Indoor Cycling Training Plan for Winter: 8 Weeks, Week by Week
Winter is when most of next season's fitness gets built, and for most of us that happens indoors. This indoor cycling training plan gives you 8 weeks of structured trainer sessions, written out week by week, so you always know what today's ride is for. It builds aerobic base and sweet spot fitness, includes two easier weeks to absorb the work, and ends with an FTP retest so you can see what changed.
It is built for riders with about 4 to 6.5 hours a week, warm-ups included. If you have less time, there is a shorter version at the end of each week.
Before you start: set your zones
Every session below uses percentages of your FTP (functional threshold power, roughly the highest power you can hold for about an hour). If your FTP is out of date, the plan will feel either far too easy or far too hard.
Do an FTP test in week 1 (it is built in), or estimate it with the FTP calculator.
No power meter? Use heart rate instead. The heart rate zones calculator and the zone 2 heart rate calculator give you the ranges.
Warm up for 10 to 15 minutes before every interval session and cool down for 5 to 10 minutes after. Those minutes are not included in the interval descriptions below.
How the 8 weeks are built
Weeks 1 to 3: build aerobic base and introduce sweet spot.
Week 4: recovery week. Less volume, same habits.
Weeks 5 to 7: longer sweet spot blocks, over-unders and a first taste of VO2max work.
Week 8: recovery and an FTP retest.
Each week has four sessions: two quality sessions (A and C), one shorter endurance ride (B) and one longer endurance ride (D). Put at least one easy day or rest day between A and C. A common layout is A on Tuesday, B on Wednesday, C on Thursday and D on Saturday or Sunday.
If you want to understand why sweet spot does so much of the work in winter, read sweet spot vs threshold. For how this block fits into a full season, see base, build, peak and taper.
Week 1: test and settle in (about 4.5 hours)
A: FTP test (ramp test or 20-minute test). Set your zones from the result.
B: 60 minutes zone 2.
C: 3 x 10 minutes sweet spot (88 to 94%), 5 minutes easy between.
D: 90 minutes zone 2.
Short on time? Make D 60 minutes.
Week 2: more time at sweet spot (about 5 hours)
A: 3 x 12 minutes sweet spot, 5 minutes easy between.
B: 75 minutes zone 2.
C: 2 x 20 minutes tempo (76 to 85%), 5 minutes easy between.
D: 1 hour 45 minutes zone 2.
Short on time? Drop B to 45 minutes and make D 75 minutes.
Week 3: longest base week so far (about 6 hours)
A: 3 x 15 minutes sweet spot, 5 minutes easy between.
B: 75 minutes zone 2.
C: 2 x 20 minutes sweet spot, 5 minutes easy between.
D: 2 hours zone 2. Outside if the weather allows.
Short on time? Make D 90 minutes and keep A and C as written.
Week 4: recovery week (about 4 hours)
A: 3 x 8 minutes sweet spot, 5 minutes easy between. Should feel controlled.
B: 45 minutes zone 1 to low zone 2.
C: 60 minutes zone 2 with 5 x 1 minute at high cadence (100 to 110 rpm), easy pressure.
D: 75 minutes zone 2.
This week is part of the plan, not a break from it. Fitness is built when you recover from the work, not while you do it.
Week 5: longer blocks and over-unders (about 5.5 hours)
A: 2 x 20 minutes sweet spot, 5 minutes easy between.
B: 75 minutes zone 2.
C: 3 x 9 minutes over-unders: repeat 2 minutes at 95% and 1 minute at 105% three times, 5 minutes easy between sets. See the best over-under workouts for variations.
D: 2 hours zone 2.
Short on time? Make D 90 minutes.
Week 6: sweet spot gets longer (about 6 hours)
A: 2 x 25 minutes sweet spot, 5 minutes easy between.
B: 75 minutes zone 2.
C: 3 x 12 minutes over-unders: repeat 2 minutes at 95% and 1 minute at 105% four times, 6 minutes easy between sets.
D: 2 hours 15 minutes zone 2.
Short on time? Do 2 x 20 minutes in A and make D 90 minutes.
Week 7: hardest week (about 6.5 hours)
A: 2 x 30 minutes sweet spot, 5 minutes easy between.
B: 75 minutes zone 2.
C: 5 x 4 minutes at 106 to 115%, 4 minutes easy between.
D: 2 hours 30 minutes zone 2. Two hours is fine if indoors.
Short on time? Do 2 x 20 minutes in A, 4 x 4 minutes in C, and make D 2 hours.
Week 8: recover, then retest (about 4 hours)
A: 45 minutes zone 2 with 3 x 1 minute at 100 to 105% to wake the legs up.
B: 60 minutes zone 1 to low zone 2.
C: FTP retest, using the same protocol as week 1, ideally at the same time of day.
D: 90 minutes zone 2.
Compare your new FTP with week 1 and update your zones before your next block. The TSS calculator helps you see how your weekly load changed across the 8 weeks.
Five things that make indoor training work
Use a fan, or two. Indoors there is no airflow. Overheating pushes your heart rate up and your power down.
Fuel the long rides. For rides over 90 minutes, aim for about 30 to 60 grams of carbohydrate per hour. The race nutrition calculator gives you a starting point.
Use ERG mode for sweet spot, free mode for over-unders. ERG keeps long blocks steady. Free mode teaches you to pace the changes yourself.
Long zone 2 rides can go outside. If the roads are safe, a long outdoor ride is easier on the mind than 2.5 hours on the trainer.
Respect the bad days. If you slept badly, are getting ill or your legs feel empty, swap the session for an easy ride or a rest day. One missed workout does not undo a block.
What a fixed plan cannot do
A written plan assumes every week goes as planned. Real winters include work trips, colds, bad nights and the occasional dry Sunday you want to spend outside. That is where LeCoach is different from a PDF.
LeCoach builds a base block like this one around the days and hours you actually have. It then adjusts the plan when your HRV, sleep or resting heart rate show you are not recovering, or when you miss a session. You can ask the coach in chat to move a workout, shorten the week or swap an indoor ride for an outdoor one. Workouts sync through Intervals.icu to Zwift, Wahoo, Garmin, Rouvy and MyWhoosh, so you just get on the trainer and ride.
Want a longer build after this block? The 12-week cycling training plan takes you from base to race fitness.
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