Lockdown your Cadence Range in the lockdown!
Read on below as Coach Trevor discusses how you can build up your cadence ranges and improving your cycling without changing your training routine.
Not that topic again!
Yes, let’s talk cadence. Firstly, what’s too high or too low a cadence? There have been many articles and/or blogs that have covered this subject. After reading some of them over many years, one question always remained: “what is right for me?”
Some general numbers that often get thrown around are: 60 to 65 RPM is the average cadence of the general population of recreational cyclists. Elite and advanced cyclists are somewhere either side of 90 RPM. There will always be cyclists that fall outside of this range. Some riders will grind away at an RPM lower than 60 and some that will spin above 100 RPM. If these athletes are in the elite group or advanced group, we should not instantly try to emulate them for the single reason that we, the Sunday worriers, don’t have the structure to support a lifestyle and training regime to bring about the same results as them.
Nevertheless, there is no reason why we should not consider changing if the change is going to produce a better outcome. There is a good saying that goes somewhere along the lines of: ’if the process stays the same, the result will always be the same’. So, if you are not content with your race pace or how quickly to become fatigued, then you need to consider changing something.
Why address cadence now?
So back to ‘Not this topic again’. My reason for bringing this subject up again is that we have a real opportunity during this lockdown period to experiment with cadence and make us better athletes when normal lifestyle resumes. Many athletes are sitting on turbo of one sort or another, so why not try change cadence to see what the result could be. If you have data that gives your average RPM, then simply use this as your starting point if you don’t, then use your next turbo session to establish your current steady pace cadence. Simply do a warm-up and then settle into your steady, endurance training ride. When you are riding at a comfortable cadence (your normal RPM), using a stopwatch to count the revolutions of one foot for 1min, this number will be your starting point. Lockdown should not be about top-end performance but about preparing yourself to become a better athlete when we come out of it.
Cadence is challenging to change in a short period. The reason being is that over time (the many years you have been cycling) your body has adapted to the ‘demand’ you placed on it. Your neuromuscular system (muscles and nerves), Cardiovascular system (conditioning of the heart) and to some degree, your metabolism (rate of energy consumption) is all set by what you do. When you change what you do, all these systems are pushed beyond their comfort zone. Over time you will be able to set a new ‘comfort zone’, this is called adaptation. We all need to adapt to an increased training load to get faster, and let’s face it; we would all love to get to the finish line a bit sooner.
It is suggested that a higher cadence (80 to 100 RPM) results in a smoother and steady delivery of power, and with this smoothness comes sustainable power output. The onset of muscle fatigue when riding with a higher cadence is reduced as opposed to a faster onset of fatigue when grinding in a low gear. Simply put:
Higher cadence = best power output + reduced neuromuscular fatigue.
Low cadence = erratic power output + sooner onset of neuromuscular fatigue.
How long will it take?
To justify the statement: ‘cadence is difficult to change in a short period’, a higher cadence will place more demand on your cardiovascular and respiratory systems. Small increments in cadence will need to be made to develop these systems without overwhelming them. If you made too big an increase, you will simply become breathless and revert to ‘old comfort zone’. There can’t be a magic number (RPM) that will suit everyone for the simple fact that we are all different and have different lifestyles that will influence and shape our development as athletes. However, reports would suggest that you may find your ideal cadence in the range of 80 to 100 RPM. Caveat: don’t just try to copy the pros. Even amongst them, you will see a varied range of cadence.
Is there a perfect cadence?
Just when you think this sounds simple let me add that the ideal cadence for each distance of racing is unlikely to be the same. A higher cadence is potentially going to be a smoother pedal acting allowing for faster gear changes. A low cadence is likely to result in slower and more clunky gear changes. Think about that last club ride you went on and halfway up a climb you hear gear changes that sound like chains are about to snap. This is because the rider has left changing to a higher cadence far too late and is then demanding the gear change whilst applying maximum force to the drive chain. If you are in a draft legal triathlon, for example, and there is an attack, you will need to be able to react instantly. If you firstly, due to being in a low gear, need to reduce pressure to the pedals to get a smooth change that may be the difference of holding a wheel or allowing the ‘elastic’ to snap. If you change while at maximum pressure on the drive chain you may get away with it or, you may drop or snap a chain. Game over. Drop back to the next group on the road and race for a lower finish position or go for an early shower.
Now that’s all very well and good for shorter or draft legal racing, but not so for longer distance triathlon racing for the obvious fact that there is a marathon foot race to be had once off the bike. The cardiovascular and respiratory demand of a high cadence for 180km is likely to leave you lacking performance ability in the run leg. A higher cadence and smoother pedal action also encourage force to be applied to the pedal for more of the rotation, thereby demanding a higher level of effort from smaller leg muscles vital for a good run performance. As you pull up on the pedal through the backend of the pedal cycle, you engage the calf significantly more than on the downward phase of the rotation. How often, during the run, do you see an athlete holding their calf and a spectator shout ‘drink move fluids’ or ‘electrolytes’? Sure, both are plausible comments but without the knowledge of what’s came before the run, how can we be sure it’s simply not because of fatigue during the bike leg created by too high a cadence demanding more from the poor calf muscle? This is not to say you should aim to develop an erratic low cadence action. All pedalling should be smooth.
Now is the time to try different cadences
Experiment and test cadence for all scenarios until you find your optimum. Simply put, you will need to spend time retraining your muscles to work differently while developing cardio fitness to match. Let’s suggest an athlete has a normal RPM of 65, and they wish to increase that to 90. Target an RPM increase of 5 RPM per week, and in 5 weeks you will be there. One coaching tip I would offer here is that when you enter a recovery phase within a session don’t drop back to normal 65 RPM. The objective is to increase cadence, not reinforce that that you are trying to change.
We’re here to help
Tri Training Harder are one of the leading Triathlon coaching providers in the UK, using our wealth of experience to unite scientific and technological research with already well-established and successful best practices, to create a formula for triathlon and endurance coaching that works.
The result is an honest, dynamic, yet simple new way of constructing an athlete’s training to allow them to reach their potential.
If you’re planning your next season, just starting out in the sport or are looking for extra guidance at the very top end of the field, we are here to help, and our coaches would be delighted to hear from you. You can contact us via the website, and one of the team will be in touch.