VO₂ max is a fancy way of saying how much oxygen your body can use when you’re working really hard.
Oxygen is fuel for your muscles. The more oxygen you can take in, move through your body, and use, the longer and stronger you can perform.
Think of your body like a car:
- Your lungs bring oxygen in
- Your heart pumps oxygen-rich blood
- Your muscles use that oxygen to make energy
VO₂ max training works on all three at once. That’s why it’s so powerful & beneficial for all athletes.
When you do short, hard intervals:
- You breathe faster and deeper → lungs get stronger
- Your heart pumps more blood each beat
- Your muscles get better at using oxygen
Over time, your whole system becomes more efficient.
A Stronger Heart = A More Powerful You!
One big change from VO₂ max training happens in your heart.
- Pump more blood each beat
- Send oxygen to your muscles faster
So at race pace, your heart doesn’t have to work as hard.
- Long rides feel smoother
- Long runs feel steadier
- Fatigue shows up later in races
In simple terms: you can go the same speed with less effort.
Your Muscles Make Energy Better
Inside your muscles are tiny “power plants” called mitochondria. They turn oxygen and fuel into energy.
VO₂ max training helps you:
- Build more mitochondria
- Make them work faster
- Create energy more quickly
- Stay strong longer before tiring out
Why Raising Your “Top End” Helps Out
If your max ability goes up:
- Easy pace feels easier
- Race pace feels more comfortable
- Hard moments don’t feel as hard
Lifting your top end lifts everything below it, too.
- Hills feel more manageable
- Surges take less effort
- Late-race fatigue is easier to push through
It Trains Your Brain
VO₂ max intervals are uncomfortable, but that’s part of the benefit of doing them!
They teach you to:
- Stay calm when breathing is hard
- Hold good form when tired
- Recover faster from hard efforts
Why Winter's the Best Time for This Work
Winter is perfect for VO₂ max training because:
- There’s less race stress
- More time to recover between hard days
- More focus on building fitness, not just keeping it
Think of it as building a bigger engine now, so race-season training feels easier down the road.
Ready to Implement?
All of this science is great, but the real gains come from doing the work. Below are simple VO₂ max workouts for cycling, running, and swimming that stress your top end.
Start with the lower end of the reps, keep the efforts strong but controlled, and focus on good form throughout. You can repeat these weekly, and lengthen interval duration and/or number of intervals.
Let’s get into the workouts 👇
🚴♂️ Cycling VO₂ Max
Workout: 30/30's or 40/20's
Warm-Up: 15-20 minutes with some build efforts
Main Set Options:
1) 3-4x (10x 30" at 110-120%, 30" easy spin, with a 5' easy spin between sets)
2) 3-4x (8x 40" at 110-120%, 20" very easy spin, with a 4' easy spin between sets)
Focus: Both of these options accrue a good amount of time in the VO₂ max range, but the 40/20's are quite a bit harder (HR has less time to drop). The length of each set can be adjusted as needed, but you should get in anywhere from 15-20+ minutes of hard work.
🏃♂️ Running VO₂ Max
Workout: 1/2 mile to mile reps
Warm-Up: 15-20 minutes with a few strides to 90%
Main Set Options:
1) 6-10x 1/2 mile (two track laps) at 5k effort or a bit faster (generally around 2 min/mile faster than your easy pace). Easy 1/4 mile jog between intervals.
2) 3-5 x 1 mile at 5k effort or a little quicker. Easy 1/4 mile to 1/2 mile jog as recovery.
Focus: These aren't crazy run workouts, but just tried and true repeats that can get you faster. I'd recommend building into the intervals, and you should always finish knowing you could have done one or two more at the same effort level. If paces start to slip, you're done.