Cycling FTP Training: 7 Core Workouts to Raise Your Threshold Power

FTP (Functional Threshold Power) is the single most important fitness metric in cycling — it represents the maximum average power you can sustain for roughly 60 minutes.

Raising your FTP means raising your riding capability across every intensity. This article covers 7 of the most effective FTP-building workouts, from theory to practice.

Why FTP Is the Core Metric

FTP matters because it’s the bridge between your aerobic and anaerobic systems.

• Above FTP: Anaerobic metabolism dominates, lactate accumulates, and duration is limited
• Below FTP: Aerobic metabolism dominates and can be sustained for a long time
• Near FTP: The point of maximum mobilization of both systems

Raising your FTP means the “maximum power you can hold for a long time” goes up — and that directly helps every type of riding, whether climbing, time trialing, or long-distance racing.

Workout 1: Sweet Spot Training

Intensity: 88-94% of FTP
Duration: 20-40 minutes per interval

Why it works:
Sweet spot sits in the highest-value zone for FTP training — intense enough to strongly stimulate the aerobic system, yet not so taxing that you can’t do it often.

Typical workout design:

• 2 x 20 minutes (88-94% FTP), 5 minutes recovery
• 3 x 15 minutes (90% FTP), 5 minutes recovery
• 1 x 40 minutes (88% FTP)

Execution tips:
Climbs are an ideal setting for sweet spot training — the gradient forces you to hold a steady power output and makes it easier to maintain the right cadence.

Workout 2: Threshold Intervals

Intensity: 95-105% of FTP
Duration: 8-20 minutes per interval

Why it works:
This intensity sits directly around FTP, making it the most direct way to raise your threshold. Because the intensity is high, you can typically only complete 2-4 intervals per session.

Typical workout design:

• 3 x 12 minutes (100% FTP), 6 minutes recovery
• 2 x 20 minutes (98% FTP), 8 minutes recovery
• 4 x 8 minutes (105% FTP), 4 minutes recovery

Execution tips:
This type of workout is mentally demanding. Recommendations:

1. Target a specific road segment (don’t rely purely on willpower to hold intensity)
2. Ride the first interval conservatively, then push harder later
3. Actually ease off during recovery (Zone 1-2)

Workout 3: Over-Under Training

Intensity: 90-100% of FTP, with “crest surges” layered in
Duration: 20-30 minutes of continuous riding, including 2-3 “breakaway-style” surges of 30-60 seconds

Why it works:
This pattern more closely mirrors real racing — a sudden acceleration at threshold intensity, followed by a return to threshold.

Typical design:
25 minutes in Zone 3, with a 1-minute Zone 5 surge inserted every 8 minutes

Workout 4: Lactate Clearance Training

Design: After a high-intensity segment (Zone 5+), drop straight into Zone 3 instead of recovering in Zone 1

Purpose: Trains your body to keep producing power while lactate is still elevated

Typical design:
3 x (3 minutes Zone 5 + 5 minutes Zone 3 + 2 minutes Zone 1)

This type of training is especially useful in competitive cycling — attacks and chases in a race follow exactly this pattern of intensity shifts.

Workout 5: Climbing Repeats

Intensity: 100-110% of FTP
Duration: 6-12 minutes per repeat (choose a climb of appropriate length)

Why it works:
Climbing forces your body to work against gravity, keeping the power demand on each pedal stroke more consistent — making it the most direct way to build climbing ability.

Typical design:
Choose an 8-12 minute climb (3-8% gradient), repeat 3-5 times, recovering on the descent between efforts.

Recommended routes in Taiwan:
The Yangmingshan Observatory segment (about 4-5 minutes), the Beiheng Fuxing segment (15-20 minutes)

Workout 6: Low-Cadence Climbing (Force Development)

Design: Ride a climb at low cadence (50-60 rpm)
Intensity: 85-95% of FTP
Duration: 5-10 minutes per interval

Why it works:
Low-cadence climbing trains muscular strength, particularly the quadriceps at the front of the thigh. It mirrors the actual movement pattern of riding far more closely than leg exercises in the gym.

Cautions:
Not suitable for riders with knee issues. Low cadence increases torque on the knee, so this should only be done if you have no existing knee problems.

Workout 7: Extended Tempo Riding

Intensity: 76-87% of FTP (Zone 3)
Duration: 45-90 minutes sustained

Why it works:
Although the intensity is lower than the other methods above, extended Zone 3 training plays an indispensable role over the course of a season:

• A stronger metabolic stimulus than Zone 2
• Easier to recover from than Zone 4-5
• Especially suited to preparing for long-distance events (for races over 3 hours, Zone 3 is the primary energy source)

Typical design:
A 60-minute ride including 45 minutes of steady Zone 3 tempo

How to Schedule the 7 Workouts

You don’t need to do every workout every week — choose based on your training phase and goals:

Workout Type	Weekly Frequency (Build Phase)	Best Suited For
Sweet Spot Training	2-3x	All-around FTP gains
Threshold Intervals	1-2x	Time trial ability
Over-Under Training	1x	In-race surging ability
Lactate Clearance	1x	Attack-and-recover ability
Climbing Repeats	1-2x	Climbing FTP
Low-Cadence Training	1x	Muscular strength
Tempo Riding	1-2x	Endurance base

Don’t do all 7 in the same week:
Pick 2-4 based on your weaknesses and race goals, and combine them.

Measuring Progress

Test your FTP every 6-8 weeks to track improvement.

FTP testing tips:

• Test on day 3-4 after a taper (to ensure you’re fully recovered)
• Choose a familiar route or use a trainer
• Warm up fully, then do a 20-minute all-out effort
• Use average power x 0.95 as your new estimated FTP

Conclusion

There’s no shortcut to raising your FTP, but there are more efficient paths.

These 7 workouts cover different dimensions of FTP improvement, and combining them ensures well-rounded threshold development.

Choose the methods that fit your current level, stick with them for 6-12 months, and your FTP gains will exceed expectations.

Related Reading

• How to Effectively Raise Your FTP: From Testing to a Real Training Plan
• Cycling FTP Growth Curve: A 12-Month Systematic Tracking Analysis
• Raising Climbing FTP: An 8-Week Progressive Threshold Climbing Plan
• Designing an FTP Plan for the 40km Triathlon Bike Leg: The Key to Steady Power Output