Power Training Zones For Cycling

Explanation of each training zone

 

Zone 1 @Z1, RECOVERY

Intensity: 40-60% of your FTP

Easy spin or light pedal pressure, is a very low-level exercise. Requires no attention to sustain pace, and easy to have a conversation. Typically used for an easy active recovery ride after exhausting training days (or races), between interval efforts, or for socializing.

---

Zone 2 @Z2, ENDURANCE TRAINING

Intensity: 65-80% of your FTP

This should be the foundation of your training and make up the bulk of your workouts – especially if you’re a beginner cyclist. It’s where you build your base and burn fat, and it’s an intensity you should be able to comfortably hold for an extended period of time. Breathing is more regular than at level 1, but the continuous conversation still possible. Frequent training sessions of moderate duration at level 2 possible (provided dietary carbohydrate intake is adequate), but complete recovery from very long workouts may take more than 24 hs.

---

Zone 3 @Z3, AEROBIC CAPACITY (TEMPO)

Intensity: 85-95% of your FTP

This type of training improves aerobic fitness, power, strength, and blood circulation, and it’s often mixed in with Zone 2 training. The best way to describe it is “comfortably hard”. You’re working, and you feel it. But you can keep pushing through.

---

Zone 4 @Z4, LACTATE THRESHOLD

Intensity: 99-110% of your FTP

Also known as the anaerobic threshold, this type of training increases maximum performance capacity enhances lung capacity, and improves high-speed endurance. That said, this type of training is very challenging – it’s not an effort that can be sustained for long – so it’s best used in interval training with periods of active recovery. Most people can sustain this pace anywhere from 20 to 90 min, depending on their fitness levels.

---

Zone 5 @Z5, VO2

Intensity: 130-150% of your FTP

This is one of the most intense types of training, and it’s an effort you can sustain for maybe 3 to 8 minutes at a time. Your legs will burn as you push your bike forward, and you’ll be gasping for air. While very intense, this type of ride helps train your heart to quickly bring blood where it’s needed in your body, making you a more efficient rider and racer.

---

Zone 6 @Z6, NEUROMUSCULAR POWER

Intensity: +200% of your FTP

Very short, very high-intensity efforts (e.g., jumps, standing starts, short sprints) that generally place greater stress on musculoskeletal rather than metabolic systems. Power useful as a guide, but only in reference to prior similar efforts.