Tempo intervals with sprint finishes: Manon Lloyd’s 30-minute indoor training workout
Build your resistance to fatigue with this short but leg-sapping indoor cycling session
Tom Hallam-Gravells
Online Production Editor
Join Manon Lloyd for this week’s training session as she takes you through three sets of tempo intervals. Each interval varies with a mix of tempo efforts before ending with a fatigue-inducing 30-second sprint.
To complete the session, you’ll need an indoor bike, exercise bike, smart trainer or turbo trainer. Things will get toasty once you’ve reached the sprint efforts so make sure you have a towel and some water near at hand.
- Read more: GCN's ultimate guide to indoor cycling
What is the benefit of tempo training?
Tempo lies in the middle of the effort scale. A pace that you should be able to hold for long periods, it’s faster than a conversational endurance pace but falls below functional threshold power territory where the fatigue starts to kick in.
Targeting the tempo training zone will build your endurance, helping you to ride faster for longer. To maximise those training gains, we’ve added sprint efforts into the intervals which will build fatigue throughout the workout. This will be beneficial, improving your ability to ride through fatigue in the future.
Warm-UP.jpg?w=600&auto=format)
Warm up: 5 minutes at a range of intensities
To prepare for the intervals, a thorough warm-up is required. Follow Manon’s lead, starting at an easy 2/10, before building up through the effort levels to 5/10. Things will then briefly drop back down to 2/10, giving you time to recover ahead of the first interval.
Intervals: Tempo efforts finished off with sprints
Each interval will differ slightly and there will be a short minute of recovery between each.
For the first, start out at 5/10 for two minutes, building up to 7/10 for three minutes, before ending with 30 seconds at 9/10. Start at 7/10 for the second interval, moving up to 5/10, before once again finishing with a sprint.
The final interval is really tough with a two-minute 9/10 effort followed by three minutes at 6/10. Things will once again end with a 30-second 9/10 effort and, by this point, your legs should be burning!
Cool down: Spin out your legs for five minutes
Your legs should be really burning after that last interval! It’s important to thoroughly warm down in order to clear any lactate and kick-start the recovery process.
Aim to complete five minutes of easy spinning.
.jpg?w=600&auto=format)
Related Content
Essential guide to indoor cycling 2024
Everything you need to know about cycling indoors, including smart trainer workouts, the best fitness apps for cyclists, indoor training accessories and equipment, plus indoor bike and pain cave set-up
Train like Ollie Bridgewood: 30-minute Zone 2 indoor training workout
Manon Lloyd takes you through this session, which Ollie Bridgewood used to prepare for his Tour de Stations epic ride
How to change the stem on a road bike
A new stem can transform the fit and feel of a bike. Here’s how to replace a stem on a road bike
Take it easy! 25-minute aerobic indoor cycling workout
A steadier workout for low-intensity days, or for building into your indoor cycling gradually