Sustained Power Build
The build block that follows base: threshold intervals and VO2 max work, holding onto the aerobic volume that made them possible.
← Training plansW1Open the block
W2Lengthen the intervals
W3Three intervals
W4Recovery week
W5Block two opens
W6Push the volume
W7Peak week
W8Taper and test
Build · 8 weeks · 4 rides a week Build · 8 weeks · 4 rides a week
Base phase · intermediate · 8 weeks
8-week sweet spot base training plan
The most fitness per hour that structured training has to offer. Sweet spot is the range just below threshold — roughly 88–94% of FTP — where the training stimulus is still close to threshold but the recovery cost drops off sharply. That trade is the whole idea: if you have six to eight hours a week rather than sixteen, sweet spot buys you more sustainable power per hour than anything else.
Free, with no trial. Pick a start date and your training days; the sessions land on your own calendar. Switch or stop at any point. Every workout in it can be ridden without an account.
Weeks8
Rides a week4
Typical week5:28
Biggest week8:20
Week by week
EnduranceTempoThresholdVO2 max● Key session
W1Open the block207
Week 1: 2×15 at sweet spot. Hold the low end of the range — you are setting a baseline, not proving anything.
W2Lengthen the intervals239
Week 2: 2×20. The second interval is the one that counts. Settle in and let the trainer hold the watts.
W3Three intervals268
Week 3: 3×15 — the same total time, split differently, plus a tempo day. The biggest week of block one.
W4Recovery week131
Week 4: recovery. One short sweet spot session keeps the feel without adding load. Everything else is easy.
W5Block two opens275
Week 5: back to 3×15, and the long ride goes to two hours. These should feel better than week 3 did.
W6Push the volume296
Week 6: 3×18, plus an hour of continuous tempo. This is the week that separates the plan from a set of workouts.
W7Peak week392
Week 7: 3×20 at sweet spot and a three-hour ride. The hardest week of the plan by some distance.
W8Taper and test129
Week 8: back off, sharpen, then test. Ride the openers the day before the test, not two days before.
Every session is a real workout you can open and ride now. Starting the plan schedules all 32 from your chosen date, on the days you pick.
Start Sweet Spot BaseRide this plan if
- You have a measured FTP and at least one block of structured training behind you.
- You have six to eight hours a week, and want the most out of every one of them.
- Your event is more than three months away, or you have no event and simply want to get faster.
What you get out of it
- A higher sustainable power at the intensities that decide long climbs and hard group rides.
- The ability to hold 3×20 minutes at sweet spot, from a starting point of 2×15.
- A re-tested FTP to carry into a build block.
How the plan is built
This plan runs eight weeks in two four-week blocks. Interval volume grows from 2×15 minutes to 3×20, with a recovery week closing each block, and the rest of the week is genuinely easy aerobic riding. The easy days being easy is what makes the hard days possible.
It ends with a 20-minute FTP test, which is also the input for whatever you do next. Sweet spot base is the first rung of the classic ladder — base, then build, then your event.
- Two four-week blocks: three loading weeks, one recovery week.
- Two sweet spot sessions a week, growing in length rather than intensity.
- Everything else is Zone 2 — around 75% of the weekly time is easy.
Sweet Spot Base: common questions
What is sweet spot training in cycling?
Sweet spot is riding at roughly 88–94% of FTP — the top of Zone 3 into the bottom of Zone 4. It sits close enough to threshold to drive real adaptation, but far enough below it that you can accumulate 45–60 minutes of it in a week without needing days to recover.
How long should sweet spot intervals be?
Start at 10–15 minutes and build toward 20. This plan progresses 2×15, 2×20, 3×15, then 3×20 across eight weeks, which is a ramp most riders with a base can absorb.
Does sweet spot base actually raise FTP?
For riders training six to ten hours a week, it usually does — sweet spot accumulates far more time near threshold per week than threshold intervals themselves allow. Riders with much larger volumes tend to get more from a polarized approach.
What should I do after sweet spot base?
A build block. The sustained power build plan is the direct continuation, and after that a specialty plan for your event — century, gran fondo, hill climb, or criterium.
What to ride after this
Training works in blocks. These plans pick up where this one leaves off.
FTP Builder
Eight weeks aimed squarely at threshold power, bookended by two identical 20-minute FTP tests so the result is measured rather than felt.