Manon Lloyd's 30-minute extended accelerations HIIT indoor cycling session
This session features five 90-second accelerations, just like if you're riding over small crests on an undulating road
James Howell-Jones
Junior Writer
GCN's Manon Lloyd leads this extended efforts session to simulate accelerations to get over short hills. Push into the red zone for five 90-second intervals. There’s no rest straight after each of the tough efforts, making this workout even trickier than it looks!
For this session, you will need an indoor bike, smart trainer or spin bike, a bottle of water, and, ideally, a fan to keep you cool and a towel to collect any sweat.
Read more: How to get set up for indoor training
How to lose weight with interval training
Research published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine shows that interval training, just like this session, is good for weight loss. This session has a number of high-intensity sections with limited recovery.
Not only does this burns more calories while you're on the bike than steady state riding, crucially, it triggers the afterburn effect. That means that as your body rebuilds your muscles and replenishes energy stores after the ride, you'll keep burning calories even after you get off the bike.
Warm-UP.jpg?w=600&auto=format)
Ramped warmup for six minutes on your static bike
To prepare for this session, get on your exercise bike and spin the legs gently. Following Manon's lead, bring the intensity up minute by minute, until you're at 6/10. Then bring it back down to get your breath back, and you're ready for the session.
Main session: 90-second intervals
This session is based around a set of 90-second intervals, but each one is slightly different. Follow Manon's lead as she guides you through each of them.
Top Tip
Take note of the efforts following those high-intensity periods. They're not necessarily easy recovery periods, so keep pushing.
Cool down for four minutes
The hard part is over, but stay where you are for a few more minutes to spin out your legs and begin that recovery process. First of all, we'll do two minutes of 1/10. This is super easy pedalling, just turning the pedals with almost no resistance. Then, we'll build it up to 3/10 for another couple of minutes. After that, you're finished.
Related Content
Team time trial: 20-minute HIIT indoor cycling workout
This HIIT spin bike workout replicates the varied intensities of a team time trial effort
The full pyramid: 30-minute HIIT indoor cycling workout from GCN
A 30-minute HIIT workout for developing anaerobic fitness, led by Manon Lloyd
How to replace a gear cable on a road bike
A new gear cable can reduce friction and improve shifting. Here’s how to change a gear cable on a road bike
How to wax a bike chain
Waxing a chain is more complicated than applying lube but it's worth the extra effort