Hi,
maybe I’m overlooking something but how do I activate cadence targets (in your iOS apps)? I’m going to do a cadence drill tomorrow and wondering how can do that efficiently without seeing a cadence target.
Thanks in advance and best regards,
Steve
Hi Steve, if the workout contains them they are there automatically. If not you can copy any workout and add them yourself in our editor. Just put the range in the cadence field. Let me know if you need more help.
Hi Alex, thanks again for your quick and insightful answer. I just copied the workout (“Sweet Spot A #10 + CAD”, which is from my Coach Jack created plan) and looked for cadence targets in the editor. Unfortunately there are no cadence targets dispite its description says there will be cadence drills; is there something missing? Would be great to have workouts with determined cadence targets from your plan builder!
Oh I just looked at your workout. Yes the problem is that SS#10 for a workout that is 45 minutes long does not have any secondary work and all our cadence targets are included in the secondary work not the main work. Some how we need to make this more clear or resolve this. Sweet spot at higher intensities and shorter workouts is the problem.
You can see when you get to #11 it is 60 minutes so it does have a small amount of cadence work and also some of your Zone 2 workouts have cadence targets.
Thanks again for your quick response. Alright, I see; does that mean that my training plan or rather this part of my created plan is not sufficient?
I’m relatively new to structured training (I’m not a professional cyclist; just preparing for my bikepacking trips during the winter months) and so your plan builder seemed like a good way to get a better understanding of structured training (I also read a lot but you know: There many approaches and schools of thought…).
Not at all. Cadence drills are likely to cause a 1-2% difference over a period of years 
Most people will slowly increase their cadence with consistent training but we generally seem to do best at our natural cadence but if you can raise that natural cadence a little then you might produce a little more power.
I would say many platforms like to “sell cadence” as some special pill, like Peloton bikes for fitness athletes but it really has a small impact over a long period of time in general. Also elite athletes can benefit a lot from 1-2% over years. Maybe in some isolated cases it could cause more benefit. Low cadence strength training can have a bigger short term effect but even that is more of that last icing on the cake. For your bike packing trips riding as much as possible is the most important aspect. My goals are closer to yours. Overall a good training plan is probably about 5-15% benefit over just riding with variety and consistency.
Low cadence is needed sometimes too if you have steep gradient and are under-geared for your power to weight ratio.
There is probably benefit to mixing it up and not using the same cadence all of the time.
Dave
Thank you guys! This is what I really like about TrainerDay so far (besides that is reasonably priced): Don’t hesitate to reach out here, no matter what the question is!
That is what I thougt, @dthrog00: I often find myself undergeared on steep climbs when I’m bikepacking and so pushing the watts with low cadence seems to be a good preparation.
Yes I agree, our serious Italian block has SFR (low cadence drills) I feel this is more import (and immediate benefit) than our high cadence drills. Squats or leg exercises can play a similar role. If you like your plan but want to swap out 1 day with SFR then that could be a good benefit or just follow the serious Italian block and potentially later big climbs.
Thanks for the advice Alex; I made a custom block with low cadence intervals, Z2/Z3 long rides and HIIT intervals.
What do you think is better for my training purpose: HIIT or VO2max intervals? I have to say that I love to give everything I have one time in the week and thus HIIT is more fun but don’t know which is more efficient…
I don’t think their is any clear evidence which is more efficient. VO2max is more old school common in top cyclists and HIIT has some strong science validated validity especially in people doing less than say 6 hours a week. I say do what ever seems more fun. If you had a specific goal that was closer to one or the other, or one or the other was your weak spot with friends or in races then the argument might be more clear.
FYI - SFR workouts are 35-45 RPM high zone 2 or low zone 3 power, so this is true strength endurance but you want to be careful with them and start with shorter duration and build slowly.
