Spin Training

I ride an indoor spin bike most days, and I got tired of making up workouts on the fly. So I builtSpin Studio, a free web app that lets you design your own spin workouts, set by set, and ride them with a big countdown timer, resistance cues and beeps before every change.

This section is the training side of it: the rides I use, what each one is for, and the ideas behind them. Everything here works with any spin bike that has a resistance knob or lever. The resistance numbers are from my bike, which goes from 0 to 100, so treat them as a starting point and adjust them to how they feel on yours.

Guides

• The 80/20 Rule: Ride Easy to Get Faster
  Why most of your riding should feel easy, and how to keep your hard days truly hard.
• Resistance Zones: Green, Yellow and Red
  How hard each part of a ride should feel, and what the numbers mean on a 0–100 resistance bike.
• Cadence and Position: Seated, Standing and RPM
  How fast to pedal, when to stand, and why it matters as much as resistance.
• Warm-Ups and Cool-Downs That Don't Waste Your Ride
  How long to warm up and cool down, and why five minutes is usually enough.
• Building a Weekly Spin Plan
  A simple week of rides that follows the 80/20 idea, and how to adjust it.

Rides

Listed from easiest to hardest. Each page has the full set-by-set plan, and every ride is built into Spin Studio.

• Easy Spin 30 · 30:00 · Recovery · peak 25
  A truly easy 30 minutes for the day after a hard ride.
• Endurance 45 · 45:00 · Endurance · peak 35
  The backbone of the week: 35 minutes steady with a few high-cadence breaks.
• Sweet Spot 3x10 · 45:00 · Sweet spot · peak 45
  Three 10-minute blocks just under threshold: big fitness gains without being wrecked.
• Over-Unders 45 · 45:00 · Threshold · peak 52
  Five rounds of steady work with a harder surge at the end of each.
• Hill Climb · 1:00:00 · Climbing · peak 50
  A long, steady climbing ride that builds through the hour.
• 20-min Intervals · 24:00 · Intervals · peak 55
  Six 1-minute pushes in 20 minutes, with stepped warm-up and cool-down.
• Pyramid 30 · 30:00 · Intervals · peak 55
  Efforts that build from 1 to 4 minutes and back down, getting harder as they get shorter.
• 30/30s · 30:00 · VO2 max intervals · peak 55
  Sixteen 30-second efforts. Short, sharp and very effective.
• Twin Hills 30 · 30:00 · Climbing · peak 60
  The same two hills and red peaks as Twin Hills 60, in half the time.
• Twin Hills 60 · 1:00:00 · Climbing · peak 60
  Two long climbs that finish standing in the red.
• Three Hills 60 · 1:00:00 · Climbing · peak 60
  Three climbs, each a little harder than the last, with a quick warm-up and cool-down.