Team time trial: 20-minute HIIT indoor cycling workout

This HIIT spin bike workout replicates the varied intensities of a team time trial effort

20:07, Saturday 18th May 2024

James Howell-Jones

Junior Writer

Conor Dunne
GCN Presenter
Readdressing the power balance of the GCN crew
Zwift
Zwift is a fitness technology company that allows users to interact, train and race on its virtual online cycling platform. Zwift has approximately one million subscribers and has completely changed how cyclists view training.
Canyon
Canyon Bicycles GmbH is a German manufacturer of road bikes, mountain bikes, hybrid bikes, triathlon bikes and e-bikes based in Koblenz, Germany.

Join GCN’s Conor Dunne for this 20-minute HIIT workout that mimics the efforts of a team time trial, alternating between medium and all-out anaerobic efforts.

To help inspire you through the session, Conor transports us to the opening stage of the Vuelta a España: sprint off the line, ride at a range of intensities in the group, and make sure to give it your all to get back on the wheel.

All of the intensities will be based on perceived effort rather than training zones, so it’s easy to follow along.

Explore GCN’s best indoor cycling workouts

What are the benefits of HIIT spin training for weight loss?

If you’re short on time and looking to burn calories, HIIT training sessions like this are the way to go. Over the years, studies have shown that high-intensity training is really effective for fat loss. Best of all, workouts like this produce afterburn – as your muscles recover, your body keeps burning calories, long after you’ve finished exercising.

Remember, though, that if weight loss is your goal, nutrition is just as important, if not more important, than exercise. If you're finding it difficult to lose weight, check out our guide for help.

Can you cram a high-quality indoor training season in under 30 minutes?

There are many misconceptions that circulate in the world of cycling, especially about the amount of time cyclists should dedicate to workouts. Some cyclists will tell you that it needs to be at least an hour, but that simply isn’t achievable on a consistent basis for many. There’s good news here as you can reap lots of fitness benefits from much shorter indoor workouts, even ones that are 30 minutes or less, like this HIIT session.

When you get precious moments of free time, a short 20-minute workout like this is perfect. It may not be long, but it packs in plenty of high-quality training in the time, and with it lots of performance gains. Some studies have shown that regular short training sessions are actually better for fitness than less frequent longer exercises too.

Indoor cycling workout details

GCN instructor: Conor Dunne
Indoor workout duration: 20 minutes
Indoor training type: A hard HIIT workout to replicate time trial efforts
Fitness difficulty: A tough indoor cycling session for those wanting to hone their time trial performance, lose weight or are short on time
Benefits of this indoor cycling workout: Building muscular endurance, fatigue resistance, calorie burning

Explore all of GCN’s indoor cycling workouts

Warm up on your indoor trainer

To get your body ready for a team time trial, you need to warm up. Starting with easy pedalling at 3/10, we're going to build up to 6/10 before bringing it back down. After a six-minute warm-up, you're ready to start the time trial.

Start the main time trial effort session

It's time to put down some power. Imagine you're on the start line of a team time trial in the Giro d'Italia or Tour de France, and go as fast as you can to get out of the blocks. After that, we're going to keep the intensity pretty high, with a few sprints thrown in here and there. It's a tough session, but keep pushing to the chequered flag!

Warm down gradually

How do you warm down after a team time trial? After cruising back to the team bus, you get on the turbo trainer and spin out the legs. That's what we're going to do now. Ride a couple of minutes at 4/10, then a couple of minutes at 2/10, and you're done. Good job!