Workouts

One-Hour Workout: Trainer Build Intervals

Tap into your speed during the colder months without going too hard, too soon.

February 1, 2023 Emma-Kate Lidbury

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Do you tend to do your indoor training at one speed only? Do your legs and your brain a favor by mixing a little bit of built speed into your winter training—this way once outdoor riding comes around again, your legs (and again, your brain) won’t be stuck in one gear.

The trick behind this workout is not jumping into the hard intervals too suddenly. There’s no reason to abruptly slam your legs into gear, and the standing sections should still not hit max effort. Also, be sure the pre-standing sections aren’t pushed so hard that you arrive fatigued when it’s time to attack—bear in mind this should be more of a shakeout than a hardcore fitness-building set.

Ideally this workout should be done on a trainer with a good amount of resistance. While power will be useful as a benchmark for the hardest sections, it actually makes more sense to pay attention to your heart rate zones during the building phase of this set. Don’t get too wrapped up in your power numbers (except for the standing section—there likely won’t be enough time for your heart rate to give a good reading), especially since this is meant to be a workout for your base phase. By worrying about power numbers at this point in the season, you’ll likely end up overextending yourself on a workout that’s not meant to.