11 Trainer Workouts for Endurance

By Coach John Hughes

An endurance workout on a trainer doesn’t have to be a multi-hour grind. These workouts are designed to maintain endurance fitness in 30 to 60 minutes plus warm-up and cool-down. An endurance workout should be done in two training zones, which bring about specific adaptations. If you go harder or easier your body doesn’t adapt the same way. The benefits of endurance training are explained on my website.

Training Zones Using Perceived Exertion, Heart Rate and Power

These are my two simple training zones for endurance:

• Zone 2 Conversation pace: You can easily carry on a conversation in full sentences, a Rate of Perceived Exertion of 2-3 on a 10-point scale. This pace trains the aerobic system to burn more fat and spare glycogen.
• Zone 3 Hill climbing and headwind pace: You are climbing a long, moderate grade or riding into headwind. You’re working hard enough that you can still talk in short sentences but you can’t whistle, an RPE of 3-4. Riding at this pace you are training the aerobic system to burn glucose and improving your cruising speed.

These are the zones if you use a heart rate monitor or power meter:

• Zone 2: 69 – 83% of Anaerobic Threshold, 56 – 75% of Functional Threshold Power.
• Zone 3: 84 – 94% of AT, 76 – 90% of FTP.

If you can’t talk comfortably you’re going too hard!

You can download from my website a spreadsheet to determine your training zones.

To get the maximum value out of a trainer ride it should have a warm-up, main set with specific purpose, and a cool-down.  It’s not just turning the cranks for a certain amount of time.  Even if you’re pressed for time, include the warm-up and cool-down. They don’t have to be long—five minutes of each is sufficient for most rides.

You can do all of them on a regular or smart trainer. Most can be done on rollers or outdoors.

Main Sets

#1 Endurance Intervals 30+ minutes

The Workout: After warming up, ride tempo intervals in Zone 3 and between each interval recover for about 50% of length of the Zone 2 interval. For example, f you ride a 5-minute tempo interval then you’d ride 2 – 3 minutes of recovery. The length of the intervals depends on your fitness. At the end of the set you should feel tired but nowhere near your limit. Cool down.

#2 Endurance Pyramid 30+ minutes plus warm-up and cool-down

The Workout: After warming up, ride a pattern of tempo intervals like the following. Then cool down.

• 2 min Zone 3 and 1 min Zone 2
• 3 min Z3 and 2 min Z2
• 4 min Z3 and 2 min Z2
• 5 min Z3 and 3 min Z2
• 4 min Z3 and 2 min Z2
• 3 min Z3 and 2 min Z2
• 2 min Z3 and 1 min Z2

You can vary this in endless ways.  Start with longer intervals:

• 4 min Z3 and 2 min Z2
• 5 min Zone 3 and 3 min Zone 2
• 6 min Z3 and 3 min Z2

And descend

Climb and descend a higher pyramid

• 2 min Zone 3 and 1 min Zone 2
• 3 min Z3 and 2 min Z2
• 4 min Z3 and 2 min Z2
• 5 min Zone 3 and 3 min Zone 2
• 6 min Z3 and 3 min Z2

And descend

Jump by 2 minutes

• 2 min Zone 3 and 1 min Zone 2
• 4 min Zone 3 and 2 min Z2
• 6 min Z3 and 3 min Z2

And descend

Keep the Z2 time the same:

• 2 min Zone 3 and 1 min Zone 2
• 3 min Z3 and 1 min Z2
• 4 min Z3 and 2 min Z2, etc.

#3 Endurance Ladder 30+ minutes plus warm-up and cool-down

The Workout: This is similar to the pyramid but you just go up. After warming up, ride a pattern of tempo intervals like the following. Then cool down.

• 2 min Zone 3 and 1 min Zone 2
• 3 min Z3 and 2 min Z2
• 4 min Z3 and 2 min Z2
• 5 min Z3 and 3 min Z2
• 6 min Z3 and 3 min Z2, etc.

You can vary it the same was as the Endurance Pyramid

#4 Endurance Descending 30+ minutes plus warm-up and cool-down

The Workout: This is similar to the pyramid but you just go down. After warming up, ride a pattern of tempo intervals like the following. Then cool down.

• 6 min Zone 3 and 3 min Zone 2.
• 5 min Z3 and 3 min Z2
• 4 min Z3 and 2 min Z2
• 3 min Z3 and 2 min Z2
• 2 min Z3 and 1 min Z2

#5 Aerobic Capacity Intervals 20+ minutes plus warm-up and cool-down

The workout: The goal is to build up the amount of time you can sustain a Zone 3 effort. Here’s an example. To start repeat three times [4 minutes in Z3 and 3 minutes in Z2] (Depending on your fitness your time in Z3 could be longer or shorter.) Each week try to increase the time in Z3 and decrease the time in Z2 until you can ride for a continuous 20 minutes in Z3. Then you could do longer intervals: repeat three times [6 minutes in Z3 and 4 minutes in Z2]. As you get fitter increase the time of each interval in Z3 and each recovery in Z2. When you can repeat three times [9 minutes in Z3 and 6 minutes in Z2] for 45 minutes then increase the time in Z3 while decreasing the time in Z2 until you can do a continuous 45 minutes in Z3.

#6 Ramps 30+ minutes plus warm-up and cool-down

The workout: This is a good way to spice up the somewhat boring aerobic capacity intervals. For example repeat 4 times:

• Z3 start at the bottom of Z3 and over 4 minutes build to the top of Z3.
• Z2 start at the bottom of Z2 and over 3 minutes build to the top of Z2.

#7 Hill Climbing Intervals 30+ minutes plus warm-up and cool-down

The Workout: The workouts are the same as the Endurance workouts except you elevate your front wheel with a block of wood.  Your front wheel on a piece of wood 3/4″ (2 cm) thick equals about a 2% grade, a piece 1-1/2” (4 cm) thick equals about a 4% grade, etc.

Longer Main Sets

If you are doing a ride of 60 minutes or longer, treat it like an outdoor endurance ride. Eat 200 – 300 calories every hour and drink enough to satisfy your thirst. Every 60 – 90 minutes pretend you’re at a rest stop: get off the bike, go to the restroom, have something to drink and eat.

#8 Long endurance 60+ minutes

The workout: Periodically include one of the above types of intervals and / or a technique drill:

• Sprints benefit all riders, not just racers because sprints increase your power by improving the way your nervous system controls the muscle fibers in your muscles. In other words, you don’t need bigger or stronger muscles, you just need to use the ones you have more effectively! When you sprint, you’re demanding peak power and your body learns to coordinate the firing of all of the muscle fibers. It’s like dialing in the timing on your car engine.

The Workout: When you’re riding throw several short (30 to 60 second) all-out sprints with full recovery (at least 5 minutes) between each sprint. Don’t think about heart rate or power. Just put it in a big gear, e.g., 53×15 and go hard.

• Spin-ups to Increase Your Cadence

The Workout: Start in a moderate resistance and for a minute keep increasing your cadence. These are not sprints – use a gear so that you aren’t breathing hard. Only go as high as you can while pedaling smoothly:

• 1 min @ 80 RPM
• 1 min @ 90 RPM
• 1 min @ 100 RPM
• 1 min @ 110 RPM
• 1 min @ 120 RPM
• 1 min @ 130 RPM
• 1 min @ 120 RPM
• 1 min @ 110 RPM
• Continue back down to 80 RPM

• Accelerations to Increase Your Cadence

The Workout: Start in a moderate resistance and for a minute keep increasing your cadence. These are not sprints – use a gear so that you aren’t breathing hard. Stay in the same gear the whole time. The goal is to improve your spin. Only go as high as you can while pedaling smoothly.

#9 Longer endurance 90+ minutes

The workout: Break the workout into two parts with the first part longer, e.g., 60 minutes, pretend mini-mart break, and 30 minutes. You do the psychologically harder part first.  During the first part just think about riding 60 minutes, not about the second 30 minutes. Incorporate drills for variety.

#10 Mixed long endurance 2+ hours

The workout: Ride the trainer, then walk or jog and finish riding the trainer. Use whatever times work for you. E.g. 60 minute ride, 30 minute walk / jog and 30 minute ride. Incorporate drills for variety.

#11 Split endurance workout 3+ hours

The workout: Ride for a couple of hours, take a couple of hours (or more) off the bike and then finish the ride. E.g., you could do 1:45 after breakfast and then another 1:15 after lunch. Incorporate drills for variety.

For more information check out Peter Sagan’s early season training, which is primarily endurance riding and different endurance intervals with some slightly harder intervals.

Additional Resources

For more information, see my 3-article bundle Endurance Riding and Training, which contains:

• Beyond the Century describes the training principles and different training intensities you can use to build your endurance, both for centuries and for shorter endurance rides.
• Nutrition for 100K and Beyond provides the information you need to fuel your engine before, during and after endurance rides.
• Mastering the Long Ride gives you the skills you need to finish your endurance rides.

The 48-page Endurance Riding and Training bundle is only $13.50, or $11.48 for our Premium Members.

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Coach John Hughes has earned coaching certifications from USA Cycling and the National Strength and Conditioning Association. John’s cycling career includes course records in the Boston-Montreal-Boston 1200-km randonnée and the Furnace Creek 508, a Race Across AMerica (RAAM) qualifier. He has ridden solo RAAM twice and is a 5-time finisher of the 1200-km Paris-Brest-Paris. He has written nearly 40 eBooks and eArticles on cycling training and nutrition available in RBR’s Bookstore. Click to read John’s full bio.