VO₂ max is the most misunderstood metric in endurance sport.
Most athletes are told it’s either genetic, fixed, or something you slowly raise through endless Zone 2 mileage. That advice is incomplete — and for trained athletes, often wrong.
VO₂ max is not simply about oxygen delivery. It’s about whether your body is forced to use oxygen at its upper limit — and for how long. That distinction changes everything.
Elite endurance athletes like Tadej Pogačar and Kristian Blummenfelt don’t rely on Zone 2 to increase VO₂ max. They use it to support the work that actually moves it. The adaptations that raise VO₂ max occur at intensities most recreational athletes either avoid, misapply, or recover poorly from.
In this issue of Threshold, you’ll learn:
What VO₂ max really represents physiologically
Why Zone 2 is necessary but insufficient once you are trained
The hidden threshold where discomfort and oxygen uptake decouple
How elite endurance athletes actually structure Zone 2 and VO₂ work
How to apply this intelligently without frying yourself
How Tadej Pogačar actually uses Zone 2 training — what it does physiologically, what it does not do, and why copying the hours without the logic fails
What Kristian Blummenfelt’s VO₂ max is likely to be — and why, in long-course triathlon, access to the ceiling matters more than the number itself
A detailed training plan to increase your VO₂ max — including exactly how to structure your week, your VO₂ sessions, and your recovery
If you’ve been training hard but plateaued aerobically, this is why.
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