Power-Based Workouts

Tempo Workouts:

Basic

SST Workouts:

Descending Pyramid

1x5 2x10 Workout

Progressive Sweet Spot Challenge

3-Minute Repeatable Power Efforts

Threshold Workouts:

STUCI / Friel Pacing Intervals

Hour of Power

Terrible 20's

ZeCanon Intervals

Drive for the Line

20/5 Threshold Session

15-5-15-1 Threshold Booster

Cool Down in Zone 1 (easy)

4.5 and Drive

Drive for 5

VO2max Workouts:

FasCat Intervals

5x5x5 Hill Workouts

Plus-30

Fat Boy Intervals

Anaerobic Workouts:
 Waterrockets Intervals (WRIs)

Pyramid Intervals

Tabata Intervals

Halvsies

30 Second Efforts

Strength Workouts:

Ascending Pyramid

Stomps & WindUps

Bike-Specific Strength Circuit

Tempo Workouts:

Basic

90-240 mins at 75-78% FTP

SST Workouts:

Basic

90-180 mins at 85-88% FTP

Descending Pyramid

Warm up easy.
Do a descending pyramid of intervals, starting with 20:00 and working your way down, by
cutting the time in half: This is 20:00; 10:00, 5:00, 2:30; 1:15; :45 Incorporate 3-5:00 of
recovery in between each. Decide the effort you will repeat, having it be as near your 20:00
peak power value as possible, with a goal to bump it up a bit each time. Thereafter, cool
down. If you have time constraints, stop after the 5:00 effort.

1x5 2x10 Workout

After warm up, do 1 x 5:00 effort in Zone 3-4, progressively increasing effort for the
duration. Then ride easy at least 5:00 and do 2 x 10:00 in Zone 3, progressively increasing
effort for the duration. Take 5-10min easy in between. Use various ways to work the effort.
In this case, Jeff focused on keeping his cadence above 85 rpm, as this is his weakness. You
can change it up, preferably focusing on your weakness.

Progressive Sweet Spot Challenge

The goal is to begin at 101-105% of threshold power and hold as long as possible, dropping
back a few watts as fatigue sets in. She continues to hold the efforts as long as possible
over the course of 45-60 minutes. At the end of the duration, she finishes with 3 x 4min
Zone 1 & 4min Zone 4, then cooling down.
3-Minute Repeatable Power Efforts

Warm Up Easy Zone 1.

3 x (3x3:00X1:00) efforts with 1 min rest in between, and 2:00 complete rest between each
full set.
Ride your first 3x3:00 efforts at a high cadence of 85+ in Zone 3 in a gear that doesn’t
cause fatigue. Do not change gears during the effort. Perform your second 3x3:00 efforts in
a bigger gear, still trying to work at 85+ rpm. The intensity will feel harder. Do the third 3x3
efforts in a bigger gear yet, still trying to keep cadence at 85+ rpm. This will feel very hard.
It is likely that the cadence will drop as you near the end of the 3min, but battle to keep it
up. Ride remaining time easy.
Threshold Workouts:

aSTUCI / Friel Pacing Intervals

1. After warm-up do a 10-minute work interval at just below functional threshold power
(FTP). This is roughly the equivalent of your lactate or anaerobic threshold power. If
you have done my CP30 self-test or know your actual CP60 from a race then that is
what you would use for a power level on this first interval. So if your FTP (or self-test
CP30 or CP60 or AT/LT power) is 250 watts try to make this first one 245-249w. You
may find it very difficult to do this if you are not good at pacing. Watch your power
meter very closely.
2. Recover for 2 minutes by spinning easily. Check your average power for the first
interval.
3. Do an 8-minute work interval at a slightly higher power than the first. So let's say you
averaged 248w on #1. For#2 try to average 250w.
4. Recover for 2 minutes and again check your average power for interval #2.
5. If the average power on #2 was higher than for #1 then repeat the 8-minute interval.
If the power for #2 was lower than for #1 subtract 2 minutes and make this a
6-minute interval. Again, try to beat the power of the previous interval, but only
slightly.
6. Recover 2 minutes and check power for the third interval the same as before.
7. If the power for #3 was higher than for #2 repeat the same duration as #3. If it was
less subtract 2 minutes.
8. Recover. Check previous interval power.
9. Continue with this same process until your interval becomes 4 minutes. This is the last
one regardless of what happens.
That's a good session so your ME should be nicely challenged. But you also know you need
to focus on pacing. The fact that you are fading as the workout progresses gives you a good
idea of what also happens in a race. Learn to hold back at the start and you will maintain a
much higher average power and produce a faster race.

If you are good at pacing (and have your FTP correct) then the work intervals may have
totaled 36 or more minutes. That's excellent.
Hour of Power

● 10min. warm-up;
● 60min. @ 80-95% FTP
○ every 90 sec or so, shift down, stand up, SURGE for ~30”.
● 10min. cool-down

Terrible 20's

● 10min. warm-up;
● One rep =
○ 20min. @90% of FTP with last 2min. thereof being @110% of FTP
● Do 2-3 reps with 5-10min. @ L2 between the reps;
● 10min. cool-down.

ZeCanon Intervals

● Good warmup (that's a given)

● 5 or 6 x 5' @ 103-108% FTP
● 60" rest between intervals
● Cool down

The goal, as I've said before, is optimal (maximal) fiber recruitment. The first two feel easy
- your anaerobic system is providing a good portion of the power. 3-end, you have
exhausted anaerobic power and are relying entirely on the aerobic system.

Basically the first two are simply prepping your system, and are not providing any threshold
gains in and of themselves. Gains in studies have been on the order of 2-3x standard 20min
intervals. My favorite intervals by far.
Drive for the Line

● 10min. warm-up;
● 20min. @85% of FTP;
● 5min. @70% of FTP;
● 5min. @100% of FTP with last 30sec. thereof @140%+ of FTP;
● 5min. @70% of FTP;
● 5min. @100% of FTP with last 30sec. thereof @140%+ of FTP;
● 10min. cool-down.

20/5 Threshold Session

This session is based off of Threshold Power.

Warm up Zone 1 Easy.
20:00 @ 80% (as fitness increases, increase to 85%, 90%, 95%)
4 x 5:00 easy and 5:00 @ 85%, repeating without hesitation. (as fitness increases, increase
to 90%, 95%, 100%) Ride remaining time easy and cool down.

15-5-15-1 Threshold Booster

Warm Up in Zone 1 (easy).
Based on a 10 min Power Test or your 10 Peak Power Value, do 4 intervals at a percentage
of your test/value results. Take 5min rest in between.
Interval #1: 15:00 @ 80%
Interval #2: 5:00 @ 90%
Interval #3: 15:00 @ 80%
Interval #4: 3-6 x 1:00 @ 101%+ with 1:00 rest in between. Attempt to build each effort,
by increasing watts just a tad more than the last.
Cool Down in Zone 1 (easy)

Criss Cross Threshold

Warm up at least 10 minutes and then ramp yourself up gradually to 75% of your threshold
power over the course of 10 minutes. Now do a 7 minute Criss Cross Threshold interval as:
2:00 above threshold; 1:00 at 80-85% threshold; 2:00 above threshold; 1:00 80-85%
threshold and 1:00 above threshold. Then ride easy 5min and repeat for a total of 3-5x,
based on time available.

4.5 and Drive

● 10min. warm-up;
● Ride at 70% of FTP (189)
○ Every 4.5min. go @140% of FTP (378) for 90sec. (so total of 6min.) and that is
one rep and you continue that for 10 reps (total of 60min) never letting things
go below the 70% of FTP base level;
● 10min. cool-down.

Drive for 5

● 10min. warm-up;
● One rep =
○ 5min. @110% of FTP then 2min. @60% of FTP
● Do 3 reps per set and 2 sets with 10min. @ L2 between the sets.
● 10min. cool-down.
VO2max Workouts:

FasCat Intervals

For the “ON” intervals your target should be 120% FTP. Note that after the second “ON”
interval the rest interval is doubled to eight minutes.

● Warm up
● 1 set of:
○ 4’ ON
○ 4’ OFF
○ 4’ ON
○ 8’ OFF
○ 4’ ON
○ 4’ OFF
○ 4’ ON
● Cool down

5x5x5 Hill Workouts

● Good Warmup
● 5 sets of:
○ 5 minutes hard
○ 5 minutes rest
● Shoot for negative splits on the intervals - i.e., each progressive interval should be
done at a higher power than the last. Last interval should be all-out. Last interval
should be 20w higher than first.

Plus-30

● Good warmup
● 3' @ 113%, 2-4' rest
○ Add 30" each additional interval. Maintain 113% power. See how long you can
last.
● Cool down.
Fat Boy Intervals

Tried something new today. I made up a workout based on a running workout I read
about. The idea was hi-intensity and reduced recovery time between intervals. The study
showed an increase in the release of growth hormone when doing the workout this way as
opposed to doing it the other way.

Anyway, my workout went like this:

● 5' @ 110% ftp

● 5' rest
● 4' @ 115% ftp
● 4' rest
● 3' @ 120% ftp
● 3' rest
● 2' @ 125% ftp
● 2' rest
● 1' @ 150% ftp (max)
● 1' rest
● 30" @ 150+% ftp (max)
Anaerobic Workouts:

Waterrockets Intervals (WRIs)

● Solid warmup
● 6 sets of:
○ 1' interval:
Solid sprint to start off the interval, and hold max intensity until the end
○ 5 minutes rest
● Limp home

Pyramid Intervals

● Good Warmup
● "On" Intervals of 1-1-2-5-2-1-1 minutes
● 5 minutes rest in between
● Cool down

Tabata Intervals

● Set:
○ 20" sprint
○ 10" rest
● Do 8 sets (4 minutes total) for a block.
● Rest 4 minutes between block
● Do as many blocks as possible.

Halvsies
Take a nice long warm up. Then do:
2 x 30s; 2 x 20s; 3 x 10s; 3 x 5s . Your effort is at your hardest effort. You can use your
peak power values for the same duration, as your carrot to chase if you want Ride the rest
of the workout easy.

30 Second Efforts

This session is based on work intervals with only 30 sec of rest in between. You begin by
doing 30 sec efforts, but over time (weeks/months) you progress to 45 seconds and then
1:00. Warm up at least 10 minutes.

Do as many repetitions as possible of 30 sec of all out work (not so hard that you can’t
finish the 30 sec) and 30 sec rest, without hesitation, shooting for 10 total. No worries if you
cannot do 10 in a row at first. This is merely your goal to shoot for. The first few are going
to feel much better than the rest, as the fatigue of repetition will set in. Afterwards, ride
easy. You can then throw in a few more efforts if you really want, but it’s not necessary.
Repeat every 10 days. When you can do 10 in a row, change the timing to 45 seconds.
When you can do 10 of those in a row, then change it up to 1:00.
Strength Workouts:

Ascending Pyramid

Warm up on the bike in Zone 1. Then do an Ascending Pyramid of work for 2:00; 3:00; 4:00
and 5:00, with 2:00 recovery in between each. The work effort is done at the highest
load/biggest gear that you can hold at 60 rpm. Noodle the legs in Zone 1 for a few minutes
and then hop off the bike, making your way to the treadmill. Repeat the same ascending
pyramid focus. The work effort on the treadmill is done at the highest grade you can sustain
for the duration. Finish on the bike, repeating the ascending pyramid. You can also repeat
the treadmill work if time permits; otherwise cool down.

Stomps & WindUps

Warm Up for 10 minutes and then do 4 x 5 minute efforts as follows: 10 seconds of
stomping hard on the pedals and 20 second of easy pedaling, repeating without hesitation
for the whole 5 minutes. You’ll need to add active recovery in between each 5minute effort,
for 3- 5 minutes. With each set, shoot for a bit higher power output than the previous. Then
for the rest of the ride, incorporate 10 wind-ups with at least 5 minutes in between each. To
initiate, shift to a bigger gear and unleash an acceleration out of the saddle for 10 seconds.
Again, try to shoot for a bit higher power output with each. Be sure to cool down a while
before ending your session, as they’ll be a lot of toxins to flush out!

Bike-Specific Strength Circuit

Warm up on the bike easy Zone 1.

Then do an 8:00 force intervals interval as:
● 2:00 gradually building to highest load you can sustain at 70rpm
 ● 1:00 standing in that same gear (change cadence as needed)
● 2:00 back to the saddle in biggest load you can sustain 70 rpm
● 1:00 standing in that same gear
● 1:00 back in the saddle in that same gear
● 1:00 spin legs out easy, easy, easy. That is a total of 8:00.
Then, hop off bike & do as many walking lunges as possible for 1:00. If you do not have
space to walk the lunge, just do them in place, but make sure you are always switching lead
legs. Then hop back on the bike and spin the legs out easy for 3:00. Now REPEAT the 8:00
force interval and lunges for a total of 4-6x, or as time as time allows. Finish with an easy
cool down on the bike.