Training Philosophy: How We Build Endurance Athletes

Core Principles

The most important thing in endurance training isn't individual sessions — it's continuity, smart weekly structure, and making the most of your time. Principles that work over time, combined with the flexibility to adjust training around your life, give maximum results.

Zone 2 training is essential in the program. Zone 2 builds the foundation — muscular endurance and the capacity to absorb training. Quality sessions build the capacity on top. Together they create development, while leaving room for bad weeks without the foundation crumbling.

Our structure is built around 1–2 interval sessions per week plus a solid base of zone 2. The control comes from smart intensity management and thoughtful session combinations. We use zone 2, sweetspot, threshold, over-threshold, and VO2max — but everything must be combined correctly for development. An optimal combination allows plenty of quality training and recovery. And not least — it's much more fun to train with fresh legs!

Five Pillars

Continuous training over time — quality training week after week, month after month
Zone 2 — correct use, volume, and intensity gives an extra boost, combined with good recovery
1–2 quality sessions per week — from threshold to VO2max, where capacity is built
Recovery is training — adaptation happens during rest, not during intervals
Zone 2 and above burns a lot of calories — with enough carbohydrate you can handle the volume and intensity, and get the effect

The Fixed-Flexible Week

The most important thing is having fresh legs on interval days, which is ensured by easy training the day before. Beyond that, fill up with zone 2, preferably on the days after interval training. The sequence matters more than which weekday: easy → interval → zone 2.

The fixed-flexible week can be varied depending on what suits you best. Interval sessions can be placed on Tuesday and Thursday, or Wednesday and Saturday — the key is that they don't come back to back, and that there's easy training the day before. Zone 2 sessions go on whatever days work for you. If you know you'll have little time for several days, you can add zone 2 training to ensure continuity.

The most important outcome of the program structure is good legs on interval days. We ensure this with several days of zone 2 training (which provides some recovery) and easy training or rest the day before interval sessions. This is a key point because good legs on interval days mean you can give more, feel better, and you know what state your body is in. With a rigid program of fixed hard sessions, you risk not knowing how your body is doing and gradually overtraining. Each week we know whether the body is recovered and how much load it can handle.

Example Weeks

Day	3 sessions	5 sessions (A)	5 sessions (B)
Mon	Rest	Rest	Rest
Tue	Zone 2 40 min + 3×4 min VO2max	VO2max 70 min	VO2max 70 min
Wed	Rest	Zone 2 60 min	Zone 2 60 min
Thu	Threshold 60 min	Rest	Zone 2 60 min
Fri	Rest	Threshold 75 min	Zone 2 60 min
Sat	Zone 2 60 min	Long ride 2.5h	Easy / rest
Sun	Rest	Zone 2 60 min	Zone 2 40 min + threshold 40 min

More time = more zone 2 and longer sessions, not more intervals. Less time = combined zone 2 and intervals. From 3 to 20 hours per week, it's the volume that grows while 1–2 quality sessions remain the core.

Zones and Session Types

All zones are based on FTP (functional threshold power), roughly the watts you can hold going all-out for one hour. If you don't know your FTP, you can do an FTP test, read more about FTP testing here. Heart rate and lactate work too. We've made an overview of how the zones relate across watts, heart rate, and lactate, see zone calculator.

Zone 2 — 64–80% of FTP

Builds aerobic foundation, fat oxidation, and muscular endurance. 60–180 min depending on time. Long sessions: lower part of the zone. Short sessions (60 min): upper part near LT1.

Sweetspot — 85–90% of FTP

Builds lactate tolerance at moderate load. Long efforts below threshold. Used in base building, as transition and in easy weeks. Example: 3×15 min.

Threshold — 95–105% of FTP

Builds the ability to sustain high power over time. Longer intervals at or just above lactate threshold. Example: 3×12 min / 4 min rest.

VO2max — 110–120% of FTP

Builds top-end capacity and maximum oxygen uptake. Short, hard efforts. Example: 5×4 min / 3 min rest.

Indoor and outdoor produce different output at the same physiological cost. Expect lower numbers on the trainer than outside — that's normal.

Zone 2: The Tool That Carries the Program

Zone 2 provides high training load with low risk. Hard intervals also provide load, but with higher risk of overtraining and injury. Zone 2 lets you manage total load without taking that risk — you can train a lot without digging yourself into a hole.

The intensity is low enough that the body recovers between quality sessions. That means zone 2 gives you training and recovery simultaneously. Classic volume training requires 15–25 hours per week. Zone 2 provides many of the same adaptations in fewer hours — 'fake volume'.

Zone 2 works the muscles: endurance in the legs, tolerance for sustained load over time. Combined with strength pedaling (low cadence, high force per pedal stroke), zone 2 builds a base that lets the body handle racing and race-relevant training in season.

Zone 2 is used year-round — in base, in season, in recovery weeks. Long sessions (2+ hours): lower part of the zone. Short sessions (60 min): upper part near LT1. Cool-down after interval efforts: zone 1. The day after intervals: zone 2 as usual.

Zone 2 + sweetspot is the core of base building. Sweetspot (85–90% of FTP) trains lactate processing, zone 2 trains fat oxidation. Together they cover two energy systems without requiring full recovery between sessions.

Progression: How You Build Over Time

A good program has built-in progression. We typically use a 3:1 pattern — three weeks where you gradually increase volume or intensity within sessions, followed by one easier week. In the easy week you keep the weekly structure but lower the intensity to sweetspot or zone 2.

Keep the fixed-flexible weekly structure year-round. The content of the sessions evolves gradually — from sweetspot and zone 2 in base to more threshold and VO2max further into the season. The dose adjusts, the structure remains.

Phase	Session A (VO2max day)	Session B (Threshold day)
Standard	Moderate dose (2 sets)	Moderate dose (3×10 min)
Push	Full dose (3 sets)	Full dose (4×8 min)
Recovery	Sweet spot / tempo	Sweet spot / zone 2

Micro-progression is more sustainable than big jumps. When a 3-week block feels comfortable, nudge one variable: add a rep, extend an interval by 2 minutes, increase power target by 5 watts. Small increments compound over months and years.

Recovery and Load Management

Sleep is the most important recovery tool you have. Everything else — supplements, compression garments, ice baths — is marginal compared to consistent, adequate sleep. 7–9 hours for most adults, with endurance athletes benefiting from the upper range.

Most recreational athletes don't overtrain from volume. They overtrain from the combination of intensity, life stress, and insufficient sleep. High volumes of genuinely easy training rarely cause problems. High intensity on top of life stress with poor sleep is where breakdown occurs.

The Warmup Test: Listen to Your Body

Power/pace targets met with normal HR and RPE → proceed as planned
Targets met but RPE is elevated → complete but don't extend
Targets not achievable → downgrade to sweet spot or zone 2
Everything feels wrong → make it a recovery day

A downgraded session is almost always better than a skipped session. Sweet spot instead of VO2max still provides stimulus. Zone 2 instead of threshold still adds aerobic volume. Full rest should be reserved for illness, injury, or genuine exhaustion.

Nutrition: The Fuel That Makes Training Possible

Endurance training requires energy. Zone 2 sessions of 60–90 minutes burn 500–800 kcal, and interval sessions even more per minute. Without enough carbohydrate, the body cannot recover between sessions, and training quality drops.

The main rule is simple: eat enough carbohydrate to support the training you do. That means plenty of carbs around hard sessions (before, during, and after), and generally enough calories to avoid a deficit over time. Chronic under-fueling is the most common cause of stagnation in recreational athletes who train a lot.

During longer sessions (90+ minutes), take in 30–60 grams of carbohydrate per hour. Recovery begins during the session, not after. After hard sessions, prioritize carbohydrate and protein within 1–2 hours. The details are in our nutrition article — the principle here is: enough energy in means the body handles the training and gets the effect.

Strength Pedaling and Strength Training

Strength pedaling is low cadence with high force per pedal stroke — on the bike. It builds muscular endurance directly relevant to cycling, and is time-efficient: muscular load without a 3-hour long ride. Strength pedaling combines naturally with zone 2 sessions and is especially useful when training time is limited.

Strength pedaling + zone 2 is a strong base package, especially ahead of the season. Together they build tolerance for racing and race-relevant training.

Gym strength training has a different effect: bone density, neural strength, injury prevention. It's a health-oriented addition for those who want it — beneficial, but not a central part of the training program. Minimal effective dose: 2–4 sets of 3–5 reps. Placed after endurance sessions, preferably on harder training days.

The Long Game

Most of the development comes from continuous training, adequate recovery, and enough nutrition. Periodization, equipment, and supplements are fine-tuning — it's the groundwork that delivers the results.

An athlete who enjoys their training keeps it going for years. One who follows a "perfect" plan they don't enjoy will quit. When choosing between optimal and enjoyable, choose enjoyable. Training must be sustainable.

Go Deeper

Small improvements maintained over years produce extraordinary results. An athlete who improves 1% per month for a decade will be unrecognizable from where they started. The system reinforces patience and long-term thinking over short-term optimization.