Strength Endurance Bike Workout You Can Do on Your Lunch Hour — Triathlete

Sometimes it can be challenging to squeeze a meaningful workout into a lunch break, but this session – designed to build muscular endurance – will help you become a stronger, more efficient cyclist and all in under an hour. Use it at the beginning of the year to help develop your base, and return to it throughout the season to maintain what you’ve built.

Why high-tension, low-cadence riding belongs in your training

Before getting into the workout itself, it’s worth clearing up a common misconception. High-tension, low-cadence riding — also known as high-torque work — is often referred to as strength work. Coach Alison Freeman pushes back on that. “Strength work in the gym is, say, 12 to 15 reps over 45 to 60 seconds,” she explains. “Even at very low cadences, you’re hitting about four times as many reps in the same amount of time. The force production is drastically different.”

The high-torque work involved in this workout delivers plenty of benefits, the first being neuromuscular recruitment: “High-torque work forces greater neuromuscular recruitment,” says Freeman, “and those improved recruitment patterns stick around after the workout is done, allowing you to access more muscle fibers when cycling.”

It also helps to train full pedal engagement, prompting you to use the entire 360 degrees of rotation to produce power, rather than just pushing down on the pedals.

Perhaps most practically for triathletes with hilly races on the calendar, it can be great course-specific preparation. “High-torque work is required on hilly courses and those with long climbs,” says Freeman, “so doing it in training specifically prepares you for the demands you’ll face on race day.”

If your season includes races like Ironman Canada, Lake Placid, Chattanooga, or Wisconsin — or 70.3s like Mont Tremblant, Coeur d’Alene, or Maine — this workout is ideal preparation for the terrain you’ll be riding on race day. Freeman’s rule of thumb: anything over 4,000 feet of gain for a full, or 2,000 feet for a half, and high-torque work should be a regular fixture in your plan.

Why start with single-leg drills?

The warm-up here isn’t arbitrary. The single-leg drills that open the session are specifically designed to prime the 360-degree pedal rotation before you get into the main set. “The benefit of starting with single-leg drills is to prime that 360-degree engagement,” says Freeman. “It’ll help during the high-torque work — reinforcing the movement patterns and making the work more productive.”

Does it beat just going out for a ride?

“Real hills are always better,” Freeman says, “but this workout will help you get the job done if you can’t get to them.” There’s also a practical argument for the structured indoor version: a 60-minute outdoor ride has a habit of taking 90 minutes once you factor in changing, bike prep, and stop lights. For a lunch break session, the trainer or an easy-to-access local climb on a good gradient keeps it tight and purposeful.

The muscular endurance bike workout

Warm-up

• 15 minutes easy pedaling
• 5 x 30 seconds single-leg drills (30 seconds right leg; 30 seconds left leg)
• 2 x 1 minute: Build your effort each 20 seconds — easier for the first 20, moderate for the second 20, strong for the last 20, with 1 minute easy between

Main set

1–5 x 4.5 minutes muscular endurance; 90 seconds easy spin between efforts

Maintain a high tension, lower cadence (60–70 rpm), comfortable pace. Do this on a hill or with good resistance on the trainer. Anchor your hips to the saddle, engage your core so it’s tight and stable, and grip the handlebars firmly. Keep your body still and drive through the pedals smoothly. Muscle tension will be high, and watts (if you’re using a power meter) will read high, but your heart rate will run slightly lower than you might expect.

Do as many rounds as you’re comfortable with (or have time for).

Cooldown

Easy spin to total time, including 5 x 15 seconds fast rpm spin-ups in a light gear.

How to fit this into your training week

Place this the day after a good, long aerobic swim-only day so that you have fresher legs to ride with purpose.