Can I Shorten The Indoor Bike Workouts?

Indoors vs Outdoors

All the rides in your plan can be completed either indoors or outdoors. In an ideal world, the shorter midweek sessions with harder efforts work well on an indoor trainer, while the longer aerobic endurance rides at the weekend are better performed outside on the road.

Riding Long Indoors

However, circumstances don’t always allow for ideal conditions, and you may sometimes find yourself completing a long ride indoors. When that happens, keep these three points in mind:

1. Using platforms like Zwift or TrainingPeaks Virtual can make longer indoor rides easier

If you use a virtual cycling platform, you may find it easier to stay engaged and complete long indoor sessions. Many professional riders use these tools, especially in winter, as they help simulate real-world riding and make the time pass more quickly.

2. Indoor riding is harder than outdoor riding

There is no momentum, freewheeling, wind assistance or natural breaks indoors, which means the workload is more continuous. Because of this, you can reduce the planned duration by 10–15% and still gain almost the same training benefit as completing the full session outside.

3. Improving your FTP also improves endurance

Functional Threshold Power (FTP) is crucial for cycling performance. It can be improved through targeted intensity work, not just long rides. Even a 10% increase in FTP over a few months will noticeably improve endurance, as you will be able to ride at the same power output as before but at a lower heart rate and energy cost.

Final Thoughts

It’s good to include long rides whenever possible, but don’t panic if you need to shorten one occasionally — especially when riding indoors. At the same time, consistency matters. Including long sessions regularly will give you the best chance of success in longer-distance events.

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