Hi,
Started a new training plan this week anticipating long climbs in Calpe this December. Pratfall 90+ cadence today. I was surprised to see cadence targets of 100. I spin normally at 90ish anyway but it struck me as I spun away that surely these should be low cadence efforts? Say 45-50 to mimic low cadence efforts on climbs when one is out of gears? Isn’t that the right neuromuscular adaption on a plan where climbing is the main focus? Guidance wanted! Thanks.
AIUI there are some low cadence workouts in such plans, but it is not every workout.
Hi,
Thanks, Yes I saw that when I did a search. I am in a big climbs plan so, as I say, surprised to see repeated high cadence efforts in the workout. I alternated high and low for some variety.
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I don’t see any harm in sensibly self selecting cadence in most workouts.
Accepting that there will be a preferred and a most efficient cadence for each individual, my instinct is that having a wider cadence range seems better than a narrower one. That capability would be developed by training across that range (including at the upper and lower ends of it).
As well as the GCN video in the thread linked above, there is this more recent one too.
"For years, the optimal cadence has been a topic of huge debate in cycling. Should we spin fast like Chris Froome, or grind a big gear? And with everything else in cycling evolving - nutrition, crank lengths, tyre widths - has the science on cadence changed too? In this video, we dive deep into the latest research to find out what really matters.
We managed to get exclusive data from Zwift to see how cadence changes across different types of rides for thousands of users. Plus, top coach and sports scientist Peter Leo (Team Jayco–AlUla) joins us to explain his groundbreaking research on fatigue resistance and why training your cadence “spectrum” could be the key to unlocking your next level of performance."
I absolutely agree about having a self selected best cadence but also having a wide range. I am still not sure what riding at 100 achieves on a plan designed for climbing. I watched a Tristantakesvideo YT video today advertising a 20 week training plan. The first block involves neuromuscular adaptation through low cadence efforts , and some weeks later, post threshold, involves a mix of alternating low and high cadence. At least it keeps the boredom at bay!
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I don’t think the CAD workouts in the Z2 rides have anything to do with the plan type. The SFR/Dynamic Force workouts are the ones that do low cadence if I recall correctly.
Dave
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These answers above really sum up the reason we have this included but I will just summarize.
- Variety is usually good as long as it is not disrupting your key training
- Decreased boredom
- Generally going a bit faster than your natural cadence can stimulate increasing your natural over a longer period of time (higher natural is likely better)
- Normally natural cadence is usually best (and most enjoyable)
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I have seen some pretty high cadence blocks in workouts as well. I think the highest I’ve seen was 115-125. I generally pedal around 95 on my trainer, but getting to 120 is pretty rough. I had a hard time seeing the benefit of spinning that fast, so i’ve started to mostly ignore these high cadence blocks and just pedal what I thought was comfortable or on the high side of comfortable.
We set the cadence just a bit higher then your current average high so it must have been a bug setting it that high. we will review. I agree ignore it and we will try to fix it if you want to edit your plan after our fix.
Alright. Not sure if you can see my plans, but it was the Polarized plan I started on January 20th. It was on the endurance workouts on Tuesday. It started at 107-117 and worked up to 115-125 over 12 weeks.
Thanks, yes I will review your plan. That’s too much.
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I looked at your calendar and this was the “worst” I could see which was 100-110
Consider you frequently do 95 that seems ok. Where are you seeing this 120? Is that a new plan not on your calendar?
CJ knows something we are not aware of. You are going pro!!!
Haha, I think that opportunity probably passed me by at this time in life.
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