5 body warming winter workouts

Keep your core temperature up this winter with these metabolism-boosting workouts

The temperatures are dropping, and your indoor heating costs are soaring, but with the help of your turbo trainer you can heat up your body over winter – and get race-fit at the same time. With some intelligent indoor workouts, you can fire up your metabolism to warm up your body on a cold winter’s day – and you’ll stay flushed and warm for hours after you’ve finished your workout.

The secret is to work at the right intensity to get your body temperature soaring. But there are multiple ways to do this, each with different fitness rewards, from enhanced power output to improved top-end speed. Here George Caines – Master Trainer and Head of Education at Wattbike – reveals five of the best metabolism-boosting workouts to keep you fit and warm this winter.

1. HIIT heater

WHAT: “This is a short, intense HIIT workout that’s great for improving your athletic capacity and physical condition, but it will also increase your body’s metabolic rate for up to 24 hours after you finish,” says Caines.

HOW: After a good warm-up, do 3 sets of 5 high-intensity efforts. Each effort should be for 20 secs at 145% FTP, with a recovery spin of 35 sec at 50% FTP after each effort. Each set of five efforts and recoveries will last around 5 mins in total. Enjoy a 3 min recovery ride at 50% FTP between each of your 3 sets. Then finish with a short cool-down spin.

2. Piping hot power up

WHAT: “This short power-based workout will improve your VO2 max,” says Caines. That makes it a brilliant cardio-boosting fitness tool. But it will also crank up your metabolism to keep you toasty and warm for the rest of the day.

HOW: After a good warm-up, gently ramp up the power over a period of 8 mins to 95% FTP. Take a short 30 sec recovery ride at 50% FTP, before knocking out two 15 sec activation sprints at 150% FTP, with 30 sec of recovery riding between each sprint. Then start the main power-based interval sets, by doing 3 mins at 130% FTP with 1 min recovery at 50% FTP after each effort. Aim for 4 of these power efforts in total. Enjoy a cool-down ride to finish.

3. Ramp roaster

WHAT: “This workout begins with a 10 min incremental ramp, followed by 3 x 5 min efforts at progressively increasing power,” says Caines. The duration of the workout, and your slowly rising power output, will ramp up your body temperature, and boost your power production ready for chasing down riders, accelerating along flats, or powering up hills.

HOW: After a good warm-up, start with a 10 min incremental ramp to pump up your power. Then head into the three 5 min incremental power blocks. Perform the first 5 min block at 85% FTP, followed by 3 min recovery at 40% FTP. Perform the second 5 min block at 100% FTP, followed by 3 min recovery at 40% FTP. Then perform the final 5 min block at 105% FTP, followed by 3 min recovery at 40% FTP. Finish with a gentle cool-down.

4. Thermo Thresholds

WHAT: “This ‘under/over’ threshold workout will improve your FTP and your sprint power under fatigue, as it works the body at power efforts just below and just above your FTP, providing a strong stimulus to improve your aerobic capacity,” says Caines. The physical challenge will also leave your core body temperature soaring for hours to come.

HOW: Start with a good warm-up and then do a 1 min ramp up to your own FTP. Then for the main session, do a 10 min block of short efforts at just over and just below your FTP, following the programme below. Finish with a cool-down.

30 sec at 110% FTP
15 sec at 90% FTP

15 sec at 95% FTP

30 sec at 110% FTP

15 sec at 90% FTP

15 sec at 95% FTP

45 sec at 105% FTP

15 sec at 85% FTP

15 sec at 95% FTP

30 sec at 110% FTP
15 sec at 90% FTP

15 sec at 95% FTP

30 sec at 110% FTP
15 sec at 90% FTP

15 sec at 95% FTP

30 sec at 110% FTP
15 sec at 90% FTP

15 sec at 95% FTP

30 sec at 110% FTP
15 sec at 90% FTP

15 sec at 95% FTP

45 sec at 105% FTP

15 sec at 85% FTP

15 sec at 95% FTP

30 sec at 150% FTP

5. Metabolic Max

WHAT: “These maximum sprint efforts will improve your top-end speed and sprint power,” says Caines. But the high-power efforts will also fire up your metabolism to fight off the winter cold and throw some crackling logs onto your body’s own internal fire.

HOW: After a 10 min warm-up, do 10 sec maximum sprints at as close to 200% FTP as you can hit. Enjoy 20 sec recovery at 50% FTP in between each sprint. Repeat until you are fatigued. Aim for 20 reps if you can. Then finish with a cool-down spin.