How to improve endurance on the bike without doing long rides

There’s been loads of research performed in recent years testing different training plans, and one has emerged as the stand-out winner: polarised training.

For polarised training, you only ride at two intensities: high and low. Middle intensity riding, sometimes known as sweet spot or tempo, is taken out of the picture completely.

So in a polarised training plan, you’d spend 80% of your training at a low intensity aerobic zone - sometimes described as ‘zone 2’ - then 20% at a very high intensity.

Polarised training is used by some pros who often train up to five hours per day, but how does it work if you're only doing five hours per week?

With five hours' training time, you're looking to spend up to an hour at very high intensity with the other four spent recovering. This could be done with a couple of HIIT sessions in your week with short intervals, and one longer steady ride of about two to three hours with some sprints thrown in.

Think of it as pushing and pulling: all that slow easy riding is slowly pushing your endurance upwards, whereas the high intensity is pulling your ceiling up higher. Stick to this plan, and your endurance will improve, even if you can't train 30 hours a week like the pros.

A really effective high-intensity workout to try is 10 x 30-second max sprints with more than two minutes rest in between each set. It’s tough, but it’ll really boost your fitness.

Here’s another one to try. Ride four minute blocks of high intensity, in which you sprint for 20 seconds, then recover for 40 seconds. After each four minute block, take a ten minute break. Three repetitions of that will give you a really effective session.

Try 4 x 30 second sprints in your long ride with lots of recovery in between, and then try to add one or two more in each week up to a maximum of around ten.

Since these sessions are going to put a lot of stress on your body, it’s really important to take at least a day in between so you can recover.

In between your high-intensity sessions, you can enjoy the rest of your riding at a moderate aerobic capacity. The aerobic zone is at the top of the moderate-intensity exercise zone, so it should be about 50% to 70% of your maximum heart rate. At this intensity, you should just about be able to talk normally, but you might be a little bit breathless.

You can train well either indoor or outdoor, but some sessions are better suited to each type of riding.

Being indoors allows you to get your head down and go hell for leather, without worrying about traffic and distractions, so for intervals or high intensity sessions, indoor can be better.

For your moderate-intensity rides, it’s great to get outside for these, and even better in a group. These rides are a good opportunity to make the most of the social aspect of cycling.

So, can a busy cyclist improve their endurance with only a few hours training a week? Absolutely. All it takes is a smart approach. With a polarised plan bringing together high- and low-intensity riding, your endurance and general fitness is going to skyrocket.

There’s still a place for longer rides too, if you can squeeze them in. That’s because cycling endurance is also about being comfortable on your bike – you need to get used to your saddle, and condition your body to adopt a riding position.