Training articles
Cycling training guidance built on research and on our own riding.
Three columns: what you set up around the training, the training itself, and the physiology behind it. Cross-training has its own section at the bottom. Each group opens with the article to read first.
Practical tips
What you set up around the training: the bike, the equipment, the conditions and the food.
Bike fit
Saddle height: the most important adjustment on your bike
Saddle height affects knee health, power and comfort more than almost any other adjustment. Three methods, common mistakes and step-by-step fitting.
Cleat settings: how to position your cleats
Cleat position changes knee load, power transfer and comfort. A practical guide to finding your own position.
Riding in an aero position
At 30 km/h, air resistance is around 80 % of the resistance you face. Small changes in position save real watts.
Equipment and conditions
Power-based training: how to use your power meter right
Why you should not overestimate your FTP, how 4 × 12 min replaces a formal test, and what the research says about power versus heart rate.
Indoor zone 2: when the trainer beats the road
Power differences indoors and out, heart-rate drift, session structures, and when the trainer is the better choice for an easy ride.
Training in practice
How you plan and carry out your training through the week and the season.
Session types and intensity
Intensity distribution: how much easy, how much hard
80/20 is quoted wrongly. What WorldTour professionals actually do, what happens when the models are compared, and what it means when you have eight hours a week.
Supporting sessions: mobility, stretching, rolling and core
Answer what you feel — stiffness, tension, no core work — and get a week of short sessions beside the bike.
Planning
Mesocycles: build and recover in blocks
The 3:1 pattern for the ordinary cyclist — three weeks of progressive loading, one week of recovery.
Winter training: build the base without peaking early
Sweet spot and zone 2 through the winter build a base that leaves you ready to absorb training when the season starts.
Foundations
Training philosophy: how we build endurance athletes
Continuity as the core principle, zone 2 as the foundation, and 1–2 quality sessions a week in a fixed-flexible week that survives real life.
Getting started with zone 2: a coach's guide for beginners
Forget 220 minus your age. Learn to ride zone 2 properly from the start, with your body as the guide rather than a formula.
Warm-up and cool-down for cyclists
Why the warm-up matters, and concrete protocols for zone 2, threshold and VO2max sessions.
Week planner: build your training week
Tell us which days you can train and how much time you have. We suggest a week built on the fixed-flexible structure.
Recovery
Recovery and zone 2: why easy training makes you stronger
Sleep, nutrition timing, rest days and easy rides. How to let the adaptation actually happen.
Overtraining and recovery: when your body says stop
The difference between normal fatigue and bad form, the warning signs, and what to do when rest is not enough.
Theory and physiology
Why the training works: the physiology, the numbers and the research behind it.
Why zone 2 works
What happens in your body when you ride easy?
From mitochondrial growth and fat oxidation to lactate as fuel — what the research actually shows about zone 2 training.
Mitochondria and endurance: why easy rides make you faster
What your mitochondria do, how zone 2 training builds more of them, and why this is the adaptation that matters most.
Fat oxidation and metabolic flexibility
How zone 2 training builds fat-burning capacity, what Fatmax is, and why metabolic flexibility separates trained riders from beginners.
Zone 2 for health and longevity
How easy endurance training improves insulin sensitivity, counters mitochondrial ageing and strengthens metabolic health.
Thresholds, zones and testing
Training zones and physiology: how to use the zones
A complete guide to the zones, LT1 and LT2, threshold+, how to read power and heart rate, the RPE scale, and why heart rate lags in intervals.
FTP, threshold heart rate, W/kg and critical power
What the numbers measure, how to test them, and how precise they are. With the research behind them and our recommended FTP test.
How to Measure Your Threshold Correctly: The Complete Guide
Learn why percentage-based formulas are unreliable and how to find your actual threshold using VT1, lactate, DFA α1, and practical FTP testing.
Cross-training for cyclists
Running, strength and the return after childbirth — training beside the bike, and how it works together with it.
Running and cycling: how to combine the endurance sports
Aerobic capacity transfers between the sports, but neuromuscular speed does not. Three limiting factors and a practical week.
A cyclist's guide to fast road races
What a road running race demands of a cyclist, from someone who has run 31:24 for 10 km. Sessions, technique and strength before the start line.
Strength training for endurance athletes
The minimal effective dose — how strength work protects bones, tendons and performance, and where it fits in the week.
Postpartum training: how to return safely
Pelvic floor work, cycling as the safe first choice, and an evidence-based route back to running. With protocols and readiness tests.