Aerobic
95 min
High intensity
Bank time in a maximal state: five six-minute efforts that start at 115-125% of CP and step down every 90 seconds, so heart rate and lactate stay high while the power eases. A Contour Endurance favourite.
John Cox
Coach, Contour Endurance
Aerobic
95 min
High
8 / 10
Intermediate
Indoors
The session
The workout
Written as a share of critical power, so it fits every rider. In Vekta it becomes your watts, with the W′ cost shown before you ride.
John Cox
Why this workout
The breakdown
Inside the workout
A hard-start variation with a step-down structure, and a Contour Endurance favourite because it banks a lot of time in a maximal state. The first step spikes heart rate and accumulates lactate, and both keep building even as each step gets a little easier in power. It teaches a rider to be comfortable being uncomfortable.
Five six-minute efforts, each stepping down through 115–125%, 108–115%, 105–110% and 100–105% of CP in ninety-second stages, with three minutes between. A one-minute opener at 115–130% and nine minutes easy before the set prepare the system for the first hard start.
Vekta's W′ trace shows the battery draining hardest in the first step and continuing to fall through the easier ones, which is the mechanism; the interval analysis reports time above 90% of VO2 max across the five efforts.
A VO2 block session, once a week, indoors or out, for riders who already handle 4x4s. Six minutes is a long time in a maximal state; that is the design.
Aerobic
Stimulus
Intermediate
Workout level
Indoors
Best ridden
Road,
XCO and MTB,
DISCIPLINE
The stimulus
Aerobic, explained
Sustained aerobic power below VO2 max: the engine between endurance and threshold.
What it is
Intervals and blocks at 80–100% of critical power, longer than VO2 max efforts and harder than tempo, often with torque or cadence work built in. Step-downs, long tempo-to-threshold progressions and torque blocks belong here.
Why it matters
This is where aerobic capacity is converted into usable power: the ability to hold a high fraction of VO2 max for long periods. It is the stimulus behind time trialling, long climbs and the last hour of a road race.
These sessions are long and demanding but not maximal. Pacing is the skill: the target is even power across the block, and the last minutes should feel hard but possible.
Aerobic sessions are the bridge in a block: enough intensity to hold the ceiling gained from VO2 work, enough volume to keep the base. Watch the intensity score in Vekta; these sessions should score high on volume and moderate on intensity.
Personalised to CP in Vekta, with the intensity graph showing where the session bites. Afterwards the session is classified by its dominant stimulus and compared with the athlete's previous aerobic sessions.
The Next workout
Workouts to pair with this one
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