I’ve recently read studies that descending ladder interval workouts may be the optimal Zone 4/5 plan. Declining ladder intervals involve progressively lowering the workload with each interval, which (as I understand) results in more time above Vo2 Max but at a more sustainable overall stress. Here is an article explaining a study based on cyclists (with link to original study): https://www.outsideonline.com/health/training-performance/ladders-interval-workouts-research/
I shared the study with Stephen Seiler on Twitter, who responded positively:
Has anyone tried these or created a shareable workout using descending ladders?
I have been doing vo2max sessions with different intensity changes for some time now and they work very well, even if you have your pulse at 95% of HRmax, these intensity changes soften the perceived effort a bit without lowering the heartrate below 90%, for me personally I think they are better than the classic 4 min or 5 min sessions.
I’m sure I heard it on the Wahoo podcast. They mentioned a few go-to workouts like The Pyramid of Power. I don’t have access to the SYSTM, so can’t see the details.
I know Joe Friel mentions it in his book:
1-2-3-4-4-3-2-1 in zone 5.
So it would be a 1:1 ratio of work to rest, so 1 minute on, 1 minute off, 2 minutes on, 2 minutes off.
Cadence is at the high end of the comfort range. RPE would be 9 or 10.
I haven’t tried it personally, but I do know of a few individuals who have tried it, and failed (because they went out too hard in the beginning.
You can use Bossi intervals, Lisbon for vo2max, Bossi for low level athletes are very good, you just have to adjust the intensities correctly and the sessions go very well. I have achieved 20 minutes at 92% of maximum heart rate with a lower perception of effort.
Having tried a range of protocols for time in zone, I find this one works best for me. I thought the recent FastTalk Labs exchange between Rob Pickels and Trevor Connor was interesting too.
To clarify, the declining ladders study cited involved decreasing time for each interval, but the intensity of each interval remains constant. Using TrainerRoad’s Workout Creator, I attempted to write a workout like used in the study by Vacarri and his colleagues with invervals of 3, 2, 1 minute, then 45, 30, 20 seconds. I used 120% of FTP for the intensity, although I could not tell from the study how they determined power. The study also said the ladders were repeated until exhaustion. I added a rest period in between, in part because otherwise I couldn’t make it to the end of an hour workout, I’m sure!
@canserbero Did your workout look anything similar to this?
It’s only the 30”/20” (work/rest) bit that is repeated until exhaustion (for illustration see the picture below which is taken from my execution of the prescribed workout in the paper). As for the power, they suggest to use the 5’ modelled power from a Monod critical power model. Personally, I test once a month my 5’ critical power, so I use that as the target
It is about 1.17/1.20. However, FTP is likely to be overestimated due the poor quality and lack of short efforts (a downside of winter training on the trainer).
