Cycling Workouts to Improve Your FTP
FTP rises when you spend focused time at and just below threshold. The workouts below — sweet spot blocks, classic 2x20s, over-unders and threshold ramps — target the lactate-clearing and sustained-effort adaptations that move your number. Ride one or two per week on fresh legs, keep the rest of your riding easy, and retest every 6-8 weeks.
Tempo Touches
62-120 min · 65-80 TSS
A Zone 2 ride with two 10-minute touches of light tempo. Enough stimulus to nudge your aerobic ceiling, gentle enough to stay a genuinely moderate day.
Sweet Spot Cruise
43-85 min · 55-67 TSS
Sustained effort just below threshold - the most efficient intensity for building FTP. Challenging but sustainable.
Long Block Tempo
65-87 min · 62-75 TSS
Two long tempo blocks for a bigger aerobic dose. Extending the blocks past 20 minutes teaches your body to stay efficient when the effort stops feeling fresh.
Sweet Spot Starter
35-56 min · 41-50 TSS
A gentle introduction to sweet spot - firm, focused riding just below threshold. Blocks short enough to nail the intensity while still building real FTP fitness.
Sweet Spot Builder
54-75 min · 60-73 TSS
Three sweet spot blocks just below threshold - the workhorse session for raising FTP. A big training benefit for a modest fatigue cost.
Sweet Spot Sting
61-82 min · 66-81 TSS
Classic two-block sweet spot with a firmer final 2 minutes in each block. Teaches you to lift the effort when the legs are already loaded - exactly what hard group rides and race finishes demand.
Punchy Sweet Spot
49-78 min · 63-76 TSS
Sweet spot blocks with a short burst every 4 minutes. Mimics the punch of a fast group ride - steady pressure broken by repeated accelerations you have to absorb without blowing up.
Classic 2x20
70-95 min · 69-84 TSS
The gold standard for building threshold power. Two sustained efforts that challenge your body to adapt at the intensity where fitness gains are greatest.
3x10 Threshold
50-70 min · 43-53 TSS
Three focused threshold efforts with generous recovery. Shorter intervals make it easier to hold good form and target power.
4x8 Threshold
56-85 min · 66-81 TSS
Four solid efforts at threshold. The shorter duration lets you hit the power target precisely - quality over quantity.
Over-Unders
46-77 min · 57-69 TSS
Alternating above and below threshold teaches your body to clear lactate while maintaining power - a crucial ability for racing and hard group rides.
Hill Repeats — Threshold
57-81 min · 49-59 TSS
Find a 3-5 minute climb and ride it at threshold. Climbing adds resistance naturally - a simple, effective way to build power outdoors.
Sweet Spot Intervals
65-85 min · 54-66 TSS
Classic sweet spot work to push your threshold higher. Challenging but sustainable - the most efficient intensity for building FTP.
Criss-Cross
46-77 min · 52-63 TSS
Alternating between sweet spot and threshold keeps the effort variable and engages your body's ability to respond to changes - simulating real-world riding.
Sprint-Building Sweet Spot
63-78 min · 47-57 TSS
Building sprint power on a sweet spot foundation - combining sustained efforts with short maximal bursts.
3x12 Threshold
54-88 min · 69-84 TSS
Three twelve-minute efforts right at threshold. Long enough to drive real adaptation, short enough to hold clean, even pacing from start to finish.
Sweet Spot Endurance
70-100 min · 67-82 TSS
Long sustained efforts to build your aerobic engine. Steady sweet spot work that pushes your limits while staying controlled.
4x10 Threshold
76-95 min · 75-92 TSS
Forty minutes of work at threshold, broken into four manageable pieces. The short recoveries keep pressure on your aerobic system while letting you nail each rep.
Crisp Sixes
56-74 min · 65-80 TSS
Short, punchy reps just above threshold. Six minutes is long enough to stress your engine at 100-105% FTP but short enough to stay crisp and controlled on every rep.
The Long Hold
50-60 min · 50-60 TSS
One unbroken block just under threshold. No rest, no reset - as much mental training as physical, teaching you to sit with sustained discomfort and pace it well.
Three-One Over-Unders
54-88 min · 68-83 TSS
Extended time just under threshold with one-minute pushes above it. The longer under portions make each surge sting more - exactly the stimulus that teaches your body to clear lactate on the move.
Attack and Settle
55-70 min · 45-55 TSS
A 30-second attack, then settle straight back to threshold without recovering. Mimics how races actually break apart - and trains you to absorb surges without blowing up.
Descending Over-Unders
62-71 min · 56-68 TSS
Over-under blocks that shrink as you go - four rounds, then three, then two. As the blocks get shorter, the surges feel sharper, so you finish strong rather than fading.
Ramp Reps
64-77 min · 53-65 TSS
Each rep starts comfortably below threshold and climbs steadily above it. Ramping from 90% FTP to 105% FTP teaches pacing discipline and finishes every interval at its hardest point - just like a real climb.
Long Climb Threshold
50-75 min · 50-60 TSS
One long climb, ridden at a strong, steady threshold effort. Sustained climbing builds aerobic strength and threshold together - no traffic, no coasting, just you and the gradient.
Switchback Surges
55-68 min · 46-56 TSS
Steady climbing broken by 15-second pushes, just like driving out of hairpins. Trains the surge-and-settle rhythm real climbs demand - hard kick, then straight back to work.
Loaded Threshold
72-105 min · 76-93 TSS
Threshold work on pre-fatigued legs. Riding 2x15min after a solid endurance block trains you to produce your best efforts deep into a ride - where events are actually decided.
Long Criss-Cross
63-71 min · 59-72 TSS
Extended, unbroken blocks that weave between just under and right at threshold. With no rest inside the block, you learn to change effort without losing rhythm - and to keep working while you recover.
Race Rehearsal
55-84 min · 49-59 TSS
Tempo straight into hard threshold efforts with only short recoveries - the way races actually unfold. Teaches you to go hard when you are already working, not from fresh.
Tempo to Threshold Progression
60-90 min · 65-80 TSS
Progressive intensity that builds through the session. Teaches you to find another gear when already working — a key race skill.
Eight-Minute Bridge
55-79 min · 64-78 TSS
Eight-minute efforts right at the border of threshold and VO2max. Long enough to build sustained power, hard enough to raise your ceiling - the bridge between the two systems.
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