How to structure a 45-minute cycling workout with music zones

A well-structured 45-minute cycling workout moves through distinct phases: warmup, progressive build, high-intensity intervals, a peak effort, and a cooldown. Each phase has a different cadence target, a different energy demand, and a different optimal music tempo.

Most riders either follow a random playlist and let the music dictate their effort (inconsistent and unstructured) or follow a structured plan in silence (effective but mentally gruelling). The best approach combines both: a structured workout where the music tempo matches the prescribed effort at every phase.

Here is a complete 45-minute session you can ride today, with specific BPM targets for each segment.

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The workout at a glance

FTP = Functional Threshold Power. If you do not train with power, use perceived effort: easy means you can hold a full conversation, hard means short phrases only, max means you cannot speak.

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Phase 1: Warmup (0:00 to 5:00)

BPM: 65-75 | Cadence: 65-75 RPM | Effort: very easy

The warmup is not optional. Cold muscles produce less power, respond more slowly, and are more prone to strain. Five minutes of easy spinning raises your core temperature, increases blood flow to the working muscles, and primes your neuromuscular system for the effort ahead.

Start at the low end (65 RPM) and gradually increase to 75 RPM over the five minutes. Keep resistance low. The goal is smooth, circular pedal strokes with no urgency.

Music for this phase: Downtempo, ambient, lo-fi. The beat should be steady and unhurried. You are setting a rhythm for your legs to follow, not pushing intensity. At 65-75 BPM, many chill electronic and acoustic tracks sit naturally in this range. The music should feel like an on-ramp, gradually drawing your body into motion.

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Phase 2: Progressive build (5:00 to 12:00)

BPM: 80-90 | Cadence: 80-90 RPM | Effort: moderate

Over seven minutes, you transition from easy spinning to a solid endurance pace. This is where your aerobic engine starts working. Increase cadence gradually from 80 to 90 RPM and add enough resistance that you feel purposeful effort, but not strain.

This phase also serves as a systems check. Is your position comfortable? Is your fan aimed correctly? Are your cleats seated properly? Handle the logistics now, before the intensity demands full attention.

Music for this phase: Mid-tempo tracks with a clear, driving pulse. Indie rock, funk, soul, moderate electronic. The energy should feel like steady forward momentum. At 80-90 BPM, you are in the heartland of popular music, so options are abundant. The transition from warmup music to build music should feel natural, not jarring.

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Phase 3: Tempo block (12:00 to 20:00)

BPM: 100-110 | Cadence: 100-110 RPM | Effort: hard

Eight minutes of sustained tempo effort. This is the foundation of the workout, the aerobic work that builds your engine. Hold a consistent cadence between 100 and 110 RPM with enough resistance that talking becomes difficult. Your breathing should be rhythmic and controlled but clearly elevated.

This block teaches your body to sustain power at a pace that is faster than comfortable but slower than painful. Many cyclists skip tempo work in favour of more exciting intervals, but this zone builds the aerobic base that makes everything else possible.

Music for this phase: Uptempo pop, house, driving rock. The music should feel relentless in a good way, a steady push that matches the purposeful, grinding nature of tempo work. At 100-110 BPM, you are in classic house music territory, and the four-on-the-floor kick pattern works perfectly for maintaining a steady cadence.

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Phase 4: Interval set 1 (20:00 to 28:00)

Work intervals: BPM 120-140 | Cadence: 120-140 RPM | Effort: very hard Recovery intervals: BPM 75 | Cadence: 75 RPM | Effort: easy

Structure: 4 rounds of 1 minute on, 1 minute off.

This is where the workout gets serious. Each one-minute work interval should be at or above your threshold, cadence high, breathing heavy, legs burning by the final 15 seconds. Each one-minute recovery should be a genuine reset: drop the resistance, spin easy at 75 RPM, let your heart rate come down.

Start the first interval at 120 BPM and increase the tempo with each round: 120, 125, 130, 140. This progressive overload within the interval set builds intensity without starting at maximum.

Music for this phase: The work intervals need aggressive, high-energy tracks. EDM, drum and bass, fast rock. The music should feel urgent and driving. The recovery intervals need an immediate shift to something calm and steady at 75 BPM. This is where seamless tempo transitions matter most. A two-second gap between the end of a 140 BPM sprint track and the start of a 75 BPM recovery track breaks the rhythm at exactly the wrong moment.

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Phase 5: Interval set 2 (28:00 to 35:00)

Work intervals: BPM 130-150 | Cadence: 130-150 RPM | Effort: maximum Recovery intervals: BPM 75 | Cadence: 75 RPM | Effort: easy

Structure: 4 rounds of 30 seconds on, 1 minute 15 seconds off.

Shorter, harder, faster. These are near-maximal sprint intervals. The work periods are half the length of set 1, but the intensity is higher. You should finish each 30-second effort feeling like you could not have held it for another 10 seconds.

The longer recovery periods (1:15 instead of 1:00) reflect the higher intensity. Your body needs more time to clear lactate and reset between genuine sprint efforts.

Start at 130 BPM and progress through 135, 140, and 150 BPM.

Music for this phase: Sprint-energy tracks at the corresponding BPM. At 140-150 BPM, you are in drum and bass, hardstyle, and fast punk territory. The beat should feel like it is pulling your legs faster. Recovery music returns to the same 75 BPM as in set 1, providing a consistent anchor that your body learns to associate with rest.

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Phase 6: Sustained peak (35:00 to 39:00)

BPM: 110-120 | Cadence: 110-120 RPM | Effort: hard

Four minutes of sustained high-tempo effort after two interval sets. This is the most mentally challenging phase of the workout. Your legs are fatigued from the intervals, and your body wants to stop. The music has to carry you.

Hold a steady cadence between 110 and 120 RPM with consistent resistance. This is not a sprint; it is a sustained push. Think race pace, not max effort. The goal is to produce power when your body would rather coast.

Music for this phase: Driving, propulsive tracks with strong rhythmic momentum. This is where music as a performance tool earns its value most clearly. At 110-120 BPM, the beat should feel like a pace car you are following. Not frantic, but insistent. The music tells your legs to keep turning when your brain is ready to negotiate.

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Phase 7: Cooldown (39:00 to 45:00)

BPM: 65-70 | Cadence: 65-70 RPM | Effort: very easy

Six minutes of easy spinning to bring your heart rate down, flush metabolic byproducts from your muscles, and transition your nervous system from effort to rest. Drop resistance to almost nothing and let your legs turn gently.

Do not skip this. Stopping abruptly after high-intensity work can cause blood pooling, dizziness, and delayed recovery. The cooldown is part of the workout.

Music for this phase: Mirror the warmup. Downtempo, ambient, calm. The shift from 110-120 BPM peak music to 65-70 BPM cooldown music should feel like the ride is winding down naturally. Your heart rate, your breathing, and the music all decelerate together.

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Why music tempo drives the workout structure

Notice the pattern: every phase is defined by a BPM range, and the workout arc follows the music tempo upward and then back down. Warmup at 65-75, build to 80-90, tempo at 100-110, intervals at 120-150, sustained peak at 110-120, cooldown at 65-70.

This is not coincidental. The auditory-motor synchronization effect means your cadence naturally follows the beat. When the music accelerates, your legs accelerate. When it decelerates, they slow down. The transitions between workout phases feel guided rather than forced.

This is also why a random playlist fails for structured training. A playlist does not know that minute 22 should be 130 BPM and minute 23 should be 75 BPM. It plays whatever comes next, regardless of what your body needs.

Adapting this workout to your fitness level

The structure above works for intermediate to advanced riders. If you are newer to structured indoor cycling, adjust as follows:

• Reduce interval intensity. Start intervals at 110 BPM instead of 120, and cap sprints at 130 BPM instead of 150.
• Extend recovery periods. Take 90 seconds of recovery between intervals instead of 60.
• Shorten the interval sets. Do 3 rounds per set instead of 4.
• Lower the tempo block cadence. Ride the tempo block at 95-100 RPM instead of 100-110.

The structure stays the same. The music tempos adjust to match your current capacity.

Putting it into practice

You can build this workout manually by creating seven separate playlists and switching between them at the right moments. It works, but it is tedious and breaks your focus.

Cycling Beats handles this automatically. The app generates BPM-precise tracks across the full 60-160 BPM range, organised into five energy zones. Real-time cadence sync follows your actual pedalling speed, and crossfade streaming ensures seamless transitions between zones. Select your target BPM for each phase and the music follows, no playlist management required.

Forty-five minutes. Seven phases. Five energy zones. One continuous soundtrack matched to every pedal stroke.