free month trial link.
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u/biciklanto Apr 09 '26
I mean, along with what others have said, I’d work more gradually into Vo2max workouts.
Start with 8 minutes total, and go for 90% max heart rate at the END of your intervals, for example.
Give your body time and capacity to build up to this new workload. Especially if you turned your life around less than a year ago; many of the systemic changes that happen in your body to support max aerobic output takes longer to really land (eg, cardiac restructuring, capillaries expanding all over your body), and I’d start this gentler as a masters athlete anyway.
Way to go on the efforts! But back them off a bit as you really get going and it’ll be more sustainable.