Training by weekly hours

10 hours a week cycling training plan

An example ten-hour week built from structured workouts: two quality sessions and back-to-back long endurance rides.

Weekly riding time
9 h 35 min
Weekly Workout Score
490
Sessions
6
Rest days
1

An example week

This week is an editorial example, not a ready-made plan in the TrainCraft library. Every session is a workout from the public workout library. Session duration, Workout Score and the weekly totals are calculated from the workout intervals.

Example week for 10 hours of riding
DaySessionRoleDurationWorkout Score
MondayRest day
TuesdayVO2max 5×4Quality session1 h 5 min79
WednesdayEndurance 3×20Endurance ride1 h 29 min57
ThursdayThreshold 3×15Quality session1 h 36 min115
FridayCoffee Ride 75 minRecovery ride1 h 15 min45
SaturdayLong Endurance 125 minLong ride2 h 5 min97
SundayLong Endurance 125 minLong ride2 h 5 min97
Week total9 h 35 min490

Time in zones across the week

Summed from the intervals of every session in the example week. Zones follow the 7-zone model used across TrainCraft, as a percentage of FTP.

  • Z1 Active recovery (up to 55% FTP)1 h 44 min · 18%
  • Z2 Endurance (56 to 75% FTP)6 h 46 min · 71%
  • Z4 Threshold (91 to 105% FTP)45 min · 8%
  • Z5 VO2max (106 to 120% FTP)20 min · 3%

How the 10 hours split

Long rides
4 h 10 min · 43%
Quality sessions
2 h 41 min · 28%
Endurance and recovery rides
2 h 44 min · 29%

This example keeps one rest day, two quality sessions and a midweek endurance ride, and adds a second long endurance ride on Sunday. The Friday ride stays easy so the weekend starts fresh.

In this example, the long ride uses Long Endurance 125 min, the longest endurance workout in the TrainCraft library, at 2 h 5 min. If you have more time, for example on an outdoor ride, the long ride is the natural session to extend.

Quality sessions in watts

Targets are a percentage of FTP. Each table starts from a sample FTP; set your own FTP to see that session in watts. Nothing is saved.

Tuesday: VO2max 5×4

1 h 5 min · Workout Score 79 · Open the workout page

FTP
±1/5/10 W
250W
#BlockDurationTargetWattsZone
1Warm-up15 min55% FTP138 WZ1
2Work4 min112% FTP280 WZ5
3Recovery4 min55% FTP138 WZ1
4Work4 min112% FTP280 WZ5
5Recovery4 min55% FTP138 WZ1
6Work4 min112% FTP280 WZ5
7Recovery4 min55% FTP138 WZ1
8Work4 min112% FTP280 WZ5
9Recovery4 min55% FTP138 WZ1
10Work4 min112% FTP280 WZ5
11Recovery4 min55% FTP138 WZ1
12Cool-down10 min50% FTP125 WZ1

Thursday: Threshold 3×15

1 h 36 min · Workout Score 115 · Open the workout page

FTP
±1/5/10 W
250W
#BlockDurationTargetWattsZone
1Warm-up20 min65% FTP163 WZ2
2Work15 min98% FTP245 WZ4
3Recovery7 min65% FTP163 WZ2
4Work15 min98% FTP245 WZ4
5Recovery7 min65% FTP163 WZ2
6Work15 min98% FTP245 WZ4
7Recovery7 min65% FTP163 WZ2
8Cool-down10 min55% FTP138 WZ1

Frequently asked questions

How should I structure 10 hours of cycling a week?

The example week keeps one rest day and uses two quality sessions (VO2max intervals on Tuesday and threshold on Thursday), an endurance ride on Wednesday, an easy ride on Friday and two long endurance rides at the weekend.

Why two long rides at the weekend?

Back-to-back long endurance rides add volume at low intensity and practise riding on tired legs, which suits long events such as centuries and gran fondos. Both use the same library workout, so each lasts 2 h 5 min.

Is 10 hours a week too much?

It depends on your training history, recovery and life outside cycling. If you are coming from a lower volume, build up over several weeks from the 6 or 8 hours a week examples rather than all at once.

Guides and events

The goal guides show how a week like this fits into a longer block, and the event pages add preparation roadmaps for specific events.

Century (100 mi) guide →Gran fondo guide →Climbing guide →Base / winter guide →
Browse cycling events →All structured workouts →

Other weekly volumes

6 hours a week: example week →8 hours a week: example week →

Plan your week in TrainCraft

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