Cycling training goals

When threshold work stops moving FTP, use a short VO2max or peak-power block — 30-30s, 5x5s, sprints — then recover. Wearables decide if the interval day survives.

Custom goals for trainer winters, commute stacking, heat, and masters constraints. Keep one long-ish session. Wearables still decide intensity when the garage is the season.

Climbing W/kg is a Power×Body goal: raise FTP, manage mass without a crash diet, and ride hills that look like the event. Wearables keep the hard days honest.

Raise FTP with sweet-spot and threshold density, a short VO2 dose, and a retest — not a 12% promise in six weeks. Garmin, Strava, Whoop, and intervals.icu keep the block honest.

Custom goals for a fixed 8-hour week: two quality days, one long ride, honest limits. Garmin, Strava, Whoop, and intervals.icu keep the scarce hours from becoming junk tempo.

Come back from weeks or months off without copying your old FTP block. Rebuild frequency first, then hours, with Whoop/Garmin as brakes — not as a dare to test.

How to taper for a cycling A-event: cut volume, keep a little intensity, and use Whoop or Garmin readiness so race week stays boring. Cited taper research, not superstition.

When the Power or Event block cooked you: a Recovery goal to deload, restore Zone 2, and use Whoop/Garmin until easy is easy again. Then choose the next category.

Habit goals are sessions per week or a first 50 km — not FTP. British Cycling’s sofa-to-50 km logic, three repeatable days, and wearables that do not punish missed rides.

Reach a gran fondo, century, gravel, TT, crit, MTB, or triathlon bike-leg goal with specificity, a long ride, and a real taper. Garmin, Strava, Whoop, and intervals.icu keep the next session honest.

A Recovery goal after medical clearance: short easy spins, then duration, then light intensity. Not physiotherapy. Whoop and Garmin cap the ramp. Cite return-to-sport caution.

80/20 cycling for riders who have the hours: most time easy, a little very hard. Seiler’s distribution research, plus Whoop/Garmin so the easy days stay easy.

Map Event, Power, Volume, Habit, Body, Recovery, and Custom goals to a plan you can ride. Connected to Garmin, Strava, Whoop, and intervals.icu — one next session, not a vague wish.

Body-category goals use weight as a metric only with sustainable training: aerobic time, optional intervals, strength, and no crash deficits. Not medical advice.

Raise weekly hours or kilometres without a load spike. Zone 2 does the work; Whoop and Garmin veto the jump. Gabbett’s load research is the caution, not a dare.