If you don’t have a lot of free time to dedicate to a long outdoor ride, don’t worry. You can build and maintain your fitness in other ways – including these quick half-hour indoor workouts. 

Short bursts of high-intensity exercise can improve your VO₂ max just as effectively as longer sessions at lower intensity, according to a study published in the International Journal of Exercise Science.

“Riding regularly – even for short periods – can do wonders for your overall health.”

More broadly, riding regularly – even for short periods – can do wonders for your overall health. Short, focused efforts such as hill repeats, HIIT sessions and other forms of interval training can also boost performance, whether you’re chasing speed or endurance.

So, if you only have 30 minutes to spare, these five workouts will help you make the most of it.

How to Use These Workouts

Each workout outlines what to do, how long to do it for, and at what intensity. Intensity is measured using RPE (rate of perceived exertion), on a scale of 0 to 10 – where 0 is easier than a gentle spin and 10 is an all-out, eye-watering effort.

1. Rock the Block

These sustained, demanding efforts increase calorie burn while building your tolerance for riding above your comfort zone. Make sure you include a proper warm-up and cool-down.

2. Ramp Jump

This isn’t about catching air – it’s about gradually ramping your effort up to full gas, holding it there briefly, easing off to recover, and then repeating the process. These intervals help you stay with the pack when the pace surges.

Complete the set twice for a neat 30-minute session, or three times for a longer, 42-minute workout.

3. Flick the Switch

Think of this as a punchy, high-energy session. These repeated all-out efforts demand a lot, but help raise your fitness ceiling, allowing you to ride faster and longer with less fatigue.

Repeat the work effort for 15 rounds.

4. Old School HIIT

Tabata intervals are named after Japanese scientist Dr Izumi Tabata, who developed the protocol in the 1990s. They involve 20 seconds of maximum effort followed by 10 seconds of rest, repeated for eight rounds (four minutes in total).

In this workout, you’ll complete two Tabata sets, with a five-minute recovery in between (1 set = 8 x “Full throttle + Soft pedal”). These intervals are designed to train both your aerobic and anaerobic systems in a short space of time.

5. Riding the Line

To improve sustainable power, you need to ride right on the edge of your threshold – just below it, then slightly above – to help your body become more efficient at clearing lactate.

These intervals are ideal for that purpose. Aim for six rounds.

This article first appeared on bicycling.com. 

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