Beyond Intervals: How to Get Fast Without Interval Training

Written by:

Adam Pulford

CTS Premier Cycling Coach

Updated On

April 28, 2025

Interval training is a cornerstone of endurance training programs. But have you ever wondered if you actually need to do intervals to get faster or perform at your best? I dove into this topic in Episode 245 of “The Time-Crunched Cyclist Podcast”, but if you don’t have 30 minutes to watch the video or listen to the podcast below, here’s a more concise version on why intervals are useful, when you might not need them, and how to build fitness with and without structured interval workouts.

What is Interval Training?

At its core, interval training is about alternating between efforts at specific intensities and easy recovery periods. They are a great way to accumulate more time-in-zone than you could sustain in a single effort. For instance, at very hard VO2max intensity, you may only be able sustain the target power for about five minutes. But a VO2max interval work may include four intervals, each 5 minutes long, separated by 5 minutes of easy spinning recovery. The cumulative time-in-zone for the workout, then, is 20 minutes at VO2max intensity.

Interval workouts aren’t just for super hard efforts. Generally, longer intervals (15-60 minutes) are used for lower intensity aerobic intervals, medium durations (10-20 minutes) are used for lactate threshold intervals, short efforts (3-8 minutes) are used for VO2max intervals, and super short efforts (sprints and efforts up to about 1-2 minutes) are used for anaerobic capacity and sprint intervals. Read more about how intervals are structured and scheduled.

5 Reasons Athletes Do Interval Training

Intervals can be used to target specific aspects of an athlete’s physiology, metabolism, or sport-specific demands. Across the athletes I work with, I’ve identified five rationales for doing interval training. Many athletes are motivated by a combination of these rationales, not just one:

1. More Work in Less Time

Intervals allow you to accumulate more work (measured in kilojoules, time in zone, or aerobic load) within a short period. Instead of needing two to three hours to achieve a training effect, you may be able to target specific adaptations in just an hour with properly structured intervals.

2. Target Specific Physiological Adaptations

Intervals are a powerful tool to develop specific aspects of your physiology. Want to raise your lactate threshold? Do intervals at an intensity near your lactate threshold. Want to improve VO₂ max? Do high-intensity efforts at or above VO₂ max intensity. Structured intervals allow you to directly attack specific weaknesses and capitalize on opportunities.

3. Increase Durability

Durability refers to how well you perform late in long rides or races, after thousands of kilojoules of work have been accumulated. Some interval sessions are designed to simulate late-race fatigue and build your ability to hold power under duress.

4. Develop Event-Specific Fitness

Whether it’s short, punchy efforts for criterium racing or long climbs for a gravel or road race, intervals can be tailored to mimic the specific demands of your target event. This specificity makes interval training especially valuable for competitors or athletes aiming for personal goals.

5. Entertainment and Motivation

Believe it or not, some athletes enjoy intervals more than riding without structure. Having a clear, challenging task can make training more engaging and psychologically rewarding.

Can You Improve Without Intervals?

The short answer: Yes, you can. But it requires mindful training and self-management. The structure of interval training provides guardrails for athletes, preventing them from overdoing it with too much intensity or shortchanging themselves with too little recovery. They also help athletes and coaches define how much work has been accomplished in a period of time, which is helpful when you are aiming for a specific goal event.

However, before interval training was formalized, athletes still built impressive endurance and strength. Riding without structure can still lead to gains — but only if you approach it strategically. This is why we encourage beginners and moderately experienced athletes to follow structured training plans. Until you are experienced enough to intuitively manage the intensities and durations necessary for making progress, following a plan is a wise choice.

How to Get Faster Without Structured Intervals:

Interval training is very effective and we use it, in some form, with every athlete we coach. However, there’s are times during the season or over the course of a few years when athletes may benefit from less structure. Learning to train without a strict structure is like learning to cook. You started out following recipes to the letter, but over time you learned to manage ingredients and adjust the components by taste and from habit. The same process can lead to more intuitive training. For instance, here are some of the non-interval workouts I recommend for my athletes:

1. Just Ride for Fun

There’s tremendous value in riding based on feel, especially during base-building phases or mental recovery periods. Simply enjoying your bike can help refresh your motivation, promote aerobic development, and reconnect you with why you love the sport.

2. Go Hard When You Feel Good, Rest When You Need It

Without strict structure, you can allow perceived effort to guide your training:

• Push hard on days when you feel strong.
• Keep some rides truly easy to allow for recovery.

The key here is to separate hard days from easy days. Most successful endurance athletes naturally follow a rhythm of 2–3 hard days per week, surrounded by easier rides. Long, grindy rides should be counted as hard days even if the intensity is moderate.

3. Use “Work Rate” to Guide Effort

If you want a more measurable approach without rigid intervals, try kilojoule-per-hour training. (Read more about kilojoules in cycling).

• Set a target work output (kilojoules/hour) based on data from a past race or hard ride.
• Ride at a steady, moderately hard pace to maintain that work rate during a relatively long ride.

For instance, your race file could show that you average 700 kJ/hr during gravel races. So, go out for your long weekend ride and shoot for 700 kJ/hr, hour after hour. This method helps build muscular endurance and durability, especially for long gravel races, gran fondos, or multi-hour events.

4. Play the Normalized Power Game

Another alternative is focusing on normalized power during rides:

• Try to maintain a high normalized power across the entire ride.
• Push harder on climbs, maintain the pressure on flats, and sprint when you feel inspired.

This teaches your body and mind to handle sustained intensity without relying on set recovery breaks typical of interval workouts. 

5. Leverage Group Rides

Group rides provide a natural environment for intensity. You can use group rides to target specific adaptations at different times of the season:

• Early season: stay toward the front to work and build aerobic strength.
• Mid-season: practice attacking and breakaways (if it’s that kind of group ride).
• Late season: focus on sprinting and strategic surges.

Important: Do not impose structured intervals on a group ride. Instead, adapt your efforts to the flow of the group based on your goals.

6. Use Long Back-to-Back Rides

If you have the luxury of longer weekend rides, use them! Stacking back-to-back long rides builds aerobic base and endurance capacity. Just make sure to balance big weekends with lighter mid-week sessions to avoid burnout.

Monitoring Training Without Intervals

If you’re moving away from a strict interval plan, it’s crucial to monitor your training and recovery carefully:

• Use data tools like TrainingPeaks’ Performance Management Chart to watch fitness (CTL), fatigue (ATL), and freshness (TSB) trends.
• Track mean maximal power: Monitor your 20-minute, 5-minute, and 1-minute bests over time to ensure performance is improving.
• Regular rest days: Include at least one full rest day 7-10 days to allow for mental and physical recovery.
• Daily check-ins: I ask my athletes to discern between “real feel” and “should feel”. In other words, ask yourself how you really feel, not how you think you should feel. Monitor mood, motivation, soreness, and energy levels. Recording heart rate variability with an app like HRV4Training can be helpful here, too.

Training is a mix of art and science. Whether you’re using strict intervals or riding based on feel, balancing load and recovery is essential for sustainable progress.

Final Thoughts: Do You Need Interval Training?

Almost all athletes need interval training to achieve their goals and reach their potential. Intervals are incredibly effective, especially for Time-Crunched Athletes who need to maximize every minute on the bike. However, that doesn’t mean every ride must be structured or that high-intensity efforts must fit into specific windows of time.

A combination of structured intervals, purposeful free riding, strategic hard days, and careful recovery can lead to impressive gains and keep you engaged and excited about training. No matter how your program is structured, stay mindful of your body’s signals, track your progress, and always stay connected to the why behind your training.