10 Intervals Workouts, Designed for Indoor Riding

Here, a few of those variables you can control and other benefits of indoor rides:

1. No Weather Considerations

Weather is arguably one of the biggest reasons for investing in an indoor bike trainer or stationary bike. “Indoor setups allow you to train year round regardless of season or daylight hours,” says Katie Higginbotham, certified personal trainer and indoor cycling instructor at Train Fitness with 18 years experience in the fitness industry. “This consistency helps you stay on track with your goals, especially for structured interval training where consistency is key.”

2. No Traffic Concerns

When riding indoors, there are no roundabouts, stop signs, traffic lights, pedestrian crossings, or any other traffic considerations to deal with. This is helpful when trying to maintain a certain pace over a given interval time frame—and it’s easier to stay safe, particularly compared to areas with no bike lanes.

“Some cyclists do not have access to roads that are safe or long enough to perform the workouts that they have prescribed for them, so they might perform them indoors,” says Jason Boynton, Ph.D., cycling coach and exercise scientist. “If you don’t have to think about things like a car door opening up in your face, then you can actually focus on the effort and monitor your responses during the effort better,” he says.

3. No Terrain Changes

Indoor training can be particularly useful for individuals who live in very hilly or mountainous regions. On such varied terrain, it often proves difficult to stay in endurance zones (zones 1 and 2), particularly for newer riders and anyone who still needs to work on their climbing capabilities.

Higginbotham points out that this is helpful for interval workouts, too. “Higher intensity intervals that might feel riskier on uneven terrain can be done with more confidence indoors without worrying about road safety, unexpected stops, or obstacles.”

4. Pacing Control

When all of the above—weather, traffic, and terrain—is off the table, maintaining prescribed paces or efforts becomes much easier. “The conditions are consistent every time, so sessions can be more precise,” says Doug Guthrie, USAT level 1 and TrainingPeaks level 2 certified coach.

5. Progress Tracking

In terms of tracking progress, indoor training gives you precise measurement through consistent data on heart rate, power, and cadence, says Higginbotham. “Since these metrics aren’t influenced by external factors, indoor sessions can give you a clearer view of progress over time so you can adjust your training as needed,” she says.

6. Can Perform Testing Protocols

According to Boynton, another advantage to indoor training is the capability to perform certain testing protocols without exposure to various environmental factors. While Boynton prefers to test his athletes for some things, such as critical power, he notes that some tests are simply hard to do outside. “It’s really hard to do something like a graded exercise test or a ramp test outdoors,” he says. “It’s often better to set that sort of test up on an ERG to make sure that the watts stay consistent.”

7. Convenience

An indoor bike trainer eliminates almost every barrier to training. If you’re someone who struggles to ride outside due to everything involved in a successful session—gearing up, driving somewhere, transporting your bike, packing fuel and fluids, planning around weather and traffic, etc.—indoor cycling could be your key to riding consistently, says Guthrie.

8. Community and Motivation

Typically seen as a drawback to indoor bike training, it can be argued that virtual communities such as those on Zwift and TrainerRoad have quelled the boredom so often associated with indoor rides. Sure, it’s not the same as riding outside with a group of your best cycling buds on a sunny, warm day. But being able to plan and execute group rides, even virtually, is a benefit to having an indoor trainer.

The following interval training workouts can help you improve your overall cycling fitness by targeting different training zones. Try one, a few, or all of them this winter as you continue your cycling routine indoors.

Total time: ~50-80 minutes

Why it works:

These intervals, performed in zone 4, help improve your body’s ability to sustain higher power outputs for longer, says Guthrie.

How to do it:

Warmup (10-20 minutes)

• Ride in a low-effort zone and sprinkle in 2-4 moderate-effort, 30-second intervals

Main set

• 6 minutes in zone 4
• 2 minutes in recovery zone
• Repeat for 4-6 total sets

Cooldown (10 minutes)

Total time: 55-70 minutes

Why it works:

Higginbotham recommends 5×5 intervals to improve tolerance to lactate accumulation and ability to sustain efforts above threshold.

How to do it:

Warmup (10-20 minutes)

Main set

• 5 x 5 minutes @ 100-105% of FTP (zone 4)
• 2-3 minutes of recovery in between sets

Cooldown (10 minutes)

Total time: 80-90 minutes

Why it works:

Sweet spot training refers to cycling in an intensity zone that is hard enough to elicit adaptations (i.e. improve fitness), but not so hard that fatigue becomes excessive. Coach Bryan recommends this classic long interval workout to achieve that.

How to do it:

Warmup (10-20 minutes)

• Progress intensity over 10-20 minutes and add in 2 x 5-second all-out efforts

Main set

• 20 minutes in sweet spot zone (88-93% of FTP)
• 10 minutes in recovery zone
• 20 minutes in sweet spot zone
• 10 minutes in recovery zone

Cooldown (10 minutes)

• Spin at a recovery effort

Total time: ~100-135 minutes

Why it works:

Bryan provides this workout for cyclists interested in improving their sprinting skills.

How to do it:

Warmup (10-20 minutes)

• Progress in intensity and include 2-3 x 5-second all-out efforts

Main set

• 20-second sprint effort in a heavy gear from a standstill
• 5-minute recovery between each effort, quickly decreasing effort from a sprint to an easy, slow spin
• Repeat for 15-20 total rounds.

Cooldown (10 minutes)

• Gradually decrease intensity.

Trainer tip: Come to a complete stop (allowing the trainer to wind down to a stop too) before starting in a big gear so that the cadence is very low at the start. Remain seated as you push as hard as possible for the duration.

Total time: Depends on your effort/fitness level

Why it works:

Bryan provides this workout as a way to improve lactate threshold 1 with indoor training.

How to do it:

Warmup (5-10 minutes)

Main set

• Pedal at the top end of zone 2 for as long as possible. A good place to stop is when either the heart rate rises considerably or you can no longer maintain the power (called decoupling), says Bryan.

Cooldown (5-10 minutes)

• Decrease intensity until you are riding at a recovery effort

Trainer tip: Aim to beat your time slightly the next time you try this session, but still be mindful of the decoupling and don’t continue for too long after this inflection point (30 minutes max after decoupling has occurred).

Total time: ~60-80 minutes

Why it works:

A strength-focused workout from Higginbotham, this session intends to increase mechanical stress on the muscles, leading to improvements in pedaling strength and power output over time.

How to do it:

Warmup (10-20 minutes)

• Start in low zone 1 and gradually increase intensity to high zone 2

Main set

• 5 minutes at low cadence (60-70 rpm) threshold power (zone 4)
• 3-5 minutes at a low-effort, spin recovery
• Repeat for 5 total rounds

Cooldown (10 minutes)

Total time: 60 minutes

Why it works:

“This is an infamous workout that people familiar with my coaching know and call ‘I Hate Coach Pav Intervals,’” Bryan says. “It has efforts across various intensities and also a little bit of fun.”

How to do it:

Warmup (20 minutes)

• Gradual progression in intensity with 2-3 x 5-second all out efforts sprinkled in

Main set

• 8 x 15 seconds @ zone 6 or above, with 45 seconds recovery
• 4 x 1 minute @ zone 6, with 2 minutes recovery
• 1 x 10 minutes @ threshold (zone 4)

Cooldown (10 minutes)

• Gradually decrease intensity and finish the workout riding in zone 1 or low zone 2

Total time: 35-50 minutes

Why it works:

Simple and straightforward, this workout from Guthrie follows a classic 30-seconds-on, 30-seconds-off format.

How to do it:

Warmup (10-20 minutes)

• Spend 10-20 minutes gradually increasing intensity within comfortable zones (zones 1 and 2)

Main set

• 30 seconds at 90% effort (9-out-of-10 level)
• 30-second easy spin recovery
• Repeat for a total of 15-20 rounds

Cooldown (10 minutes)

• Gradually decrease intensity

Total time: 45-60 minutes

Why it works:

This workout from Guthrie is short but intense and focuses on reaching near-maximal efforts multiple times in succession.

How to do it:

Warmup (10-20 minutes)

• Get warm by riding at a comfortable pace. Add in some high-effort intervals of 5-10 seconds to prep the legs

Main set

• 90 secs @ zone 5
• 90 secs recovery (easy effort)
• 1 min @ zone 5
• 1 min recovery (easy effort)
• 30 secs @ zone 5
• 30 secs recovery (easy effort)
• 3 min recovery at a high cadence (100+ rpm)
• Repeat for 3 total rounds

Cooldown (10 minutes)

Total time: ~45-105 minutes

Why this works:

This workout from Higginbotham provides a structured cadence drill and may be helpful for cyclists who want to improve their ability to maintain a high cadence while promoting smooth pedal strokes.

How to do it:

Warmup (15-20 minutes)

• Start with 10 minutes of easy pedaling at a comfortable pace (around 70-80 rpm)

Main Set

• 2 min @ at 90 rpm
• 90 sec @ 95 rpm
• 1 min @ 100 rpm
• 45 sec @ at 105 rpm
• 30 sec @ at 110 rpm
• 15 sec @ 115 rpm
• Recovery: Spin normally for 1-3 minutes before descending back down the pyramid.
• Complete the entire pyramid set (up and down) 2-3 times with 5-10 minutes of easy pedaling between sets.

Cooldown (10-15 minutes)

• Gradually decrease your intensity and cadence, spinning comfortably at around 70 RPM until your heart rate returns to normal

Trainer tips: Use a light gear throughout the workout to maintain a high cadence without excessive strain, and focus on smooth and quick pedal strokes—avoid bouncing in the saddle. Also, adjust resistance as needed to keep your heart rate within an aerobic zone (approximately 60 to 70 percent of your maximum heart rate).