8 hours a week cycling training plan
An example eight-hour week built from structured workouts: two quality sessions, a long ride and more easy endurance.
- Weekly riding time
- 7 h 57 min
- Weekly Workout Score
- 408
- 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.
| Day | Session | Role | Duration | Workout Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | Rest day | |||
| Tuesday | Sweet Spot 2×25 | Quality session | 1 h 22 min | 87 |
| Wednesday | Endurance 60 min | Endurance ride | 1 h | 44 |
| Thursday | Threshold 2×20 | Quality session | 1 h 26 min | 106 |
| Friday | Recovery Spin 35 min | Recovery ride | 35 min | 17 |
| 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 | 7 h 57 min | 408 | ||
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)2 h 6 min · 26%
- Z2 Endurance (56 to 75% FTP)4 h 21 min · 55%
- Z3 Tempo (76 to 90% FTP)50 min · 10%
- Z4 Threshold (91 to 105% FTP)40 min · 8%
How the 8 hours split
Compared with the six-hour example, this week keeps two quality days and adds easy riding: a midweek endurance ride and a short recovery spin the day before the long ride. Most of the extra time is low-intensity riding.
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 2×25
1 h 22 min · Workout Score 87 · Open the workout page
| # | Block | Duration | Target | Watts | Zone |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Warm-up | 10 min | 55% FTP | 138 W | Z1 |
| 2 | Work | 25 min | 89% FTP | 223 W | Z3 |
| 3 | Recovery | 6 min | 55% FTP | 138 W | Z1 |
| 4 | Work | 25 min | 89% FTP | 223 W | Z3 |
| 5 | Recovery | 6 min | 55% FTP | 138 W | Z1 |
| 6 | Cool-down | 10 min | 50% FTP | 125 W | Z1 |
Thursday: Threshold 2×20
1 h 26 min · Workout Score 106 · Open the workout page
| # | Block | Duration | Target | Watts | Zone |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Warm-up | 20 min | 65% FTP | 163 W | Z2 |
| 2 | Work | 20 min | 100% FTP | 250 W | Z4 |
| 3 | Recovery | 8 min | 65% FTP | 163 W | Z2 |
| 4 | Work | 20 min | 100% FTP | 250 W | Z4 |
| 5 | Recovery | 8 min | 65% FTP | 163 W | Z2 |
| 6 | Cool-down | 10 min | 55% FTP | 138 W | Z1 |
Frequently asked questions
What does an 8 hour cycling training week look like?
The example week has six rides: sweet spot on Tuesday, threshold on Thursday, a long ride on Saturday, endurance rides on Wednesday and Sunday, and a short recovery spin on Friday. The values for each session and for the whole week are in the table above.
Should extra hours go into intensity or endurance?
In this example, going from six to eight hours mostly adds easy riding. There are still two quality sessions, and the extra time goes into endurance and recovery rides. The split section above shows the resulting share of each type.
Can I ride an 8 hour week indoors?
Every session in the example is a structured workout with a .zwo download on its workout page, so the whole week can be ridden on a smart trainer. The long ride also works outdoors if you prefer.
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
Plan your week in TrainCraft
Training plans are part of PRO. With PRO AI, TrainCraft can also suggest changes to an active plan that you review and apply. Create an account to see the available plans and the plan builder.