spelger

Yesterday i did a VO2max session. today i rode and was really tired, enough that i stopped earlier than i had expected. Any relationship? I did poke around the net but did not find anything other than don't do two consecutively. i was pretty darn tired after yesterday's session.

my normal routine is ride 5 days with minimum 44km goal each day. Tuesday/Friday off.

C_Heath

Carbonfiberboy will know

rubiksoval

This is just going to be too individual and fully dependent on your training history and fitness levels.

I've routinely done back to back vo2 max workouts one day after the next. And I frequently do races on both Sat and Sun, sometimes on Fri, Sat, and Sun, and those are usually harder than workouts but still aren't really a big deal to do on consecutive days.

Make sure you're eating and drinking appropriately, and give it some time for fitness to pick up, and future sessions will likely not leave you so drained the next day.

Iride01 

I consider it normal. I'll almost always do my best KOM times after I've laid off cycling for a week or two. Then I'm likely well stocked on my glycogen stores. For times go really hard several days in a row it takes some good effort to keep carb intake adequate during and after the ride. But when I do get it right, I don't have that overall tired feeling.

So for things involving such, I put it down to the levels of glycogen you have stored in your body. Some naturally replace it quicker than others.

Clyde1820

Sure, in my experience. I found it so, with competitive middle-distance running for several years. A couple years running, I was in peak cardiovascular shape. Legs were too short to go much faster, but I was strong and exceedingly high-cardio. So, frequently rolled in some max training, varying with periods of strength, speed work, etc.

Like you found, I often (but not always) had a VO2max effort follow with a more sluggish day or two. Now, this was with running, but eventually I simply altered the training regimen such that shorter but tougher strength-oriented runs came in the day or two following outright VO2max days. Ate a bit more, with as highly-nutritious intake as I could muster. Worked well, and I found I left less on the table, training-wise. Better training, got stronger, and recovered more quickly than if I simply attempted to keep up the normal workout schedule.

Never did push that hard with cycling, so I can't say it'd work as well. But I can't see why not. From a cardio standpoint, you either push it hard or you don't. In my own (albeit limited) experience, it can take a day or two recovery if the pushy cardio workout was truly tough.

Carbonfiberboy 

Good grief! Don't go by me. I'm 75 effing years old. I have a new geezer bruise in my left arm, no idea where it came from.

I did a set of eight 3 minute 105% intervals yesterday and was going to do some recovery FastPedal today, but housework got in the way along with 3 scotches on a group Zoom call. Besides, my legs didn't feel like it. All that said, IME it's a mistake to do much if your legs aren't into it and your HR's depressed. Looks good on TrainingPeaks, but I tend to get weaker not stronger from doing that kind of thing. Even if it's on my schedule, sometimes it's a mistake. if I do much the day after a hard workout, especially if it were VO2max work. 30' of Z1 is maybe better than nothing, maybe not, depending on the person.

I read a story, I think in Bicycling mag, a long time ago. about Lance before he got cancer and started drugging. He rode a spring Classic and was exhausted afterwards. The race he really wanted was the next weekend. What to do? His coach had him ride Z1 for an hour on his trainer every day before that next race on which he did much better. So going easy can make you stronger sometimes than going hard. I think the message might be - don't be afraid to experiment. That's the only way to find out what works for you. Try one thing, next time try another.

Experience is a wonderful thing. The housework and zoom call were just a way for me to tell my over-aggressive mind that it wasn't going to work today. I'm fine with that. I'll do 30' of easy openers tomorrow and a hard group ride the day after. That should work well.

spelger

Thanks all. Will ride accordingly.