^^^ A little spam gave this a great thread a timely bump given the time change this weekend.

.... the two 20' sections usually average ~85-88% of FTP.

The important things are:

1. The workouts are physically hard enough, but not too hard.
2. They are something I can do day after day.
3. They are not something that make me dread getting on the bike (like say, 2x20' @ FTP would).
4. The workout is mentally easy. On Mt. Diablo, I'll do 40' @ Tempo or even FTP and that's not so hard mentally. 40' @ Tempo on the trainer would be harder mentally than 2x20'.
5. The 10-20 second stand up breaks at 5, 10, and 15' in each 20' interval make it much easier mentally and more bite sized. You're never more than 5' from a break.

These are the bits that were the real revelation for me from Kevin's posts. I've been going too hard on the trainer. I then dread getting on the trainer, so I don't get on the trainer as often as I should. I'm going to try the go a little easier and more often approach. Makes sense to me.

Tempo, tempo, tempo and more tempo. ~85% of FTP is where I usually land.

When the time changes I go indoors M-F (and on rainy weekend days because I'm a wuss).

1 hour each day.
10' warm up
20' @ Tempo
5' easy
20' @ Tempo
5' cool down and done.

During the 20' sets I pop it up a couple of gears and stand for about 10-15 seconds. Gives your butt a break and make the workout into easy 5' bite sized chunks.

If you are feeling good, ramp it up just a bit to sweet spot.

This is the shit that kills. Do this 5 days a week and get out for longer rides on the weekend and you will crush dreams on the bike come spring.

I don't bother with FTP intervals, VO2 max, sprints etc. on the trainer. It is too much mentally. It's going to be a long winter on the trainer and it's important to stay fresh mentally.

This should not be a killer workout. It might take a week or two to get into it, but you should be able to do this day after day after day. After I broke my collar bone at the end of December I did this workout 7 days a week for about 8 weeks. Coming off of this I rode a 51:32 40km in late April on a double out and back course at sea level. On about my 4th ride outside after the collar bone I did an FTP test. 375W for 20 minutes. Most of the trainer workouts were around 300-310W, once in a while as much as 320.

This is the shit that kills.

Important things for being on the trainer.

Fans. As many as you can reasonably use. I'm outside in the garage with the door open. Even when the outside temp is around 30 degrees F, I've got two fans on my when I'm working and still get pretty soaked in sweat. Ironically, there have been a few days where I wore shoe covers because my feet were really cold while my core was soaking in sweat.

I don't have a TV in the garage, I listen to music. I like to listen to podcasts most of the time, but on the bike when it's time to actually work it has to be music. Preferably 80's hair metal. :-) I like to visualize races that I want to win. On my trainer with a good Night Ranger song going, even Eddy Merckx fears me. :-) One of those Motorola blue tooth headsets is a nice touch. I can set my phone on the work bench next to me and control the volume and skip controls by pushing a button on the headset.

I broke my other collar bone in a crit on Aug 5th, 4.5 weeks before nationals. 3 weeks on the trainer, 1.5 on the road before I went to Bend. 2nd in the TT and I won the RR solo. The week after nationals I did the Mt. Tam hillclimb and won the 45+ group. It's about a 45 minute race depending on how fast your group goes on the flat section. On the main climb? 20' @ 400W.

Why are you still reading this? Get on your freaking trainer and do some Tempo!!!

There may be better indoor schedules and workouts, but you have to be willing to do them day in and day out. 7 days of tempo is better than 4 days of FTP and 3 days of "I can't face getting on my bike".

Good luck.

Kevin, I have a question about your tempo workout program.
1. is this a good way to increase FTP or just maintain your FTP? i need to increase my FTP, but right now can only ride 3-4 days a week due to marathon focus and running about 70 miles a week right now. Would you use a different plan if you could only ride 3-4 times a week? i did your workout today (actually eichorn on trainer road, but its close to what you do) and averaged 88% on the 2 x20's. Good workout, not too taxing. legs were still a little tired from my 18 miler at MP+10 secs this am, but it seems like workout i should be able to do daily along with my running.

I'm wondering if Kevin or anyone else has thoughts on if there is anything magic about 2 x 20 mins tempo?

I'm thinking a 60 min workout with 4 x 10 mins or 3 x 13.3 mins at tempo with shorter breaks would be a way to mix it up. The trainerroad sweet spot base plans seem to take this approach.

You're riding at tempo pace. Why have a recovery break at all? It's more a mental break than anything or enough time to have a quick drink and give the lads a bit of saddle relief.

I'd be more inclined to not drop power periodically but rather to put in a punchy power effort periodically.

if riding nearer to threshold power level, then an occasional short break makes far more sense.