IDEAL CADENCE PUSH VS SPIN

Post date: Jan 6, 2015 6:18:22 PM

by Dr. Stephen Cheung

 Power is a function of force and cadence. This means that you can generate the exact same power or speed by mashing a big gear slowly (think Jan Ullrich) or by spinning a small gear (think about some dude named Lance). A higher cadence tends to stress the aerobic and cardiovascular system, while a lower cadence tends to stress the muscular system. Which do you think generally gives out first? For long-distance cycling, you generally want to save your legs and transfer the stress to your aerobic system. Lance’s high cadence style is so effective precisely because he is blessed with a huge aerobic capacity to handle this stress, and this helps to save his legs and allow him to make deadly attacks at the end of epic mountain stages.

A smart cyclist can make literally an infinite number of interval workouts at the exact same power output that focus on training one or the other system, and this is why scientific training means more than laying down power or heart rate intensities alone. Manipulating the effects of the workout can be done by changing not only the gearing/cadence, but also the duration of both intervals and recovery periods. For example, if climbing strength is a limiter or during the early season, you might focus on high gears and low cadence intervals. Make sure you start off with relatively short (30-90 s) efforts and build up to longer (4-6 min) efforts rather than the other way around, and make the recovery periods fairly long to keep the legs fresh. When the longer efforts become easy, then it’s time to increase the speed/power and start again with shorter efforts. 

Why do I recommend building up from shorter to longer intervals at the same power? Think of it as focusing first on the quantity of training and then making the transition to quality of training. With shorter efforts, you will be able to do many more reps (e.g., 32 x 1.5 min = 48 min versus 5 x 6 min = 30 min), meaning that you maximize the total time spent at that power output. This gives you that broader base of physiological adaptation that will eventually permit you to simulate the race effort of maintaining that same intensity for prolonged periods at a time (e.g., TT’s, climbing, breakaways). 

But remember that it’s March! Unless you’re Museeuw and need to be flying now, then you aren’t going to be able to handle mid-season speeds or power outputs yet. Therefore, you need to gradually build up the intensity. Next time, I’ll focus on the concept of lactate threshold and how to train it. Keep the questions and comments coming!