Subject: RE: Physiology of hard supra-threshold intervals
That is why for VO2 max. intervals (Daniels "I" pace) should last around 5 minutes. It allows your HR to "catch up" and sustain at the level you are trying to enhance.
Except that the HR is only a reflection of the effort you are using. Doing VO2 Max Pace/Level 5 Power/Zone 5a Friel HR intervals like Billat's 30/30s (30 sec VO2 pace/effort/pwr, 30 sec recovery ) repeat until you can no longer hold the pwr/effort, increases Vo2, while minimizing risk of injury and mental fatigue from doing longer VO2 intervals. And is therefore a great way to introduce V02 max training to those people who are new to it.
So while your HR may just be catchign up, you can still do Billat's microintervals using RPE, or simply being aware that your HR may only catch up to the "zone" by the end of the interval.
As a comparision, in the same way that your Threshold Power is related to (or defined by ) your power output in a 60 minute time trial, VO2 Max power is closely correlated with your 5 min max power.
But just like we don't always need to do 1 hour intervals at threshold to improve our theshold power, you don't need to do VO2 intervals for a full 5 minutes to improve your VO2. It's the intensity that is important, as well as the total time accumulated at that intensity.
There are just a lot of ways to slice the pie, so be creative in how you structure your intervals.
Fred, awesome image posted, thanks for the discussion. Edited by AdventureBear 2009-01-14 11:45 PM
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