VO2max Intervals
75 min · 63-76 TSS · IF 0.74 · 105-120% FTP · Zone 5+ (VO2max)
What this workout does
The hardest efforts that deliver the biggest aerobic gains. These 4-minute intervals push your oxygen delivery system to its maximum.
Four-minute repeats hold you near maximal oxygen uptake long enough to stress the heart's stroke volume and drive it upward. That raises the aerobic ceiling that ultimately caps your FTP. One or two sessions a week in a build block is plenty - schedule them on fresh legs and follow with easy days.
How to ride it
Indoor / trainer
Warm up 20min. 5x4min at 105-115% FTP with 4min easy between. Cool down 15min. Don't start too hard — pace to survive all 5.
Outside
Use a steady 4-6min climb or a flat road with no junctions. Ride each rep at 105-115% FTP - breathing deep and rhythmic, only a word or two possible - and spin easy between. Pace rep one to survive rep five.
Workout structure (75 min)
- Warm-up 20m 55% 5x - Effort 4m 110% - 4m 55% - Cool-down 15m 55%
Targets are a percentage of FTP. This is the same shorthand the free workout builder understands — paste it there to edit any step, or download the workout for Zwift, Garmin or any smart trainer.
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