Turbo Sets

Warm up

10 minutes easy spinning, low gear and easy cadence (70/80). Concentrate on smooth revolutions of the pedals. Be mindful of your body position, if you are on the hoods, ensure there is a slight bend in your elbow and you are looking forward (imagine you are on the road!). Try to keep you back as straight as possible, bend from your hips instead of curving your back. On the drops, again pivot from the hips rather than curving your back and maintain the bend in your elbows. REMEMBER TO LOOK AHEAD – AS IF YOU ARE ON THE ROAD. If you are working on heart rate, this should all be in zone 1 or low zone 2.

Single leg drills

The aim of this is to develop consistency in your pedal strokes, the effort lifting the pedal should be the same as the effort lowering it. Don’t aim for speed straight away here, aim for smooth revolutions, the speed will come with time.

  • Right leg 1 minute followed by 1 minute easy peddling

  • Left leg 1 minute followed by 1 minute easy peddling

  • Right leg 1 minute followed by 1 minute easy peddling

  • Left leg 1 minute followed by 1 minute easy peddling

(Over time the single leg peddling time can be increased to 2 minutes for each leg on the second set. Remember this is still the warm up, we aren’t aiming to set any records here. Consistency is the key at this stage.)

Spin ups

Spin ups are short high intensity bursts. Each one is based on 1 minute of progressive effort. Start out in a very low gear at a very low cadence, build this relatively quickly, work your way up through the gears and increase your cadence and effort until you are at 10/10 for the final, high effort session.

  • 3 * build from 2/10 to 10/10 0ver 54 seconds. Hold 10/10 for the final 6 seconds

  • 3 * build from 2/10 to 10/10 over 50 seconds. Hold 10/10 for the final 10 seconds

  • 3* Build from 2/10 to 10/10 over 45 seconds. Hold 10/10 for the final 15 seconds.

  • 3 * Build from 2/10 to 10/10 over 40 seconds. Hold 10/10 for the final 20 seconds.

Take 2 minutes easy spinning (low gear, low cadence) as recovery after the spin ups (but no break between them). Concentrate on allowing your breathing to recover and lowing your heart rate to recover back to zone 1 (it should be high after 12 minutes of spin ups). Take a drink after 45/60 seconds but not straight away, allow your breathing and heartrate to recover first.

The multiples and frequencies of the spin ups can be varied based on how hard you want to work. 12 is a good overall target but pick a number based on your fitness, experience and where you are in your specific training plan. If you are pressed for time, spin ups are a great way to get some high intensity work done in a short space of time.

Main Set

You should be warmed up by now and into zone two if you are tracking heart rate. You can now spend some time working in various heart rate zones to build endurance/speed depending on what your goals are. The sessions below are based on what we had been doing on Thursdays, vary the time and effort intervals depending on how much time you have and where you are in you training plan. Pick one of the following. These are high effort sessions based around 45/50 minutes. There is a lot of hard work in each one so don’t try to do all sessions at once. Space them out a bit and allow for some variation to keep yourself motivated and interested.

Main Set 1

Repeat three times:

  • 2 minutes at 8/10 effort, cadence ~100

  • 1 minute at 9/10 effort, cadence ~110

  • 1 minute easy recovery

Main Set 2

Repeat three times:

  • 3 minutes at 9/10 effort, cadence ~110

  • 1 minute easy recovery.

Main Set 3

  • 4 * 2minutes at 9/10 effort, cadence ~110

  • 1 Minute easy recovery after each one.

Main Set 4

  • 6 * 1 minute at 9/10 effort, cadence ~110

  • 1 minute easy recovery after each one.

Cool Down

  • 5 minutes easy spinning.

Don’t skip this, you need to allow time for you heart rate to come back down and to allow your muscles to flush out some of the lactic acid that has built up. This should be very easy peddling in a very low gear and cadence. Your legs are spinning but that’s it! You are barely working to over the pedals. The idea is to allow the muscles that you have been using to move through their range of motion but without putting them under strain or asking them to bear a load.

The above sessions are excellent for building speed for short distance events. They will boost fitness and speed but not necessarily endurance. Those of you aiming for longer distance (or enjoy punishing themselves on the turbo) might want to try out some variations on the session below.

Longer Distance Sets

Warm up

  • 5 minutes of easy spinning at 6/10 effort.

Main set

  • 10 minutes at 8/10 effort (high zone 2, low zone 3)

  • 5 minutes recovery 5/10 effort (zone 1/2)

  • 5 minutes at 8.5 or 9/10 effort (zone 3)

  • 1 minute recovery 5/10 effort (zone 1/2)

  • 5 minutes at 8.5 or 9/10 effort (zone 3)

  • 1 minute recovery 5/10 effort (zone 1/2)

  • 15 seconds on 45 seconds recovery

  • 30 seconds on 30 seconds recovery

  • 45 seconds on 15 seconds recovery

  • 60 seconds on 60 seconds recovery

  • 45 seconds on 15 seconds recovery

  • 30 seconds on 30 seconds recovery

  • 15 seconds on 45 seconds recovery

“On” is 100% all out effort, 10/10, recovery is very easy, low gear, low cadence.

Cool down

  • 5 minutes recovery - Easy, steady, low gear, low cadence.

If you really like to punish yourself you can do the pyramid session a second time followed by another 5 minute cool down. Otherwise finish after the 5 minute recovery and save the repeat for the next day.

Alternative Endurance Set

Warm up

  • 15 minute warm up, 6/10 effort, build to 8-8.5/10 over the 15 minutes.

Main set

  • 5 minute effort 8-9/10 effort (hard!)

  • 3 minute recovery Easy spinning (4-5/10)

Repeat 4 times:

  • 10 minute recovery Easy spinning (zone 1/2, effort 4/10)