#121 Questions From UTMB: Part 1 How We Don’t Train
Description
Join Coach Scott Johnston as he reflects on an unforgettable day in Chamonix, where his athletes, Tom Evans and Ruth Croft, won their respective overall titles at the 2025 Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB). Since their victories, Scott has received hundreds of inquiries. A common thread among these being questions about VO2 max training, its methodologies, and its implications. In this discussion, Coach Scott explains VO2 max training and why it is far less critical than other training approaches for endurance performance.
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Episode Guide
00:00:00 Introduction
00:02:25 Fallacy of focusing on VO2-max
00:04:14 Is VO2-max ‘The Gold Standard’?
00:05:38 History of VO2-max
00:08:31 Limitations of VO2-max theory on endurance
00:10:36 Does training VO2-max improve performance?
00:20:42 Should athletes train to improve VO2-max?
00:26:00 Little-known aspects of VO2-max
00:27:51 Improving endurance performance without VO2-max training
00:32:22 Challenges of executing proper VO2-max training
00:36:17 Could VO2-max training be conflated with muscular endurance training?
00:38:50 Open questions for athletes and coaches
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