Warm-up before intervals: short and effective
A good warm-up decides the quality of your first interval. Here is a routine that takes fifteen minutes and actually works.
Hitting hard intervals on cold legs means a weaker first rep and a higher injury risk. A fifteen-minute warm-up changes the whole session.
Fifteen minutes in three steps
Start with five minutes of easy riding, then five minutes gradually lifting the pace to the edge of threshold. Finish with three short ten-second accelerations to wake up the nervous system before the real work.
After the intervals
Do not get off the bike straight away. A few minutes of easy spinning helps clear fatigue and brings your heart rate back down.