The level of cycling at the top of triathlon is pretty impressive. Cam Wurf really proved triathletes had bike legs when he was racing on both the IRONMAN circuit and for the INEOS Grenadiers WorldTour cycling team. Paula Findlay has repeatedly beaten WorldTour riders to take the Canadian national time trial title, and Taylor Knibb competed in the individual time trial at the Paris Olympics. It’s not surprising anymore to see top pros jump into WorldTour training camps (Georgia Taylor Brown and Laura Philipp, for starters), and who can forget the almost career change of Kristian Blummenfelt. In other words, there is already quite a lot of crossover between triathlon cycling and road cycling so, when it came to finding a diabolical suffer fest, we picked a deceptively demonic classic.
Some triathletes may have already encountered this standard cycling workout. It’s nothing new and, frankly, it doesn’t look like much on the page—but beware. When done correctly, it should bring you to your knees and make you question your entire life.
A Dreadful Classic
“The workout that all of my athletes dread the most, including myself, but also get the most out of, is the traditional 6 x 4 min VO2 w/ 4 min recovery,” says coach Jesse Moore. Along with over twenty years of coaching experience, Moore raced as a domestic pro in the USA and then did a short stint on the pro 70.3 circuit. He’s coached all levels of cyclists, including Dauphine winner Andrew Talansky (USA, Team Garmin/Sharp) and former US junior road race champion and current gravel racer Cole Davis. He also coaches triathletes from age groupers to pro, where his depth of cycling knowledge and experience influences his methodology—which is why he gives both cyclists and triathletes this dreaded classic.
“There have been lots of creative and effective HIIT ways to short-cut the physiological benefits of this old school suffer fest, but what they all miss is the mental toughness that comes out of not having the break from the psychological and panic-inducing pressure of having to hold that power, HR, and effort for four straight minutes with limited rest,” Moore explains. “All systems are maxed out, and learning how to manage the out-of-control feeling that tries to take hold is often the difference maker in real race selections.”
A Psychological Battleground
The psychological stress and mental toughness required is why this workout made the final cut for our series. While it looks somewhat innocent on paper, when performed correctly, it should push you to the brink physically, but also mentally.
“It’s a pure psychological battleground,” Moore says. “From the moment of dread when it shows up on the workout calendar, the self-doubt, phantom niggles or poor feelings during the warm-up, to the focus required to take them one at a time and not become overwhelmed by the totality of the task in front of you. It’s all pure gold come race day.”
Almost more than the physical execution of the workout, Moore evaluates the emotional reaction from his athletes–and they don’t hold back.
“There’s a lot of cursing attached to my name on these days,” Moore jokes. “Athlete comments revolve around a lot of self-talk, negotiations with oneself about the size of the pizza they get to have if they just do one more, or selling their first born child if they could skip the last two.”
But that’s exactly what he is looking for.
“Racing is hard, and managing one’s head before, during, and after is critical. You can only learn how to do that under real pressure, and this workout provides that opportunity to practice outside of a racing context,” he says. “To have calloused your mind against the stone this workout provides is often the difference maker between who says yes and who says no to that internal question when the moment of selection comes.”
The Workout: 6 x 4 minutes VO2
After a comprehensive warm-up, such as 30 minutes of easy riding with some short 20-60 second high intensity efforts to prepare the body, choose a stretch of road, either flat or on a hill, where you won’t be interrupted. If you don’t have a power meter, use Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) as your guide. If you have a power meter and train with power zones, use power as your primary metric (in conjunction with RPE). Heart rate isn’t useful here since it won’t respond in time. Your RPE on a scale of 1-10 should be 9-10—yes, it should feel incredibly hard, like you can’t possibly hold the power for the entire effort or session.
Ensure you are appropriately fueled. While the session is short, it is very demanding on the energy system. High octane power requires high octane fuel. A gel in the final parts of the warm-up, for example, is a great strategy if you’re used to using gels.
VO2’s To Make You Cry
Warm up: 20-30 minutes easy with 4 x 1 minute progressive 1-4 to 80%. Finish with 4 x 15″ sprints with 1-2 minutes in between.
6 x 4 minutes VO2 with 4 minutes rest
Warm down for 20-30 minutes, easy.
A word of caution: don’t start too hard. While the goal here is to sustain the maximum amount of power for the four minutes and across the entire session, sustained is the key word. Don’t start with a maximal sprint and taper off during the four minutes. Likewise, don’t smash the first 1-2 efforts and have the rest be mediocre. Rather start at a 9 RPE and build into maximal. A good way to approach the first effort is to perform it completely seated. Remember, this session should make you want to cry so it’s not for the faint of heart, head, or legs, but a modicum of control is necessary.
The rest can be as easy as you need. A quick unclip of 5-15 seconds is okay and soft pedaling is allowed. If you’re on a hill, an easy roll back down spinning the legs is perfect. However, make sure you do move your legs a little bit so they don’t tighten up.
When you’ve completed the efforts, ensure you do a full warm down of at least 20-30 minutes to calm the nervous system—and thank the universe that you’re still alive.
If you aren’t melting from the inside and having an existential crisis, you didn’t do it right. Got something harder? Let us know.