How to Increase Cycling Power

Whether you’re trying to set a new personal record or simply ride for longer with less effort, increasing your cycling power is the key to unlocking better performance on the bike. Let’s find out everything you need to know about cycling power, why it’s so important, and how to increase yours.

Why Power Matters in Cycling

Cycling power is, quite simply, how much work you’re doing on the bike. It’s a measurement of how fast you’re pushing on the pedals (torque), as well as how quickly you’re turning them (your cadence).

Knowing your cycling power is the most useful way of understanding how hard you’re cycling. There are other ways of measuring exertion, like heart rate and rate of perceived exertion (RPE), but they’re not always the most reliable. Heart rate can be affected by various factors, and RPE is subjective. But the power measurement never lies!

If you can sustain a higher power, you’ll be able to ride harder for longer, without the same level of fatigue. So, improving your power output is a good way of improving your overall cycling performance. With a higher power output, you’ll climb hills with more ease, be able to sustain faster speeds on the flats, and have more energy left over for that final sprint. 

Power isn’t the holy grail when it comes to unlocking faster speeds – as there are other factors at play too, like aerodynamics, weight, and terrain. But it’s worth focusing on building power if you’re serious about  driving overall performance gains.

How to Measure Cycling Power

Power is measured in watts – and these can be measured using a power meter, which is integrated into your pedals, crankset or rear hub. It’ll show you your real-time power output for the entire duration of your ride.

Rather than the raw number, many cyclists use Functional Threshold Power (FTP) as a measurement of their power. This is essentially your power fitness score and is calculated through testing, usually a 20-minute all-out effort. You then take this data and multiply it by 0.95 to get your FTP score, which shows the maximum power you should be able to sustain for around an hour. Many cyclists use this as a baseline for establishing their training zones, so when they talk about increasing their cycling power, it’s likely that they’re talking about increasing their FTP.

Many cyclists also track their power-to-weight ratio, which is calculated by dividing your FTP by your body weight in kilograms. This metric is especially important when it comes to climbing performance where you’re working against gravity and every watt per kilogram counts.

Ways to Increase Your Cycling Power on the Bike

Becoming a more powerful cyclist starts on the bike. Here are some key ways you can boost your FTP score over time.

Consistency is Key

If you only hop on the bike every so often, you’re unlikely to see any major improvements. Similarly, if you go through phases of training hard, then taking months off at a time, you’re likely to struggle when you get back on the bike. Of course, if you’re injured or ill, then it’s another matter but for most cyclists, the best way to build power on the bike is simply by spending more time on the bike.

Ride More in Zone 2

Zone 2 training is typically done at 55-75% of your FTP, and it should form the vast majority of your training. You don’t necessarily need to monitor which zone you’re working in if zone training doesn’t suit you – just know that the majority of your cycling should be done at a conversational pace that you can sustain for hours. 

This helps to build a stronger aerobic base and creates the fitness foundation that supports harder efforts. While it might seem too easy to ride at this pace, it’s necessary for creating the physiological adaptations that allow you to push harder when it really counts.

Ride in a Bigger Gear

Cycling in a bigger gear at a lower cadence helps to boost both your strength and power by forcing your muscles to work harder with each pedal stroke. Try 5-10 minute intervals in a bigger gear during your endurance rides, with a focus on smoothly pushing the pedals. 

You can also practice this when climbing. Choose a local hill that you frequently ride in a comfortable gear, and shift to one gear bigger – but maintain your usual cadence. Try this for just 2-3 minutes at first, then over time, extend this harder effort by another minute (or whatever you can manage) until you’re able to complete the entire hill in the bigger gear at the same cadence.

Cycle Uphill

Riding uphill is a great way to build power, as it increases your cardiovascular capacity while naturally increasing the load on your muscles.

You can approach this in two ways: simply cycling hilly routes (aiming to hit a certain amount of ascent over the course of your ride) or doing hill repeats. Hill repeats should be short, high-intensity efforts that feel like you’re working really hard. There are many different options but try this session to start:

• Find a short, sharp hill

• Ride up as hard and fast as you can for 60 seconds

• Cycle down as your recovery

• Repeat 10 times

VO2 Max Intervals

While the majority of your rides should be easy paced, speed work is also important for becoming a faster, stronger rider. VO2 max intervals are a specific type of workout that push your cardiovascular system to its limits and improves your ability to use oxygen to produce power. Try this simple workout, known as Rønnestad intervals:

• Cycle hard for 30 seconds at a very high intensity

• Pedal slowly for 15 seconds

• Repeat 13 times

• Do 3 sets of this, with 3 minutes of total recovery between sets

VO2 max work is demanding, so limit these sessions to 1-2 times per week with adequate recovery between sessions.

Threshold Workouts

Threshold training directly targets your FTP, helping you to sustain a higher power output for longer. Your threshold is the highest power output you can sustain for about an hour without accumulating too much lactate in your muscles. And the more time you spend working at this level of effort, the longer you’ll be able to work at it – and eventually, your threshold will increase.

There are many different types of threshold workouts, but they all have the same goal at their core: they're all designed to improve your ability to sustain high power output at that threshold intensity. Try this classic session:

• Warm up for 10 minutes

• Threshold pace for 20 minutes

• 5 minutes recovery (easy pedalling)

• Threshold pace for 20 minutes

• 5 minutes recovery (easy pedalling)

• Cool down for 10 minutes

Both threshold sections should be done at the same pace – which means you need to be careful not to go out too hard, or you could fade for the second section.

Don’t Avoid Headwinds

It can be tempting to switch an outdoor ride for an indoor one when it’s windy outside. But riding into a headwind can actually be a great way of building power. It provides natural resistance training that boosts your power output without the structure of formal intervals. 

So rather than avoiding windy days, embrace them as an opportunity to build your strength and power. After all, you never know what the weather might be like on your next cycle race or sportive, so it’s best to have experience riding in every condition – as well as improving your power, it’ll also make you a more resilient, better prepared cyclist. 

Ways to Increase Your Cycling Power Off The Bike

Although cycling (in all of its different forms) is the best way to build cycling power, there are also certain habits off the bike that will translate into better performance on the bike.

Strength Work

While you might want to spend all your time on the bike, hitting the gym is really beneficial for cyclists. Strength training will help to build more power, reduce the risk of injury, and help your bones to be healthier.

The posterior chain is the most important area to target (that means your back, glutes, hamstrings and calves) but don’t neglect your quads or upper body. Exercises like squats, deadlifts, bent over rows and presses are all great basic lifts for cyclists. Aim for 2-3 strength sessions per week to build a strong foundation that will help you to find more power on the bike.

Proper Nutrition

When you fuel your body properly, you’ll be better able to complete tough workouts – and recover faster between sessions. Chronic under fueling can sabotage your power development by depleting your energy resources and limiting proper recovery. It’s very hard to power up hills or ride fast on the flat if you haven’t taken on enough fuel.

So make sure you know how to fuel yourself properly, both on and off the bike. That means eating adequate carbs for energy, protein for recovery, and timing your meals around training sessions for optimal performance and adaptation.

Make Rest and Recovery a Priority

True power gains happen during recovery. Make getting 7-9 hours of quality sleep per night a priority, as this is when your body repairs muscle tissue and adapts to training stress. 

You should also make sure that you have both easy days and complete recovery days in your plan. By building your training around conversational-paced riding, with a couple of high-intensity sessions a week, and focusing on rest and recovery, you’ll start to see an improvement in your cycling power making you a stronger, faster and healthier rider.