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Watts for 200 to 300 W FTPs, progression. 48 min.",[15,16],"power_meter","smart_trainer",[18],{"citation":19,"url":20},"Bernhardt G., cruise intervals 6 × 3 min (description d'entraîneuse)",null,{"h1":22,"summary":23,"purpose":34,"execution":70,"feel":92,"mistakes":99,"not_for":136,"faq":143,"evidence":180},"Cruise intervals on the bike (6 × 3 min)",{"type":24,"children":25},"root",[26],{"type":27,"tag":28,"props":29,"children":30},"element","p",{},[31],{"type":32,"value":33},"text","Cruise intervals for cycling: six 3-minute efforts around threshold, from 95–97% of FTP for the first to 103–105% for the last, with 1 minute of recovery. 18 minutes of work in 48 minutes. An ideal way into threshold training.",{"adaptation":35,"for_whom":47,"when":63},{"type":24,"children":36},[37,42],{"type":27,"tag":28,"props":38,"children":39},{},[40],{"type":32,"value":41},"Cruise intervals work your threshold in short efforts. A minute's recovery isn't enough to recover fully, but it eases things enough for you to ride a little harder, on average, than over 20 minutes straight: the last efforts even nudge just above your FTP.",{"type":27,"tag":28,"props":43,"children":44},{},[45],{"type":32,"value":46},"The step up from one effort to the next does two things. It forces you to start below threshold, where it's tempting to go off too hard. And it teaches you to finish faster than you started, exactly what a well-paced time trial demands. The session comes from coaching tradition, Joe Friel then Gale Bernhardt, rather than from the lab.",{"type":24,"children":48},[49],{"type":27,"tag":28,"props":50,"children":51},{},[52,54,61],{"type":32,"value":53},"Intermediate riders getting into threshold work: 3 minutes is short enough to stay clear-headed even when it stings. Good preparation for a 25-mile time trial. You need a recently measured FTP. Once the session feels easy, ",{"type":27,"tag":55,"props":56,"children":58},"a",{"href":57},"\u002Fen-GB\u002Flibrary\u002Fcycling\u002Fthreshold\u002Fcycling-threshold-intervals",[59],{"type":32,"value":60},"threshold 2 × 20",{"type":32,"value":62}," is the next step.",{"type":24,"children":64},[65],{"type":27,"tag":28,"props":66,"children":67},{},[68],{"type":32,"value":69},"One threshold session a week is usually enough, with at least one easy day before and after. Avoid the day before a long ride or a race. To progress, the same source suggests lengthening the efforts: 4 to 7 × 4 minutes with 1 minute's recovery, then 3 to 5 × 6 minutes with 2 minutes, then 2 to 5 × 8 minutes with 2 minutes.",[71,78,85],{"type":24,"children":72},[73],{"type":27,"tag":28,"props":74,"children":75},{},[76],{"type":32,"value":77},"15 minutes building from 45 to 75% of FTP, in 5-minute steps. ERG mode suits this session well: it marks each step of the progression without you having to think about it.",{"type":24,"children":79},[80],{"type":27,"tag":28,"props":81,"children":82},{},[83],{"type":32,"value":84},"Six 3-minute efforts, with 1 very easy minute at 40–55% between each. The efforts climb in small steps: 95–97% of FTP for the first, then 97–99, 98–100, 100–102, 101–103, and 103–105% for the last. For an FTP of 250 W, from 238–243 W to 258–263 W. If you ride by heart rate, start the clock as soon as you accelerate: your heart rate lags and climbs from one effort to the next, which is normal.",{"type":24,"children":86},[87],{"type":27,"tag":28,"props":88,"children":89},{},[90],{"type":32,"value":91},"10 very easy minutes at 40–55% of FTP. If the last effort went by without difficulty, the next step is to lengthen the efforts to 4 minutes, not to raise the targets.",{"type":24,"children":93},[94],{"type":27,"tag":28,"props":95,"children":96},{},[97],{"type":32,"value":98},"The first efforts feel easy, almost too easy. The last two are hard, breathing short and legs loaded, but they only last 3 minutes. The recovery minute is calibrated to be precisely too short. Guide: 8 out of 10 on the last efforts.",[100,109,118,127],{"title":101,"body":102},"Starting at the level of the last effort",{"type":24,"children":103},[104],{"type":27,"tag":28,"props":105,"children":106},{},[107],{"type":32,"value":108},"The session builds: ride the first effort at 105% and it's the sixth that falls apart. Stick to the steps, even if the first ones feel too easy.",{"title":110,"body":111},"Freewheeling the recovery minute",{"type":24,"children":112},[113],{"type":27,"tag":28,"props":114,"children":115},{},[116],{"type":32,"value":117},"The minute is ridden very easily, but it's ridden. Coast and your legs stiffen, and the next effort costs more to get going.",{"title":119,"body":120},"Raising the targets instead of lengthening",{"type":24,"children":121},[122],{"type":27,"tag":28,"props":123,"children":124},{},[125],{"type":32,"value":126},"When the session gets easy, the planned progression is to lengthen the efforts, to 4, then 6, then 8 minutes, not to go beyond 105%. Above that, you leave threshold for VO₂max.",{"title":128,"body":129},"Pacing by heart rate from the first second",{"type":24,"children":130},[131],{"type":27,"tag":28,"props":132,"children":133},{},[134],{"type":32,"value":135},"Your heart rate takes a minute or two to catch up with your effort. Wait for it to rise before starting the clock or judging your intensity and every effort comes out too hard.",{"prerequisites":137,"avoid_if":140},[138,139],"A recently measured FTP.","A few weeks of regular endurance riding behind you.",[141,142],"You're tired, or a long ride or race is planned for the next day.","You have doubts about your health: get medical advice before sustained hard efforts.",[144,153,162,171],{"question":145,"answer":146},"What power should I ride cruise intervals at?",{"type":24,"children":147},[148],{"type":27,"tag":28,"props":149,"children":150},{},[151],{"type":32,"value":152},"From 95–97% of FTP for the first effort to 103–105% for the last, in small steps. For an FTP of 200 W, from 190–194 W to 206–210 W; for 300 W, from 285–291 W to 309–315 W. The recovery minute is ridden at 40–55%.",{"question":154,"answer":155},"Why do the efforts get harder from one rep to the next?",{"type":24,"children":156},[157],{"type":27,"tag":28,"props":158,"children":159},{},[160],{"type":32,"value":161},"To stop you starting too hard, and to teach you to finish faster than you started. The original source describes the session by heart rate, from the bottom of Joe Friel's zone 4 to the top of zone 5a; translating it into 95 to 105% of FTP is a Wattson conversion.",{"question":163,"answer":164},"Cruise intervals or threshold 2 × 20?",{"type":24,"children":165},[166],{"type":27,"tag":28,"props":167,"children":168},{},[169],{"type":32,"value":170},"Cruise intervals to begin with: short efforts, frequent recoveries, and a slightly higher average than riding continuously. Two by twenty asks you to hold 20 minutes without a break, closer to a time trial. The cruise interval progression leads naturally to the second.",{"question":172,"answer":173},"How do I progress with cruise intervals?",{"type":24,"children":174},[175],{"type":27,"tag":28,"props":176,"children":177},{},[178],{"type":32,"value":179},"By lengthening the efforts: 4 to 7 × 4 minutes with 1 minute's recovery, then 3 to 5 × 6 minutes with 2 minutes, then 2 to 5 × 8 minutes with 2 minutes. Retest your FTP after 4 to 6 weeks: if it has gone up, your targets recalculate.",{"level":181,"text":182},"practice",{"type":24,"children":183},[184],{"type":27,"tag":28,"props":185,"children":186},{},[187],{"type":32,"value":188},"A session described by coach Gale Bernhardt, following Joe Friel's cruise intervals (The Cyclist's Training Bible; Friel's description was not consulted directly). The source describes the session by heart rate, from zone 4 to zone 5a of Friel's system: first effort at the bottom of zone 4, last at the top of zone 5a. It is a coaching source, with no dedicated study. Converting that progression into 95 to 105% of FTP, the warm-up and the cool-down are Wattson choices. Bottom line: good confidence in the structure, moderate in the power 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