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.

8
weeks: 4
rides a week: 5.5 h
typical week: 8.3 h
biggest week

Start this plan See every week Test your FTP first

Free, with no trial Scheduled on your own calendar Switch or stop at any point

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.

How the plan is built

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.

Ride 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.

Week by week

Every session below is a real workout you can open and ride right now, with or without the plan. Applying the plan puts them on your calendar on the days you choose.

8-week schedule for the Sweet Spot Base cycling training plan
Week	Focus and sessions	Load
1 week	Open the block Week 1: 2×15 at sweet spot. Hold the low end of the range — you are setting a baseline, not proving anything. Sweet Spot 2x15min65 min Endurance Base 1 – 60m60 min Sweet Spot Builder 2 – 3×10m63 min Endurance Base 3 – 90m90 min	4.6 hours
2 week	Lengthen the intervals Week 2: 2×20. The second interval is the one that counts. Settle in and let the trainer hold the watts. Sweet Spot 2x20min75 min Endurance Base 1 – 60m60 min Sweet Spot Builder 3 – 3×12m69 min Endurance Base 4 – 105m105 min	5.2 hours
3 week	Three intervals Week 3: 3×15 — the same total time, split differently, plus a tempo day. The biggest week of block one. Sweet Spot 3x15min85 min Endurance Base 2 – 75m75 min Tempo Intervals80 min Endurance Base 5 – 120m120 min	6 hours
4 recovery	Recovery week Week 4: recovery. One short sweet spot session keeps the feel without adding load. Everything else is easy. Recovery Week: Short Sweet Spot40 min Recovery Spin 3 – 40m40 min Endurance Base 1 – 60m60 min Recovery Week: 1hr Zone 276 min	3.6 hours
5 week	Block two opens Week 5: back to 3×15, and the long ride goes to two hours. These should feel better than week 3 did. Sweet Spot 3x15min85 min Endurance Base 2 – 75m75 min Sweet Spot Builder 4 – 2×15m58 min Long Ride Zone 2 (2hr)150 min	6.1 hours
6 week	Push the volume Week 6: 3×18, plus an hour of continuous tempo. This is the week that separates the plan from a set of workouts. Sweet Spot 3x18min (Time-Crunched)104 min Endurance Base 2 – 75m75 min Tempo Continuous 60min85 min Endurance Base 5 – 120m120 min	6.4 hours
7 week	Peak week Week 7: 3×20 at sweet spot and a three-hour ride. The hardest week of the plan by some distance. Sweet Spot 3x20min100 min Endurance Base 3 – 90m90 min Tempo Staircase 3×(6/8/10m)110 min Long Ride Zone 2 (3hr)200 min	8.3 hours
8 recovery	Taper and test Week 8: back off, sharpen, then test. Ride the openers the day before the test, not two days before. Recovery Spin 3 – 40m40 min Endurance Base 1 – 60m60 min Recovery + Leg Openers36 min FTP Test – 20 Minute69 min	3.4 hours

Applying the plan schedules all 32 sessions from your chosen start date. You pick which days of the week you ride.

Start Sweet Spot Base

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.