High-Intensity Training as a Time-Limited Cyclist

If you only have 6-8 hours per week to train on the bike, a little strategy can go a long way.

One of the most important training fundamentals is the overload principle. If you apply enough of a training stimulus to overload the body—one that requires recovery—you will subsequently adapt and improve.  

The problem is, when you only have 6-8 hours per week to train, it can be difficult to accumulate the volume to elicit such a response—you quickly hit a ceiling where the necessary training stress can no longer come from volume alone. The next logical step? To add intensity. In the parlance of endurance sports, this is often referred to as HIIT: high-intensity interval training.

But before we go any further, a word of caution: relying too much on intensity to make up for a lack of time (and, therefore, slower volume) can have major drawbacks as well. 

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Here are a few of the most prevalent pitfalls of a time-limited training approach:  

• Doing too many intense rides per week 

• Riding at the incorrect intensity for the given intervals 

• Unstructured intensity (e.g., just racing on Zwift all the time) 

• Not doing enough intensity to create an overload 

• Too frequent interval sessions leading to low quality HIIT 

The benefits of some quantity of HIIT are well established. The far more difficult question to answer is: How much does any athlete need? There is an endless debate surrounding this topic. It often comes down to both the training philosophy (polarized versus sweetspot training, for example) and which period of the training plan you’re in.  

Let’s establish a few basic guidelines.

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How often should you HIIT it?

The first question to ask yourself is where in your annual plan are you now. The next question is: How willing are you to commit to this sort of work?

If you’re in the base season, you likely need far less HIIT. Six weeks from your target race, however, you will want to add much more. Research studies suggest that the benefits of HIIT workouts top out at between 2-3 days per week for roughly 3-5 weeks. 

Beyond that and you don’t get any additional benefits—in fact, you may start to head toward burnout or overtraining. That’s why the polarized training model suggests only 15-20 percent of your total number of rides should be high intensity. 

It’s also good to remember that many HIIT workouts achieve the intended gains in as little as six sessions.  

HIIT is attractive because it provides rapidly apparent benefits without a large time commitment—and, importantly for those with little extra time to train, without a large total volume of work time. But you must always balance your recovery to ensure the overload you’re producing doesn’t become too much for the body to handle.

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And, finally, the psychological aspect should not be overlooked. If you aren’t truly motivated to produce a quality effort, you probably won’t get the results you hoped for. HIIT should only be performed when motivation is high.

How to effectively add HIIT to your weeks

In order to get the most out of HIIT, you have to make room for it. You can’t simply add it to your 6-8 hour week—that could tip you over the edge. On the other hand, if your “easy” days are too hard, then you won’t be fresh enough to take full advantage of the key HIIT sessions.

So, you must strategically use easy days and reduce endurance volume to prepare for the onslaught of the high intensity. 

The goal of each HIIT session is to accumulate time at a given intensity. For example, target a pace that sees you hitting around 85 to 95 percent of your maximum heart rate. If you’re just starting out, try to accumulate 10-12 minutes; slowly work your way up until you’re getting upwards of 30 minutes of intensity.

A sample week might look like the following:

• Monday: Off

• Tuesday: Recovery spin (zone 1) of 60-75 mins

• Wednesday: 4x6-minute (or 8-minute) intervals, done at 85 to 95 percent of your maximum heart rate. If you’re getting 12-18 minutes of intensity, that’s great. Target 60-75 total minutes including warm-up and cool-down.

• Thursday: Off

• Friday: 4x6-minute (or 8-minute) intervals. 60-75 minutes.

• Saturday: Endurance ride (zone 1-2) of 90-120 minutes

• Sunday: As time allows

With two HIIT sessions in a week, two days completely off the bike, and two to three light endurance rides (in the base endurance zone), the goal for this example week is to achieve consistency and quality. 

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There are countless interval sessions to choose from. Try not to overthink which will be best for you, but rather consider your long-term goals to determine which intervals you respond to best. Sometimes it’s more important to choose intervals based on how much you enjoy doing them, because motivation is such a critical piece of HIIT. If you look forward to a particular interval type or workout, you’ll probably put out your best efforts.  

Ultimately, the best approach is to find an interval routine that speaks to you, that you are motivated to do consistently, and then commit to it for at least six sessions.