Fit in FourThe 4-week indoor cycling plan for beginners
Fit in Four
4 weeks · 2 rides a week · 35–55 min
Four weeks, two rides a week, and a real step forward. Tempo from the first ride, your first threshold and VO2 max efforts, and a finale where you set the pace.
Two rides a week on your smart trainer, 35 to 55 minutes each. Four weeks later you have ridden your first tempo, sweet spot, threshold and VO2 max efforts, and you know your power.
4
Weeks
2
Rides a week
35–55
Minutes
76%
Easy riding
01Who it is for
A real step, not a big leap.
Fit in Four is for you if you can already ride 45 minutes at an easy pace, and you want more than easy riding. Maybe you just bought a smart trainer. Maybe you ride outside in summer and want a plan for the dark months. Either way, you have two evenings a week, and you want them to count.
The plan starts where most beginner plans stop. Its first week asks about twice the load of the first week of Back to Fitness, our 12-week plan for a fresh start. So if 45 minutes on the bike still sounds long, start there.
Every target is a percentage of your FTP, so the plan fits you, whether you push 120 watts or 250. The trainer does the rest.
You can ride 45 minutes
At an easy pace, without a stop.
You have two evenings
Two or three days apart, like Tuesday and Saturday.
You have a smart trainer
With Bluetooth FTMS, so AnyMap can set the resistance.
02The science
Watts, zones and rest.
Indoor training works so well because it is measurable. Your trainer knows your power, in watts, every second. Three ideas turn those watts into a plan.
1. FTP: your one number
Functional threshold power (FTP) is the highest power you can hold for about an hour. It is the line between hard work you can keep up and hard work that ends soon. Every target in Fit in Four is a part of it: 80 % of FTP is tempo, 95 % is threshold.
2. Seven zones
Around your FTP lie seven power zones. Each one trains something else. Zone 2 builds your aerobic engine: more blood vessels in the muscles, more mitochondria to burn fuel. Tempo and sweet spot teach you to hold pressure. Threshold raises the FTP itself. VO2 max makes the engine bigger. Move the slider to see your own zones, and how many minutes of the plan sit in each.
3. Load, then rest
Training is a small, planned overload. A hard ride tires you; in the days after, your body repairs and builds a little more than before. So each week asks a little more, and week 4 is lighter, so you start the finale fresh. The body adapts in the rest, not in the work.
And most of it stays easy. 76 % of the plan's 6 hours and 15 minutes are in zones 1 and 2. That is close to the 80/20 split that researchers find in the best endurance athletes: hard days hard, easy days easy.
Your FTP
150W
Zones · minutes in Fit in Four · how it feels
- Z1 Recovery< 60 %< 90 W
2 h 23 · Very easy. Spin, and chat the whole time.
- Z2 Endurance60–76 %90–114 W
2 h 23 · Easy. You can talk in full sentences.
- Z3 Tempo76–90 %114–135 W
49 min · Steady and focused. Short sentences.
- Z4 Threshold90–105 %135–158 W
32 min · Hard. A few words at a time.
- Z5 VO2 max105–119 %158–179 W
8 min · Very hard. You hold it for minutes, not more.
- Z6 Anaerobic119–150 %179–225 W
Not in this plan · The legs burn. A minute or two at most.
- Z7 Sprint> 150 %> 225 W
Not in this plan · All out, for seconds.
03Week by week
Eight rides, one new effort a week.
Each week brings one new kind of effort. Every ride has a warm-up of 8 to 10 minutes and a cool-down, and one main job in between. Below is each ride as the app draws it: every block as long as it lasts, as tall as its power, in the color of its zone.
Week 1 · 90 min
Tempo from the first ride
You start with zone 2 and add tempo right away. Nothing here should hurt. If you can still talk in short sentences in the tempo blocks, you ride them right.
Week 1 · Ride 1
GOOD START45 min
A strong start: zone 2 with a short tempo lift at the end of each block. Breathe easy and keep the pedal stroke round.
Week 1 · Ride 2
TEMPO TASTER45 min
Three 5-minute tempo blocks. Comfortably hard: you can still talk in short sentences. Aim for 85–95 rpm.
Week 2 · 95 min
Sweet spot and your first VO2 max
Sweet spot sits just below threshold. It gives a lot of training for the strain, which is why so many riders love it. Then come your first efforts above FTP: thirty seconds on, thirty seconds off.
Week 2 · Ride 1
SWEET START50 min
Your first sweet spot: three 6-minute blocks just below threshold. Hard enough to grow, easy enough to hold. Stay seated and steady.
Week 2 · Ride 2
ON & OFF45 min
Thirty seconds on, thirty seconds off, five times. Three sets. Spin fast on the efforts and let the legs float in between. Short, sharp, and over before you know it.
Week 3 · 105 min
Threshold: the big step
This is the hardest week, with 105 minutes on the bike. The threshold ride lifts your ceiling. The long ride after it keeps your aerobic engine growing, and it is easy on purpose.
Week 3 · Ride 1
BIG STEP55 min
Four 4-minute blocks at threshold: the hardest work of the program. Settle in, breathe deep, and count down the last minute of each one.
Week 3 · Ride 2
STEADY FIFTY50 min
Fifty minutes with a 10-minute tempo block in the middle. Find a rhythm and keep it. Drink every 10 minutes.
Week 4 · 85 min
Rest, then the finale
The week starts easy, so your legs are fresh. Then the finale: in its last block, the trainer lets go and you set the pace. It is a small test, and a big moment. You will know how far you came.
Week 4 · Ride 1
SOFT PEDAL35 min
The last week starts easy. Spin light and let three weeks of work sink in: your body gets stronger while it rests. Fresh legs for the finale.
Week 4 · Ride 2
SET THE PACE50 min
The finale. Two short threshold blocks wake you up. Then 10 minutes where you set the watts yourself: start at the target, and go harder if you feel good. Pace it so the last minute is your best.
04Then and now
From rollers to watts.
“Ride lots.”
The greatest of them all kept it simple, and he was right: there is no shortcut past the hours. But today we know which hours count. Fit in Four takes a century of cycling and fits it into two rides a week.
1903
Miles on feel
The first Tour de France. Riders train with long rides and their own feel. Nobody counts watts: you ride, and you learn how hard is too hard.
Every winter
Rollers and a wall
For a century, winter training means rollers: a bike on three drums, little resistance, and a wall to look at. It keeps the legs turning, but it is hard to train with a plan.
Late 1980s
The first power meters
The first power meters come from Germany, with SRM. For the first time, a rider can see the work in watts, not just guess it from speed or the heart.
2000s
FTP and the zones
Andrew Coggan defines FTP and the power zones, and writes them down with Hunter Allen in Training and Racing with a Power Meter. Around the same time, Stephen Seiler shows how the best endurance athletes train: mostly easy, a little hard.
Today
The pros ride smart
Pros ride with power every day. Most of their hours are easy, and the hard work comes in planned intervals. Many spend winter days on a smart trainer, with the same structure you get in this plan.
05In the app
Your trainer does the counting.
You don't need a spreadsheet or a coach to ride this plan. Open AnyMap, pick Fit in Four, and ride the next ride. Here is what happens on the way.
Connect in seconds
AnyMap finds your trainer, heart rate strap and Zwift Click over Bluetooth by itself, and connects again next time.
Devices
KICKR CORE
Trainer · Connected
Polar H9
Heart rate · Connected · 84 bpm
Zwift Click
Controller · Connected
SCAN FOR DEVICES
ERG mode holds the watts
In every block, the trainer sets the resistance for the target. Pedal faster or slower: the watts stay. Here is TEMPO TASTER, played fast, at an FTP of 150 W.
ERG · FTP 150 W
TEMPO TASTER
95Target watt
Your FTP stays true
After every ride, AnyMap checks your FTP. Ride a new best, and it goes up at once, with every zone. The next ride is already a little harder.
New FTP
156W
+6 W
Your zones moved up. Every workout now uses 156 W.
Watch the weeks add up
Every ride is saved, second by second. Your week shows time in each zone, and your month shows rides, kilometers and time against the month before.
3h 45min
This week
6
Week streak
1417%
Rides
41834%
Km
13h 5021%
Time
Make a ride your own
Copy any ride of the plan into the workout builder and change it. Try it here: tap a block, drag its top for more watts or its side for more time, or tap + for a new block.
New workout · FTP 150 W
My workout
33:3010 blocks
Tap a block to change it, or + to add one.
06FAQ
Before you start.
Four weeks will not make you a pro, but a beginner's body answers fast. Most riders feel the same watts get easier within a few weeks, and breathing calms down sooner. The plan ends with a 10-minute effort where you set the pace, so you see your progress in numbers.
Yes. AnyMap starts with an FTP of 150 W. For targets that fit you from the first ride, ride the ramp test first: it is free and guided. And after every ride, AnyMap checks your FTP. Ride a new best, and your zones move up at once.
No. Your smart trainer measures your power and sets the resistance for every block. Any trainer with Bluetooth FTMS works, like the Wahoo KICKR, the Tacx Neo or the Elite Suito. A heart rate strap is a nice extra, not a must.
Ride it on your next free day and keep the order. Do not squeeze two hard rides into two days in a row to catch up. The rest between rides is part of the plan: that is when your body gets stronger.
The first three rides are free, with no account: GOOD START, TEMPO TASTER and SWEET START. AnyMap Premium opens the other five, and every other plan and workout.
If two rides a week suit you, go on with Step Up: eight weeks, one sharp ride and one longer ride a week. If you want more power, take FTP Boost. Little time? Fast Fitness gives you three short rides a week.
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