Sprint interval training is an effective workout strategy for time-crunched cyclists. Studies show that it provides health and fitness benefits that are as effective as traditional steady-state cardio but in much less time, for both beginners and advanced athletes.
If you’re looking to diversify your training routine with more sprint intervals, try these 4 new custom rides from CAROL.
Why should you include cycling sprint workouts in your training?
Sprint intervals are a unique form of training that improves cardiovascular fitness, strength, and your cycling technique. Most importantly, you will get significant fitness results without adding a lot of extra work and exercise volume to your training program. Here are the benefits of sprint training on your bike:
Improved aerobic and anaerobic fitness
Sprint training is an anaerobic activity—meaning that your body breaks down glucose without using oxygen, over a short intense exercise period. Anaerobic fitness is measured by peak power output—the maximum power a person can exert during a short period. In contrast, aerobic activities require your heart and lungs to work intensely for a prolonged period. The main indicator of aerobic fitness is VO2max—the maximum amount of oxygen your body can utilize during exercise. Functional Threshold Power helps to gauge the balance between your aerobic and anaerobic energy systems and estimate your overall cycling performance.
While steady-state cardio exercise is beneficial only for your aerobic fitness, sprint training effectively improves both areas in a much shorter time frame.
Increased strength
Sprint workouts develop fast-twitch muscle fibres used for explosive power—the ability to produce the maximal force over the shortest possible time. Maximum sprint power directly impacts your speed. The best sprinters have muscles that can produce their maximal force within a short period of time—thus being able to accelerate more quickly than those with less fast-twitch fibres.
In fact, sprint training can improve muscle strength just as effectively as strength training. A recent study took one group of participants performing 4 sets of 30-second sprints, and a second group doing 4 sets of 10-12 repetitions of leg presses. At the end of 5 weeks, sprint and resistance training produced similar strength adaptations in the lower body.
Sprint workouts also increase muscle fibre recruitment and strengthen your neuromuscular pathways, leading to increased reaction, coordination, and anaerobic capacity.
Faster weight loss
Sprint interval training can also be your magic bullet for weight loss. A meta-analysis of 70+ studies showed that sprint workouts led to an almost 40% higher reduction in body fat percentage than HIIT in 60.84% less time. Sprint training increases fat oxidation in muscle cells and promotes EPOC, excess post-exercise oxygen consumption, which helps to burn extra calories for hours after the exercise.
CAROL Bike’s signature REHIT workout supports this, where you will burn 66% of calories for 1 hour 17 minutes after your 5 minute REHIT ride, and up to 196% calories for 2 hours 47 minutes after completing a Fat Burn Ride.
Better cycling technique
Improving sprint form is essential for mastering cadence and increasing your speed. Sprint workouts can help improve your cycling technique and, in turn, the key indicators of your performance.
Short sprints at high speed can improve your maximum pedal revolutions per minute. helping you to shift gears faster and optimizing your power output. Sprint technique will come in handy for increasing your speed as you begin to cycle, climb towards the summit, or approach the finish line during your rides.
Sprint Interval Training efficiently improves both your aerobic and anaerobic capacity.
4 custom Sprint Interval rides from CAROL
CAROL Bike offers 4 cycling sprint workouts—backed by science.
4×4 Norwegian Zone 5 Intervals
This classical HIIT workout was developed in Norway to improve your VO2max and overall cardiovascular fitness. Simplicity, effectiveness, and scalability gained this protocol worldwide popularity. The workout lasts 30 minutes and consists of:
- Warm-up: up to 2 mins of easy pedaling
- Sprint 1: 4 mins at 90-95% THR
- Recovery: 3 mins of easy pedaling
- Repeat x4
- Cool down: 3 mins of easy pedaling
4 long, high-intensity intervals greatly challenge your cardiovascular system, improving your aerobic and anaerobic endurance.
This structured workout is excellent for burning calories and enhancing metabolic efficiency. Performing at near-maximum capacity during high-intensity intervals stimulates fat oxidation and promotes weight loss.
Norwegian sprints are performed at a slightly lower intensity than REHIT and are highly adaptable to different fitness levels—from those with pre-existing conditions to elite athletes.
10×6–Second Sprints
This workout provides you with similar cardio fitness and metabolic health benefits to CAROL Bike’s signature REHIT Intense workout. It may feel easier to perform because your sprints are shorter (6 seconds vs. 20 seconds) but overall sprinting time is longer (60 seconds vs. 40 seconds).
The workout lasts between 8:50—15 minutes and consists of:
- Warm-up: up to 2 mins of easy pedaling
- Sprint 1: 6 seconds of maximum effort
- Rest: up to 1 minute
- Repeat x10
- Cooldown: 3 mins of easy pedaling
3×20–Second Sprints
This workout is an excellent choice for people who find CAROL’s REHIT Intense workout too easy by adding an extra 20-second sprint for a total of 3 sprint cycles.
In a recent study, sedentary men performed 3x weekly sessions of this training protocol for 12 weeks, and were compared to a control group that performed 45-minutes of continuous cycling. At the end of the program, the both groups recorded the same improvements in cardiometabolic health, despite a 5x lower exercise volume and time commitment done by the sprint interval group.
This workout consists of 60 seconds of all-out sprinting, within a workout lasting up to 10-minutes:
- Warm-up: up to 2 mins of easy pedaling
- Sprint 1: 20-secs of all-out effort
- Rest: up to 2 mins
- Repeat x3
- Cooldown: 3 mins of easy pedaling
30×4–Second Sprints
Despite its short sprint duration (4 sec) this workout has the longest overall sprinting time (120 sec), making it one of CAROL Bike’s toughest workouts.
This training protocol emerged from research on the minimal exercise needed to significantly increase maximal aerobic and anaerobic power. A 2021 study shows that 30 bouts of 4-sec sprints performed for 8 weeks resulted in a 17.2% increase in maximal anaerobic power, a 13.2% increase in peak oxygen consumption, and a 7.6% increase in total blood volume—all after just 2-minutes of sprinting per session.
This workout lasts between 10—22 minutes and consists of:
- Warm-up: up to 2 mins of easy pedaling
- Sprint 1: 4 secs of maximum effort
- Rest: up to 30 secs
- Repeat x30
- Cooldown: 3 mins of easy pedaling
Conclusion
Sprint cycling is a fun non-monotonous form of training that offers numerous health and fitness benefits in the most time-efficient way. Regular practice will significantly improve your aerobic and anaerobic fitness, facilitate weight loss, enhance your cycling technique, and even supplement weight training. With the 4 custom rides from CAROL, you can diversify your training program, adjust it to your fitness level, and challenge yourself by training for just 10-30 minutes per week and gain superior benefits than longer, steady-state cardio.
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