5 Ways to Increase Power on the Bike

With workouts from a cycling coach to help you progress.

Every cyclist wants a higher functional threshold power (FTP) and the ability to push more watts (w). 

However, it’s not just about having a higher FTP than your friends. You want the ability to push more watts for various durations, from 20 minutes, 5 minutes, 2 minutes, and even 30-second sprints…even all the way up to many hours. Having robust power profiles across all these segments means you’re more likely to go with the surges and roll to the front.

So how do you increase cycling power? This article explains everything you need to know. I also explain five key areas you need to improve with workouts for each to help you push more watts and perform at your best.

What you will learn:

• Why cycling power is important and how it translates into your cycling
• How to increase your power output on the bike
• 5 sessions you can start doing today to increase your average cycling power over various durations 

What is cycling power?

Cycling power is your estimated work rate measured in watts (w). 

Power is how much torque you can apply to the pedals and how fast you can turn the cranks. It’s your rate of work when cycling. The higher power you can sustain, the harder you can ride with less fatigue.

You want a high average cycling power to improve cycling speed and performance.

A high average cycling power is also a strong indicator of race performance. Being able to sustain high watts will especially help on climbs, longer rides, race pacing, and strategy.

For example, if you can push and sustain more watts, you can surge when needed. Sudden increases in power enable you to bridge to a group ahead, attack — rather than survive — on a climb, and respond to other riders’ moves in a race.

Having the ability to push more watts also makes pacing more predictable.

However, you don’t just want to improve your threshold power (FTP). You want to improve your power over durations like 20 minutes, 5 minutes, 2 minutes, and even 30-second sprints. 

This gives you more tactical tools and resources to utilise when needed, like responding to a breakaway or exploding out of a corner in an attempt to drop riders behind. 

Even if you don’t race, you will improve your performance on the bike, leaving your mates behind on the hills or pushing high watts into a headwind with less effort.

*Caveat* While increasing power is a sure way to improve your speed on the bike, DO NOT neglect your bike fit/position on the bike. This topic is a big can of worms, perhaps best saved for another day. Although, keep in mind we have an online bike fitting program below, which will set you up for optimal power transfer, comfort, and aerodynamics. 

Bike Fit Fundamentals

How can I increase my power output?

Add variety to your training to increase your power output over various durations and distances. 

To increase cycling power, perform a mix of workouts at various intensities, like VO2 Max, threshold, and Zone 2 endurance rides.

I’ve included a power zones chart below for you to refer to. For more details on specific zones, read our cycling power zones article. 

5 workouts to improve power on the bike 

I’ve highlighted five of the key areas you should focus on to increase your power on the bike:

• Endurance
• FTP 
• VO2 Max
• Anaerobic 
• Sprint efforts

Each section includes a workout you can perform as part of your training program to improve your cycling performance and power output.

1. Endurance

Riding in zone 2 should make up a big chunk of your training. 

Zone 2 is performed at approximately 55-75% of your FTP or 60-70% of your max heart rate. It’s often described as a conversational pace.

Ryan Thomas, head coach at the RCA, recommends building up to 3 hours of consistent zone 2 riding. He explains how “Slow twitch muscle fibre contribution is at its highest and you’re utilising a high percentage of fat as a fuel by reducing time above zone 3 power where possible.”

However, once you’ve built up to 3 hours of consistent zone 2 riding, you can tap into zone 3 power on the climbs. By spending a small portion of time in zone 3, you extend your endurance instead of just riding at zone 2 power.

Focus on achieving 3 hours of consistent zone 2 riding first.

When performing zone 2, ensure that constant pressure is applied to the cranks. This consistent power output ensures you remain in zone 2 for maximum benefits, which includes muscular adaptations. 

2. Threshold workout

Your functional threshold power, or FTP, is the highest sustainable average power you can maintain for approximately 1 hour.

By riding at threshold, which is approximately 91-105% of your FTP, you increase the glycolytic capacity and time to exhaustion, which builds threshold power. You can ride harder for longer with less fatigue.

Perform a 20-minute warm-up at zone 2 with 2×1-minute activations just under target power to activate the neuromuscular pathways and get blood flowing to the muscles. 

The main session is as follows:

• 4-5 x 8-minute efforts at 95-105% threshold power
• Recover for 4 minutes at zone 1 power between intervals 

To progress, reduce recovery to 2 to 3 minutes between threshold efforts.

3. VO2 Max

VO2 Max is the maximum amount of oxygen you can use during intense exercise [4]. It’s often used to determine the cardiovascular fitness of an individual. Typically, the higher your VO2 max, the more efficiently your body can use oxygen, allowing you to sustain higher-intensity efforts for longer.

It’s why pro cyclists like Tadej Pogačar have VO2 scores as high as 88 to 90ml/kg/min. They can use oxygen more efficiently, which translates to better endurance performance, like cycling.

The goal of VO2 max workouts is to spend time at — or close to — your maximum power to develop the aerobic energy system and glycolytic capacity. In other words, by working at a very high intensity, your body performs more efficiently at these demanding levels. 

Adaptations include more mitochondria (the powerhouse of the cell), improved lung capacity, increased stroke volume and blood plasma, and more. Your body becomes more efficient at using oxygen.

This is more intense than your threshold effort, and you can typically only sustain this maximal effort for 5-10 minutes.

Perform a 20-minute warm-up at zone 2 and 2×1 minute activation efforts at VO2 power range.

The main session is as follows:

• 3 sets of 9 x 30-second intervals at 120 to 130% threshold power 
• Rest for 15 seconds at zone 2 between intervals
• Recover after each set with 3 minutes at zone 1 
• 20-minute cooldown

To progress this workout, increase to 11 repeats and then to 13 repeats.

Research [2] shows that short intervals of 30 seconds lead to more time spent at higher average power output and more time spent above 90% of VO2 Max and peak heart rate compared to long intervals (5 minutes). Shorter VO2 intervals may lead to greater training benefits in elite and highly trained cyclists.

4. Anaerobic workout

The goal of this session is to improve your anaerobic capacity — training your body to work without oxygen. It will also improve your recovery between sprints, surges, and more intense efforts.

High-level and elite-level cyclists have a high aerobic capacity and repeatedly use their anaerobic energy reserves [3]. Developing your anaerobic capacity is necessary if you want to push more watts and either compete or ride at your best.

Anaerobic training also improves your lactate tolerance, helping you push more power before fatigue kicks in.

Perform a 20-minute warm-up with two 30-second activations just under target power.

The main session is as follows:

• 6 x 1-minute efforts at 130-160% threshold power 
• Recover for 4 minutes at zone 1 between intervals
• 20-minute cooldown 

To progress, add an extra repeat so you would do seven 1-minute efforts with 3 to 5-minute recoveries between each interval.

Anaerobic intervals have a larger power range to allow for individual capacity, adjusting based on feelings on the day. 

Including a session like this in your training will improve your ability to push significantly more watts for short periods, like attacking a short climb, accelerating out of corners, or trying to catch a breakaway.

5. Sprint/all-out power

Your ability to perform short-duration, high-intensity efforts, like 5 to 15-second sprints, is crucial to establish a breakaway, close a gap, or sprint away from the group to win a race [1].

Sprints help build neuromuscular and anaerobic power pathways and recruit more fast-twitch muscle fibres. This helps you generate more power quickly for these high-intensity surges.

Perform a 20-minute warm-up at zone 2 to start with two 10-second accelerations at an RPE of 9/10 to help activate neuromuscular pathways and muscle fibres to prepare you for the all-out sprints.

The main session is as follows:

• 6 x 20-second max effort sprints
• Recover for 5-8 minutes at zone 1 power between each sprint 
• 20-minute cooldown 

Thomas explains, “Quality and peak power in EVERY effort is the aim rather than focusing on specific durations of sprints or recovery. Learn your body and listen to the recovery response to adapt.”

Note that the recovery is long between each sprint, as each sprint is anaerobic and very taxing. If you don’t give yourself enough rest, you simply can’t go all out in each effort.

This session will also teach your body how to recover after sprinting when you resume regular aerobic intensity.

To progress this workout, add an extra sprint repeat. So this would be seven to eight 20-second sprints with a 5-8 minute recovery between each.

Key takeaways

• Cycling power is how much torque you apply to the pedals, measured in watts (w)
• The higher your cycling power, typically the harder you can ride with less fatigue
• A high FTP is good, but you also want to improve your power across 30-second sprints to 5 and 20-minute hard efforts
• Add endurance, threshold, VO2, anaerobic, and all-out-power workouts to your training to increase power output across various durations 

Now that you know what sessions to include in your training, you may be curious how to structure these into a weekly or monthly training block. You can shop our off-the-shelf training programs, all of which include sessions like those included in this article, structured correctly to help you improve performance and power on the bike. 

References 

1. Abbiss, C.R., Menaspà, P., Villerius, V. and Martin, D.T., 2013. Distribution of power output when establishing a breakaway in cycling. International journal of sports physiology and performance, 8(4), pp.452-455.

2. Almquist, N.W., Nygaard, H., Vegge, G., Hammarström, D., Ellefsen, S. and Rønnestad, B.R., 2020. Systemic and muscular responses to effort‐matched short intervals and long intervals in elite cyclists. Scandinavian journal of medicine & science in sports, 30(7), pp.1140-1150. 

3. Almquist, N.W., Sandbakk, Ø., Rønnestad, B.R. and Noordhof, D., 2021. The Aerobic and Anaerobic Contribution During Repeated 30-s Sprints in Elite Cyclists. Frontiers in Physiology, 12, p.692622.

4. Bassett, D.R. and Howley, E.T., 2000. Limiting factors for maximum oxygen uptake and determinants of endurance performance. Medicine and science in sports and exercise, 32(1), pp.70-84.