Sunday Smart-Trainer Session: 30min Variable Power Cycle (50min Total Time)
Cycling, August 17, 2026
The 30min Variable Power Cycle is a 50-minute Smart-Trainer Session designed to prepare cyclists for the constantly changing demands of real-world riding and racing. Inspired by research into draft-legal triathlon training, the workout combines three 10-minute blocks featuring efforts from Level I through to Level V+++. It develops power, recovery, adaptability and the ability to repeatedly produce quality efforts as fatigue builds.
Cycling rarely happens at one perfectly steady intensity.
Whether you’re responding to an attack, accelerating out of a corner, riding over rolling terrain, closing a gap or dealing with changes in pace within a bunch, your power output is constantly changing.
That’s exactly what the 30min Variable Power Cycle is designed to prepare you for.
Constantly Changing Intensities
Rather than repeating identical intervals, the 30-minute main set moves rapidly between different durations and intensities—from controlled recovery at Level I through to very short efforts at Level V+++.
You’ll complete three 10-minute blocks, with each containing everything from 10-second explosive efforts through to longer 90-second efforts.
The challenge isn’t simply producing high power. It’s being able to recover, adjust and produce another quality effort when the next demand arrives.
That makes the session particularly useful for road cyclists and draft-legal triathletes, although mountain bikers, gravel riders and other cyclists who regularly encounter changing demands can benefit as well.
Don't Turn Every Hard Effort Into a Sprint
One of the keys to getting this workout right is respecting the different intensities.
Level V, Level V++ and Level V+++ each have a different purpose. Likewise, when the workout gives you an opportunity to recover at Level I, actually recover.
If you ride the easier sections too hard or try to smash every high-intensity effort, you'll probably pay for it during the final 10-minute block.
Your goal is to produce quality across all three sets, not set one enormous power number early in the workout.
Can Your Third Set Match Your First?
That's one of the questions I like athletes to ask when reviewing this workout afterwards.
Rather than focusing solely on your highest power output, look at the complete session.
Were you able to reproduce your hard efforts?
Did you bring the intensity down sufficiently during your recoveries?
And, most importantly, could you still produce quality Level V++ and Level V+++ efforts during the final 10 minutes?
The constantly changing demands are what make this workout challenging—and what make it such a useful addition to your cycling training.
Want the Complete Workout?
In the full Sunday Smart-Trainer Session article, I take you through the complete 50-minute session, including the exact intervals and intensities, the research that inspired the workout, what to focus on, common mistakes to avoid and my coaching tips for getting the most from it.
👉 Read the full article and get the complete workout here:
The individual efforts might be short. The real challenge is producing them repeatedly as the demands keep changing.