MiRoBu wrote:
Wanted to revisit this after I started more structured training on the bike recently (and bought a fan) My Vo2 Max is currently 62 on the bike when back in September it was 55.
I’ve decreased running volume slightly and stopped intervals and it’s down to 58.
I’ve only ever hit 62 on running for a short period when I was in great shape but the way my rides are trending I expect to keep improving on the bike.
Would a nagging knee injury keep me from having my run reach potential high ? I feel great after workouts on the bike and always feel like garbage after a workout on a run.
Garmin's estimates of VO2max are far too variable to be meaningful. Retention of high fitness, especially when doing multiple training modes as in triathlon, is much easier than Garmin's rapid drops in reported VO2max often reflect.
That is, if you cease running but hammer cycling volume and intensity, your VO2max isn't going to go down much at all, even in running, if we were to test it in a lab. Changes in VO2max are not nearly as transient or volatile as Garmin's algorithms seem to think, for most triathletes with more than a couple years of training history.
The Garmin algorithms are too short-term and often ignore years of training history that might influence fitness retention, or rates of fitness reduction, during times of reduced training volume or intensity.
The Garmin algorithms also seem to overlook or underemphasize that the volume or intensity required for fitness maintenance is far lower than the volume and intensity required for fitness improvement. Just because you've dropped to fitness maintenance volume or intensity doesn't mean that all of sudden the algorithm should have your VO2max estimate falling out of the sky. Nonsense.
All that said, I have not yet developed a better system than Garmin so I think it's neat that they've created said algorithms. I just would hesitate to put any weight in those estimates, when it comes to my own training decision-making.
Dr. Alex Harrison | Founder & CEO | Sport Physiology & Performance PhD
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