20-minute HIIT indoor cycling workout with Manon Lloyd

GCN's Manon Lloyd takes you through this short but tough HIIT indoor cycling session which will increase your muscular endurance and sprint power. This cycling session is hard, with minimal rest periods, but stick with it and you'll reap the fitness gains.

For this session, all you'll need is a bike set up on an indoor trainer or an exercise bike, along with a towel, a bottle of water and the other essential indoor cycling accessories. A fan is essential to help to keep you cool too.

From VO2 Max efforts to strength training drills, check out GCN's best indoor cycling workouts

What are the benefits of HIIT training?

HIIT sessions like this featuring lots of high-intensity efforts will improve your muscular endurance, and train your body to keep pushing even when you're fatigued.

It's a great way to boost those all-important FTP numbers as your body will get used to working at higher power numbers, while accumulating less fatigue. It will also boost you VO2 Max. This is the maximum amount of oxygen your body can absorb and use when riding.

When training in this high-intensity zone, you are pushing your aerobic capacity to its limits and efforts over the VO2 threshold can only be sustained for relatively short, and often painful, periods of time. By raising your VO2 Max, you'll be able to hold higher power numbers for longer.

Is HIIT indoor cycling training good for weight loss?

If you’re looking to lose weight, HIIT sessions are a really good idea too. Research suggests that interval training burns more fat than low-intensity training sessions. If you're consistently training, sessions like this will increase your basal metabolic rate, meaning your body will burn more calories, even on days that you're not training.

If you are using cycling to lose weight, remember that your diet is just as important as your training plan. For more information about balancing training with weight loss in a sustainable and healthy way, read Ollie Bridgewood's guide to losing weight.

Read more: The truth about counting calories and whether it can aid weight loss for cyclists

Indoor cycling workout details

• GCN instructor: Manon Lloyd
• Indoor workout duration: 20 minutes
• Indoor training type: HIIT workout with sprint/anaerobic efforts
• Fitness difficulty: Tough but short, this one is going to hurt, but it'll be worth the pain
• Benefits of this indoor cycling workout: Building muscular endurance, boosting sprint/anaerobic power, calorie-burning

Explore all of GCN’s indoor cycling workouts