Anaerobic Capacity Cycling Workouts

Anaerobic Workouts

Anaerobic capacity is the amount of hard work you can do above VO2max before the legs give out. It decides attacks, short steep climbs, bridging gaps and the last minute of a criterium or a cyclocross race. Anaerobic workouts use efforts of about 20 seconds to 2 minutes at roughly 120 to 160% of FTP, either with long recoveries for high quality or with short breaks to train repeated efforts.

This category includes the Tabata protocol from the 1996 cycle ergometer study, controlled 20/10 and 20/40 sets, 1 and 2 minute anaerobic capacity intervals, descending sets, efforts with shrinking recoveries and off-road surges for cyclocross, mountain bike and gravel racing. The beginner sessions use short efforts and very long recoveries so you can learn the feel of riding well above threshold.

These sessions are hard on the legs and the nervous system. Use them in the build and peak phases, usually once a week and not on the day after another hard session. In the base phase they have little place unless you race all year. Many of the efforts are too short and too variable for ERG mode, so resistance or slope mode on the trainer often works better.

To choose, look at what your races demand. Short repeated efforts suit criteriums and off-road racing, longer single efforts suit attacks and short climbs in road races. Start with the lower power in each range and keep the pacing even within each effort.