diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index a8e5096..5404f5c 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -233,7 +233,8 @@ target_link_libraries(bench_parser_comparison nanobench_impl weaseldb_sources
 target_include_directories(bench_parser_comparison
                            PRIVATE ${rapidjson_SOURCE_DIR}/include)
 
-add_executable(bench_thread_pipeline benchmarks/bench_thread_pipeline.cpp)
+add_executable(bench_thread_pipeline benchmarks/bench_thread_pipeline.cpp
+                                     src/cpu_work.cpp)
 target_link_libraries(bench_thread_pipeline nanobench_impl Threads::Threads)
 target_include_directories(bench_thread_pipeline PRIVATE src)
 
diff --git a/benchmarks/bench_thread_pipeline.cpp b/benchmarks/bench_thread_pipeline.cpp
index fcffae8..e9ba307 100644
--- a/benchmarks/bench_thread_pipeline.cpp
+++ b/benchmarks/bench_thread_pipeline.cpp
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+#include "cpu_work.hpp"
 #include "thread_pipeline.hpp"
 
 #include <latch>
@@ -19,8 +20,7 @@ int main() {
                      .warmup(100);
     bench.run("Zero stage pipeline", [&] {
       for (int i = 0; i < NUM_ITEMS; ++i) {
-        for (volatile int i = 0; i < BUSY_ITERS; i = i + 1) {
-        }
+        spend_cpu_cycles(BUSY_ITERS);
       }
     });
 
@@ -35,8 +35,7 @@ int main() {
         auto guard = pipeline.acquire<0, 0>();
 
         for (auto &item : guard.batch) {
-          for (volatile int i = 0; i < BUSY_ITERS; i = i + 1) {
-          }
+          spend_cpu_cycles(BUSY_ITERS);
           if (item == &done) {
             return;
           }
@@ -101,8 +100,7 @@ int main() {
           auto guard = pipeline.acquire<0, 0>();
 
           for (auto &item : guard.batch) {
-            for (volatile int i = 0; i < BUSY_ITERS; i = i + 1) {
-            }
+            spend_cpu_cycles(BUSY_ITERS);
             if (item == &done) {
               return;
             }
@@ -164,8 +162,7 @@ int main() {
           for (;;) {
             auto guard = pipeline.template acquire<0, 0>();
             for (auto &item : guard.batch) {
-              for (volatile int i = 0; i < BUSY_ITERS; i = i + 1) {
-              }
+              spend_cpu_cycles(BUSY_ITERS);
               if (item == &done)
                 return;
             }
@@ -177,8 +174,7 @@ int main() {
           for (;;) {
             auto guard = pipeline.template acquire<1, 0>();
             for (auto &item : guard.batch) {
-              for (volatile int i = 0; i < BUSY_ITERS; i = i + 1) {
-              }
+              spend_cpu_cycles(BUSY_ITERS);
               if (item == &done)
                 return;
               if (item)