The British Cycling 8-week Indoor Time Efficient Training Plan is a plan designed for intermediate and advanced riders who, due to work, family, the weather or other reasons, are time poor and are limited to indoor training. There is a real emphasis on workout quality and recovery.
The plan and the workouts within it are designed for to power meter users. All of the cycling workouts are fully built within the plan and so, it’s compatible with smart trainers and many head units.
If you have a Zwift account, along as your TrainingPeaks account is paired, the session will automatically appear as custom workouts.
To start the plan, you should ideally be riding two or three times a week, be capable of riding for 2 hours and use to interval style workouts.
The volume of training comes in at under 5 hours each week, including an optional 60-minute cross training session. With flexible days included, it can easily be adjusted to fit around your life. If you’re already familiar with TrainingPeaks and its metrics, weekly TSS is between 113-290.
The training weeks are typically broken down into three rides; two mid-week and one at the weekend. The first mid-week ride tends to focus on longer intervals whereas the second ride has more of a sprint emphasis. All mid-week rides come in at under an hour including warm-up and cool down. The weekend ride is longer, usually two hours, but includes specified efforts to break up the workout and add intensity.
There is also an optional session that gives you the opportunity to do some cross training. Cross training, although optional, should be part of your training. Don’t worry if you can’t manage dedicated sessions, even doing regular mobility work at home will benefit your riding. Cross training helps to prevent boredom, provides options if you are unable to ride and builds all-round injury preventing robustness.
The plan is fully supported by content on the British Cycling Insight Zone, where you can find advice on skills, training, nutrition, equipment, clothing and maintenance.
www.britishcycling.org.uk/knowledge