I wrote in March about Building a Bigger Motor through lactate threshold power training. Once that motor is built, you want to learn to run rev it hard so that you can initiate and/or respond to attacks. This is done through high-intensity interval training (HIT) which can be done up to twice per week.

Key aspects of any HIT workout are intensity, duration and recovery interval. These are tailored to the athlete’s specific needs. I often prescribe HIT workouts at CP6 intensity for those training with power meters. A power meter is a huge advantage for governing intensity in a HIT workout because it provides immediate and objective feedback. For example, if the prescribed intensity is 350W, then the athlete can monitor his or her wattage level throughout the effort. Heart rate is not particularly effective for HIT sessions because it lags effort considerably. If you don’t have a power meter, you will need to use a combination of rating of perceived exertion (RPE) and HR to govern your efforts to an intensity that you would otherwise be able to sustain for about 6-minutes. Err on the conservative side as the natural tendency is to go too hard during early efforts and then not have enough left to maintain the intensity for later efforts.

An effective general approach is to make the duration and recovery interval equal (e.g., 1-minute “on” followed by 1-minute recovery interval). I like to have athletes start at 1-minute durations and then graduate them to longer durations up to 3-minutes as they become more fit. I typically target 10-12 minutes of total work time but they should be stopped sooner if the intensity drops below the target on any two consecutive efforts.