VO2 Max
This workout will increase your VO2 max and reduce your chances dying.
Warm up/ Tissue prep:
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!
Top tips:
– Find a friend to suffer with -)
– Use a HRM so you stay in your target zone, it is hard to push yourself hard enough to get into Z5, it becomes possible when you see yourself slacking off. A chest strap on your HRM permits you to take your watch off and put it somewhere you can see it the whole time.
– Start with one or two rounds and add an extra round each week until you are doing all 6
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. One increases the number of mitochondria (small organelles responsible for generating power in a cell), going hard like we are today increases the output of the mitochondria and therefore your peak power while using fat as a fuel, meaning you can perform at a higher power output and still go 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.
Scaling:
Small: 1-2 rounds.
Medium 2-3 rounds.
Large 4-5 rounds
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
Photo by Massimo Sartirana on Unsplash