While doing indoor training sessions on your turbo trainer there are a couple of ways how you influence the difficulty of the session. You can either change the resistance setting on the trainer, change the gear on the bike or change the pace at which you are pedaling. The last parameter is know in cycling as cadence.
Why does cadence matter so much?
Since we’re focused on this blog on amateur training we have to limit at the beginning our choices and train as efficiently as possible. At the beginning of our cycling journey we are not accustomed to constant pedaling at all. If you would take a look at a lot of casual and amateur cyclists you will immediately notice that they are stopping the pedaling movement as soon as the occasion comes – wind to the back, riding downhill or simply enjoying the views around, they all are reasons to stop.
Our aim in the beginning of our cycling career should be as smooth and constant dealing stroke as possible. While on the turbo trainer this means constant pedaling. Turbo trainers are great devices to train such behavior, as especially cheaper models with magnetic resistance stop pretty quickly after the force stops being applied to the pedals. Frequent stops and starts lead to increased stress in the legs, as you have to accelerate the trainer from the beginning.
What is the “optimal” cadence?
Constant stroke and pedaling action allows unification of power needed to keep the bike going. But what should be the “ideal” pedaling pace? Many sources claim it should be in range from 80-90 revolutions per minute. That means one full turn of the crank should last shorter than one second – this is an easy way to estimate your pace when you do not own a cadence meter.
But why exactly 80-90 RPM? Some people prefer to ride especially more on the lower range of revolutions per minute. This requires though more power to be delivered from your legs and drains you from power quicker. And power may be needed later. When you will be taking part in a race on day and the race pace will get really fast you may end up having no gears to put to catch up with the group and your body will not be accustomed to high cadence pedaling. For our current needs just assume this is for energy saving reasons. But as well…
(…) studies show a higher cadence means an increase in blood flow to the muscles – which in turn, means more oxygen in the blood and a higher aerobic performance.
US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health
In the first training weeks you may notice you will be riding with varying cadence. At the beginning of the training session larger and dropping at the end. Your goal first of all should be to equalize it as much as possible. That is why in the first sessions you should focus on setting the trainer resistance and bike gear on positions that allow you to reach all heart-rate values required by the training session. Keep your eye on the cadence – this in the way how you will regulate the heart-rate. If you will find a good combination of the trainer resistance and bike gears you will be able to go through each session only by changing the pace of your pedaling in the desired range.
Cover photo courtesy of Simon Connellan on Unsplash
Caesar's Cycling 