6 hours a week cycling training plan
An example six-hour week built from structured workouts: two quality sessions, a long ride and easy endurance.
- Weekly riding time
- 5 h 52 min
- Weekly Workout Score
- 297
- Sessions
- 4
- Rest days
- 3
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.
| Day | Session | Role | Duration | Workout Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | Rest day | |||
| Tuesday | Sweet Spot 3×12 | Quality session | 1 h 8 min | 70 |
| Wednesday | Rest day | |||
| Thursday | Threshold 3×10 | Quality session | 1 h 10 min | 73 |
| Friday | Rest day | |||
| Saturday | Long Endurance 125 min | Long ride | 2 h 5 min | 97 |
| Sunday | Endurance 3×20 | Endurance ride | 1 h 29 min | 57 |
| Week total | 5 h 52 min | 297 | ||
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 51 min · 32%
- Z2 Endurance (56 to 75% FTP)2 h 55 min · 50%
- Z3 Tempo (76 to 90% FTP)36 min · 10%
- Z4 Threshold (91 to 105% FTP)30 min · 9%
How the 6 hours split
This example uses four rides and three rest days. The long ride is the largest single block, two quality sessions carry the intensity, and the Sunday endurance ride adds easy volume without another hard day.
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: Sweet Spot 3×12
1 h 8 min · Workout Score 70 · Open the workout page
| # | Block | Duration | Target | Watts | Zone |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Warm-up | 10 min | 55% FTP | 138 W | Z1 |
| 2 | Work | 12 min | 90% FTP | 225 W | Z3 |
| 3 | Recovery | 4 min | 55% FTP | 138 W | Z1 |
| 4 | Work | 12 min | 90% FTP | 225 W | Z3 |
| 5 | Recovery | 4 min | 55% FTP | 138 W | Z1 |
| 6 | Work | 12 min | 90% FTP | 225 W | Z3 |
| 7 | Recovery | 4 min | 55% FTP | 138 W | Z1 |
| 8 | Cool-down | 10 min | 50% FTP | 125 W | Z1 |
Thursday: Threshold 3×10
1 h 10 min · Workout Score 73 · Open the workout page
| # | Block | Duration | Target | Watts | Zone |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Warm-up | 15 min | 55% FTP | 138 W | Z1 |
| 2 | Work | 10 min | 95% FTP | 238 W | Z4 |
| 3 | Recovery | 5 min | 55% FTP | 138 W | Z1 |
| 4 | Work | 10 min | 95% FTP | 238 W | Z4 |
| 5 | Recovery | 5 min | 55% FTP | 138 W | Z1 |
| 6 | Work | 10 min | 95% FTP | 238 W | Z4 |
| 7 | Recovery | 5 min | 55% FTP | 138 W | Z1 |
| 8 | Cool-down | 10 min | 50% FTP | 125 W | Z1 |
Frequently asked questions
Is 6 hours a week enough for structured cycling training?
Six hours leaves room for two quality sessions, a long ride and an easy endurance ride, as in the example week above. Whether it is enough depends on your goal and background. Longer events usually need a longer long ride than the library workout used here, which you can extend outdoors.
How many hard sessions fit into 6 hours a week?
The example uses two: sweet spot on Tuesday and threshold on Thursday, with the other rides kept easy. A third hard session in the same hours leaves less time for easy riding and recovery.
What should I cut first in a busy week?
Keep the two quality sessions and the long ride if you can, and shorten or skip the Sunday endurance ride first. The 8 and 10 hours a week pages show how the same structure grows with more time.
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.
Other weekly volumes
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