Wednesday 10th January, 2024
VO2 Max
This workout will increase your VO2 max and reduce your chances dying.
Warm up/ Tissue prep/ Core
3 mins of gentle cardio pulse raiser, use the same modality you are going to use in the workout.
Core:
McGill Sit up 5-30 seconds x 4 hand/ leg combinations
Side plank max duration e/s, scale to use your knee if needed
Bird dogs x 10
Have a stretch
Jump back on the cardio and build up to zone 3-4 for a couple of minutes. Building up here makes it easier to get to zone 5 quickly when you start your max intervals.
Main Effort, VO2 max builder
4 minutes of Zone 5 as hard as you can go, 4 minutes recovery.
The first round is the worst. Keep going!
Scaling:
Small: 1-2 rounds.
Medium 2-3 rounds.
Large 4-5 rounds – this is the recommended minimum
XL 6 rounds
If you do fewer than 6 rounds, consider dropping intensity to Zone 2-3 for the remainder of this 48 minute workout if you are not able to do all
Top tip: Find a friend to suffer with.
You can build VO2 Max either by hanging out in Zone 2 for ages, or by going as hard as you can for a few minutes. Going hard like we are today increases the number of the mitochondria (small organelles responsible for generating power in a cell) and therefore your peak power while using fat as a fuel. .
E.g. You have a higher power output and keep going for ages because you won't run out of fat any time soon.
We work on both Zone 2 and Zone 5 to increase your VO2 max because your aerobic capacity is the No1 predictor of all cause mortality and fairly easy to influence.
Photo by Jon Tyson via UpSplash