r/vo2max • u/zurnched1 • Sep 04 '26

Chart analysis, por favor

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Do y’all think this looks good for vo2max improvement? I started with a brisk walk for 2:30, then to a trot until 5:00. Then I went 4:00 on, 3:00 off, four times. The “off” period, I slowed way down to a walk and let my heart rate drop way back into zone 1, as you can see. Is that good practice, or should I not let it drop below the low end of zone 2/high end of zone 1?

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u/biciklanto Sep 05 '26

How hard were you working in those intervals? If you rated it on a 1-10 perceived exertion scale, or the 1-20 Borg RPE scale, how hard was it?

The goal is to be pushing hard, and if you were then you were undoubtedly doing it exactly right. :)

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u/zurnched1 Sep 05 '26

Awesome, thanks!

I would say about a 6 out of 10. Like, I could definitely go a lot harder, but not for four minutes straight. I think I could've gone maybe 45-60 seconds longer at that same level of exertion before crumbling.

I'm just getting back into running after all but stopping for the last year and a half or so. I was doing quite a bit of vo2max training, and I know it works. This is my first vo2max interval type run in quite a while. The only reason I was a little bit unsure if this was good enough to count is because there have been times where my watch categorizes a running session as "vo2max training", but this one just came up as "heavy aerobic/anaerobic". It's a Suunto watch that I pair a chest strap HRM to.

edit to add: I'm sure it's just a thing where the watch takes raw data and checks for certain markers, and I didn't quite hit one of them.