How to do a quick 17-minute indoor cycling HIIT workout
This 'sprinterval' session is a short but effective GCN workout for building cycling power and burning fat
James Howell-Jones
Junior Writer
Join GCN’s Conor Dunne for this short but effective HIIT ‘sprinterval’ training session.
Perfect for time-strapped cyclists, it’s one of the most efficient ways to train, packing in plenty of quality into only 17 minutes. That’s only a short amount of time but it will feel much longer when you’re suffering through the multiple sprint intervals.
Check out more training sessions in GCN’s guide to the best indoor cycling workouts
What is "sprinterval" training or sprint intervals?
If you’re short on time, or just want a quick, high-impact workout, Global Cycling Network's ‘sprinterval’ training is for you.
As the name suggests, ‘sprintervals’ are sprint intervals that will push you into the red zone with multiple all-out efforts. All of the suffering will be worth it as sprint intervals are the best way to improve your peak anaerobic power.
This ‘sprinterval’ session consists of super high-intensity, 10-second sprint interval bursts, followed by a cool down. It is perfect for squeezing a quick cycling workout into your day, no matter how time-strapped you are.
The benefits of high-intensity sprint training
A sprint training session is designed to develop top-end power. The recovery between each effort is only short, so you’ll be working on your muscular endurance too. This will train your body to recover fast and keep pushing, even when you're tired.
If you’re looking to lose weight, HIIT sessions are a really good idea. Interval training burns more fat than low-intensity training sessions by increasing your metabolic rate, and thanks to afterburn, you’ll keep burning calories long after you’ve got off the bike.
So, sprint interval training has big benefits for every type of cyclist.
Indoor cycling workout details
- GCN instructor: Conor Dunne
- Indoor workout duration: 17 minutes
- Indoor training type: HIIT sprint intervals
- Fitness difficulty: A high-intensity workout for cyclists who want to boost their sprint power
- Benefits of this indoor cycling workout: Improving sprint power and losing weight
Warm up the legs quickly with a gentle spin up to a 90% effort
Even for a quick session, you need to warm up. Starting at 2/10, we're going to build the intensity up gradually until we're right up at 9/10. As warm-ups go, it's hard, but it'll prepare your body for the sprint efforts to come.
Top Tip
Use this warm-up to gear up your mind too – there's some serious effort needed for the main part of this short session.
Short but intense intervals over 10 minutes
After a couple of minutes recovering from the warm-up, we're into the main session. We're going to alternate between flat-out 30-second efforts and easy recovery. This session is only short, so your intensity needs to be at the highest level to feel the benefits.
Spin out the legs and cool down on your bike
Those hard efforts are complete, and it's time to warm down. As we're short for time, spin out the legs at a low intensity for a minute and a half.
Top Tip
If you've got time to cool down for a little longer, take another minute or two - it'll help your muscles recover.
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