Musclist

Indoor cardio plan: 4 days a week in the gym

Four cardio sessions a week on gym machines, built like an endurance plan: one easy session, one interval session, one tempo session and one long session. Most of the time is spent at an easy pace, which builds your aerobic base. The two harder sessions raise the pace you can hold.

Days per week
4
Level
Intermediate
Session
40–90 min
Equipment
Cardio machine

Who it’s for

People who want better cardio fitness rather than bigger muscles, and runners or cyclists who cannot train outside for a while, in winter, while travelling or around an injury, and want to keep their endurance. You should already manage 30 minutes of easy cardio without stopping.

Weekly schedule

Easy

ExerciseRoundsTime
Stationary Bike140–50 min

Intervals

ExerciseRoundsTime
Rowing Machine63 min hard, 2 min easy

Tempo

ExerciseRoundsTime
Treadmill Run38–10 min tempo, 2 min easy

Long session

ExerciseRoundsTime
Treadmill Run145–90 min

How to progress

Keep about three quarters of your weekly time easy. Easy means you could talk in full sentences. Going too hard on easy days is the most common mistake: it leaves you too tired for the sessions that are meant to be hard.

Tempo is comfortably hard: you could say a few words, not hold a conversation. Intervals are harder still, a pace you could hold for about 10 minutes, not an all-out sprint.

Warm up for 10 minutes at an easy pace before the interval and tempo sessions, and cool down for 5 to 10 minutes after.

Add time before pace. Grow the long session by about 10 minutes a week, then add a round to the intervals or a few minutes to each tempo block. Every fourth week, cut your total time by a third to recover.

Log the distance as well as the time. Musclist shows your pace on the treadmill and your split on the rower, so you can see the same session getting faster at the same effort.

Run it in Musclist

In the app, open My routine and add one workout for each day: Easy, Intervals, Tempo, and Long session. Log each session’s time and distance, and Musclist shows your pace, split or speed for each machine, so you can see the same session getting faster at the same effort. The app keeps the exercises, not the rounds and times, so keep this page handy for those.

Questions

Will this keep my running fitness if I cannot run outside?

Mostly, yes. The tempo and long sessions are on the treadmill, so your legs keep getting used to running, and the rest builds the same engine with less pounding. Set the treadmill to a 1% incline to make up for the missing wind and terrain. Expect to feel a little rusty on your first runs back outside, not unfit.

Can I train for a half marathon with this?

It keeps a half marathon base, but a race build needs more running. If a race is coming up, swap the easy bike session for an easy treadmill run and grow the long session towards 90 minutes.

Can I use other machines?

Yes. The bike, rower, elliptical, SkiErg and stair climber all work for the easy and interval sessions. Mixing machines spreads the load over different muscles and joints, which helps when you are coming back from an injury.

Should I add strength training?

Two short full body sessions a week help most endurance athletes: they make you more resistant to injury and better at holding your pace late in a session. Put them on easy or rest days, not before intervals.

Does this help with weight loss?

It burns a lot of energy, but fat loss mostly comes down to eating a little less than you burn. If losing fat is your main goal, the lifting + cardio plan fits better, because it also keeps your muscle.

Other programs

Not sure which one? Read How to choose a workout split.