Try This Specific Type of Interval Training to Fight Fatigue and Ride Faster for Longer
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Maybe you’ve heard the term “over/under workout” when a friend was telling you about the tough interval set they did last week, or you spotted it in the workout library on Zwift. It likely had you a little confused: What the heck is an over/under workout?
Here, we’re looking at the anatomy of an over/under, why they’re beneficial for cyclists, and the best ones to do outside or on the trainer.
What exactly are over/under workouts?
Over/unders are power-based interval workouts that push you into a hard zone, then a still-hard but slightly easier zone during a single interval.
To get all the details about over/under workouts, we spoke with FasCat Coaching founder Frank Overton, who just launched CoachCat, which uses AI to help you create (and stick to) a training plan, taking your daily physiological data into account. “Simply put, in an over/under workout, the first part of the interval is done in a zone that’s over your threshold power [the power you can sustain for an hour, also known as your FTP], and the second part of the interval is done under your threshold,” Overton says.
An example would be starting an interval with a minute at VO2 max (which is above threshold), followed by three minutes at tempo (which is below your threshold), then repeated several times. Hence, the name over/under.
Zones considered “over” would be VO2 max and anaerobic or sprint zones (which involve high-intensity efforts). The “under” portion of the workout would include tempo and threshold zones. Overton is a particular fan of having riders stay in their “sweet spot,” the high end of tempo but not quite ticked over into threshold.
“There are infinite ways to vary over/under workouts, but the way that I explain it to athletes is to imagine that you’re approaching a climb,” says Overton. A climb usually starts out hard, but you gradually settle into a rhythm. Then, when you can see the top, you go a little harder just to get it over with. It never gets easier until the end, when you’ve finished, only then you can relax and recover, he explains. That’s the general concept of an over/under workout.
What is the science behind over/under workouts?
The logic behind the over/under workout is that it improves your body’s efficiency at clearing lactate. Your body produces this byproduct of intense exercise—which leads you to fatigue faster—when you cross over the aerobic threshold and start to go anaerobic. Anaerobic activity, unlike aerobic, doesn’t require oxygen to produce energy and relies on glucose to get work done. It also produces lactate as a result.
At it simplest form, “when you make energy, you have your fuel and oxygen coming in, and you have byproducts, including lactate, coming out,” says BaseCamp’s Tim Cusick, head cycling coach and a leader in data analytics for endurance sports. Many cyclists focus on energy production when it comes to increasing power, but there isn’t a tremendous focus on getting the byproduct out, which can help athletes reach their peak power, he explains.
That’s where over/under workouts come in. Researchers have speculated that by going over your lactate threshold for the first part of an interval, then shifting to under your lactate threshold to finish it, your body would become more readily able to process and clear lactate.
While there’s limited research on this approach, one 2010 study published in the Journal of Sports Sciences involving 10 male runners, found that maximum clearance of lactate occurred when the participants performed an active recovery done at an effort close to lactate threshold, compared to lower recovery intensities and passive recovery. A similar 2014 study published in the Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness confirmed those findings in another treadmill test, pointing to 80 percent of lactate threshold as the optimal intensity for active recovery and lactate clearance.
What are the benefits of over/under workouts?
Cusick often prescribes these workouts for indoor training, because they help mimic outdoor riding conditions.
“The heavy flywheel on the indoor trainer may have a road feel, but it also gives you a bit too much of an advantage,” he says. “When that flywheel gets rolling, it has a lot of kinetic energy, which makes pedaling feel like you’re in a tailwind on a slight downhill going 30 miles an hour.” This sounds good, but it can make it too easy to maintain power, and can make your pedal stroke less efficient if you get too comfortable.
When you get outside, your pedal stroke changes when you don’t have the flywheel effect, and it can make you feel unfit. Over/unders shake up your training and create similar neuromuscular demands comparable to riding outside.
Cusick and Overton both note that indoor over/under workouts also make an hour on the trainer fly by, because they demand attention and focus, and don’t get boring.
“All athletes need to learn how to train at variable power outputs, because that’s real life,” Overton adds. “Being good at over/under workouts will help you move around in a group and handle yourself on climbs. It should be a part of everyone’s interval regimen. They’re also excellent race prep, because you have to go hard and then you get to go less hard, but still be putting in a solid effort, all while getting ready to go hard again.”.
Whether you’re doing a group ride or a race, the pace is never going to be steady. You’ll have moments where you need to go up and over your threshold to keep up, and then drop back down. It’s all variable and a dynamic use of power. Over/under intervals help mimic the power demands that you’re going to face in the real world, whether you’re in a race or just riding with some buddies.
How do you perform over/under workouts successfully?
To do over/under workouts, you need a power meter for outdoor rides and smart trainer if riding inside.
For indoor workouts, Overton suggests using your smart trainer’s ERG mode if possible, because it allows you to load in your workout and then modulates your power so all you need to do is keep your cadence up. “All the rider has to do is stay on top of their cadence and just be ready for the power to increase, and you don’t really have to think about it,” he says. (Easier said than done!)
Outside, it’s much harder to do a “perfect” over/under workout thanks to undulating terrain. Overton recommends finding a flat road or a long, steady climb for these workouts. “The ideal is a 5-percent grade hill, where it’s fairly easy to modulate your power,” he says. “Avoid any downhill sections where your power is going to be hard to hold onto.”
Outdoor over/under workouts often have longer intervals rather than short, punchy ones found in trainer workouts—this is because it’s much harder to follow along with complicated interval patterns while paying attention to the road.
If you’re doing an over/under workout outdoors, make sure you either download the workout to your cycling computer or use your cycling computer’s companion app, like Garmin Connect, to design and upload it. This will make it easier to follow while you’re riding because the computer will cue you when to go harder and when to back off. You can also write the workout out on masking tape and stick it on your top tube to help you stay on track.
3 Best Over/Under Workouts
Here are three over/under workouts that Overton loves to give athletes. For each workout, warm up with 10 minutes of easy riding and cool down with another 10 minutes of easy riding.
1. Indoor Over/Under Workout
“These are fun because they make the time pass quickly, and while they sound hard and fancy, they’re pretty simple,” Overton says. “Each interval is just enough to sting. But it’s enough to feel like you’re really suffering, which makes them more beginner-friendly and fun, while having the sensation that you’re super hardcore!"
How to do it:
15 seconds VO2 max (zone 5)
2 minutes 30 seconds at “sweet spot” (between zone 3 and 4—at the top end of your tempo zone and just below threshold)
15 seconds VO2 max (zone 5)
3 minutes easy spinning
Repeat all of the above for 8 sets
2. Outdoor Over/Under Workout
“This workout is done based on how long your longest sustained climb near you is,” says Overton. “The one below is based on a 10-minute climb, so you have to adjust to what you have available to you.”
How to do it:
1 minute VO2 max (zone 5)
8 minutes at sweet spot (between zone 3 and 4; can lower this based on the length of your climb—if the climb takes 6 minutes, do 5 minutes of sweet spot)
30-60 seconds VO2 max (zone 5)
5 minutes easy spinning (riding back down the hill or slowly proceeding up if you have a long sustained climb)
Repeat all of the above for 3-5 sets
3. World Tour Over/Under Workout
“[This is] truly diabolical,” says Overton. “You’re going really hard, and you’re ‘settling down’ at threshold by the end of them, so your break isn’t much of a break."
How to do it:
1 minute VO2 max (zone 5)
3 minutes sweet spot (between zone 3 and 4)
Repeat 1 and 2 for 3-5 sets
5 minutes easy spinning
1 minute VO2 max (zone 5)
3 minutes threshold (zone 4)
Repeat 4 and 5 for 3-5 sets
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