Don’t forget to regularly look at your stem and have your arms bend outwards Also, Oscar’s accent sounds as happy as a kid getting what he wanted for Christmas
When I started cycling, I was always one of the "grind a big gear" people (50-60 rpm). Tough, over the last 9 months, I have embraced using the right cadence. Regularly see my average cadence for a ride now is 88-92. Loads less stress going through my legs, yet because I'm getting fitter, more power.
High cadence has really helped me just enjoy my riding. I am riding much further and more adventurously with a smile on my face- because my lower back no longer hurts! My pedaling technique and efficiency has also improved dramatically too.
Like many, the power meter finally opened my eyes to spinning. It's a lot easier to spin up to 100rpm to reach and hold 300 or more Watts than it is to upshift and grunt out those 300W. And if you can spin up to 110rpm or more whilst retaining fluidity and positive consistent application, the Watts shoot up at an astronomical rate!
Calamari Chris indeed. However, the only way to spin to such a wattage is to do the torque training beforehand. They never discussed pedaling techniques in the video which is shameful, so I will tell you how it's done: push down with each pedal stroke as fast as you can. The velocity of your kick will continually thrust the other foot down and you should he able to remain stable at 110rpm. Any higher and you can maintain 150rpm if you stand and sprint.
I blew out a knee from pushing big gears many years ago. I started spinning faster. I average on every ride 96 rpm. No more knee problem and I am regularly in the 115 area on the flats. I am very comfortable spinning fast. It works for me.
I think spinning isn't just about the force on pedals. your knee joints get suspended by the muscle coordination at high spin. at low spin your muscles are uncoordinated, the joints sink and bite more.
For longer rides I switch between lungs and legs when one gets tired. Like a hybrid car. If the ride is an hour or less I just go all legs and take the burn
My normal cadence in around 70-75. Last week, I did an one hour "high cadence recovery" session (85-100 RPMs) and it took that took me two days to recover from it.
Didn't realize spinning was such a revolutionary thing, I learned about it way back in the mid eighties. Alot of people I rode with were doing it. I kinda feel like an invisible trailblazer.💪 We Americans will take credit for anything we can get our hands on. 😆evil laugh.
I miss Matt, yes. But I saw a video on GCN that went something like "Last Man Standing Fixed Gear" starring Hank and I've started loving him ever since. None of these guys are a joke, they're the real deal.
I have since I was a child had high cadence since my bikes had no gears and now as adult 90 rpm is my optimal cadence. I want keep the cadence as it is and only change gears. Uphill my cadense lower and around 70 rpm when I stand up but I am okay with a higher cadense when I sit in the saddle. I love all this new combinations of presenters and that make GCN even better!
90 is my most comfortable cadence at 70% of ftp and above. I thought I was just lazy until I got a power meter and discovered I could put out a lot of power without ripping my tendons to shreds.
I've notices (riding on a 9 speed casette) and unfortunately a still time limeted noob with big ambitions, that if you're on a limited gear range, your body is sometimes forced to put out higher cadences. After about 2 1/2 yrs. of training I find myself rinding more often at cadences around 90 or higher (sometimes 110 is my prefered cadence) judging from the indoor trainer data. And it is all about how you feel at specific cadences. I've never used a bike computer and feel I'm soon ready for it. But I always emphazised feeling the pedals and legs at all times and when it's the easiest to ride a very round pedal stroke. That's what has helped me in the past and was probably easier to adapt since I've had a few years pause from cycling before.
I was spinning in the 70's about 1977. Taught myself. Also did some grinding peddling on the flat & up hills. And also a combination of somewhere in the middle at around 65-75rpm. Got down 2 around 50rpm & high up around 90-110. No cadence meters back then. Just feel. These days l just spin between 90-110. Dance on the peddles up hills & occasionally the 52 chain ring & 11 rear. Spinning to get for especially before wanting to tackle hills or mountains... if your lungs can handle 2hrs + of spinning at 90-110 at 30-35 & 40an hr when you come to tackle hills & dance on the peddles the heart, lungs will have already had a decent foundation layed.
I’d like to ride high cadence but on tough climbs I find my heart rate goes down and my breathing is easier to push a hard gear. I think there are different physiologies. Some may have better aerobic capacity and so spinning works, others do better by relying on strength.
As a newly former moving man, high cadence helps me a lot recovering from all those heavy sofas caried up loads of stairs. I mean loads of sofas, loads of stairs (innercity stockholm)! Got pretty decent power in my legs out of that though. Cheers
I hate high cadence, 130kg 2m. But I’ve just got into road cycling and bought an indoor trainer, and I am using zwift. I’ve been smashing the hills out, and a high cadence recovery ride is exactly what I feel like I knead (as well as a massage, my quads are rocks).
Got back on a bike this season after a 15 years break. Got myself a gravel bike which is a bit heavier. Spent the first 1200 km on the small chainring, spinning like mad. Three weeks ago i did a 185 km ride, high cadence all the way.
Fun ride, good weather, my Cannondale Slate makes long rides so much more comfortable than my old, stiff road bike with racing gears. I'm sitting while climbing hills now, at a good cadence. Life is good.
Talks about John Travolta has blinded us from the two men with great hair who seem to have co-hosted this episode without some internal rivalry of who's hair is the better one!
120rpm for 1 hour, I can't hold it for that long, normally 15mins I can keep at about 250rpm. Sometimes higher, but does this mean long team my muscles will burn out or pushing that hard is too much?
Let’s not forget that high cadence is only partly trainable, that those with a higher natural cadence tend to have a high proportion of fast twitch fibres and those with a lower natural cadence tend to have a high proportion of slow twitch fibres. The fact that teams do high cadence as well as low cadence drills tells us there are advantages to a variety of cadences.
I'm fairly new to cycling but I was a distance runner and still play football ⚽. 90 cadence isn't a problem but I have the problem of constantly overriding the gear I'm in, constantly accelerating as it were. Any tips on holding a steady cadence? Keeping the mass in motion instead of constantly pushing? It wears me out way too quickly.
I'll have to reprogram my automatic shifter to go higher than 100rpm. 130rpm happens to be the maximum cadence I can maintain a high power output at. Beyond that it drops from 800W to 350W. Cadence maxs out at 165rpm.
Good video, personally I raise the cadence the only way anyways it is to increase the bike weight or use a heavier alloy bike to train on. This gives you a massive cadence boost when riding the lighter racing bike. I train 80% of the time on my 14.2 kg alloy and race Crits on the lighter Carbon. Going from 14 kg to 7 is a massive difference in Cadence.
veloriderkm Yes the issue with training on a heavier bike is you have to be careful not to bulk up too much as your body will demand more food and of course water. This type of training will not work for 200 km stages or riding for 4 hours. The reason I do it is so that when racing on the lighter bike the stamina buildup from the heavy bike allows me to ride for 1 hour at an extreme power output level that cyclists usually never do as they ride in large Peletons. This training is for Crit small races ( 40 km ) and you can counter act any attack because of the training. Some elite Cyclists do train some time on heavy bikes for mountain stages for example.
I just bought the same carbon Vision wheels 40mm. The ride is more comfortable and my cadence went up from 70-75 to 75-80. 90 is impossible for me without shifting to a lower gear.
I buzz around with an av cadence of 100rpm unless I'm on what I class as proper hilly stuff., all very well and good. Problem comes when you run out of gearing though. If you run out of gearing you will find yourself lacking a bit in the torque required to turn what will then be a higher gear than you're used to. So I think it is important to do some higher gear/lower cadence work as well, so that your legs have the power to turn the gear if you find yourself under-geared. So as a spinner, one should be wary to make sure they have the appropriate gearing on the bike for the terrain and to stay on top of all out leg power too. As an aside, my av cadence drops to 90 on Zwift, not really sure why.
Interestingly. Spinning Cycling cadence = 90+ rpm Elite Running cadence =180+ spm Considering spm is both sides and rpm counted on only one, in comparison we multiply cycling cadence by two and we get. 180
Vee_DT EPO is a liver output, which allowed his muscles to work harder. But the liver turns lactate into glucose for reuse, which his liver was also good at doing. So yes, he was using better fuel but he still had a superior engine.
Matheus Barbosa EPO increases the oxygen carrying capacity of red blood cells which means it would delay the build up of lactic acid and allow him to perform longer for the same level of fatigue. The liver turns lactate into Pyruvate which is a precursor to Glucogenesis, however this process takes time and is how your body metabolizes it’s fat stores. This isn’t happening over the course of the ride unless he’s already in a ketogenic state which is seriously doubtful given the glycogen demands of an event like TdF and the state of nutritional science of the time.
Ryon Beachner thanks I guess I only have a simple understanding of the Cori cycle. So where does mid ride recovery come from? The so-called "second wind"?
Matheus Barbosa Although it depends on the specific ride or efforts etc, it can be a couple things. It could be that the rider is feeling fatigued after an effort and has passed their lactate threshold and the period of lower intensity has allowed the circulation of more oxygenated blood to clear the lactic acid from the muscles. The other factor is that if the rider is eating appropriately while on the bike the body will continue to provide glycogen to the muscles and liver, although not typically at the rate at which it’s being used, but at lower intensity recovery is possible.
Matheus Barbosa Also it is worth noting that lactate converted to pyruvate will return to lactate if there’s is inadequate oxygen. If the requisite oxygen is available it will be used to fuel glucogenesis.
Hmm, 2 issues I tend to experience when riding higher cadence 1. Heart rate goes up way faster, is this normal or I’m not used at riding at higher cadence? 2 When cadence hits 100+ rpm, my knee feels different (in a not good kind of way)? Did I perhaps increased my cadence too fast or it’s a bike fit issue? Any tips and suggestions?
1. That's what they meant by mentioning cardiovascular system doing the work instead of muscles. 2. It might be bike fit. You can experiment with saddle height and crank lengths
Great video! It would be awesome with more training videos based on cadence. I don’t have a power meter, so I do pretty much all my training based on cadence. This brings me to my questions; what’s most efficient, doing e.g. 30 mph at 100 rpm or at 90 rpm? And what are the downfalls of doing pretty most all my training at a 100 rpm?
Hi Stephan, glad you enjoyed the video! That's a great idea an certainly something we can look at for future training videos. Good question, being at a higher cadence reduces the strain on your muscles but increases it on your cardiovascular system. Once trained, a higher cadence is more efficient and better at accelerating quickly
Thank you for answering my question guys - appreciate that. It sounds like I should keep training at a high cadence then. I hope to see more videos on this topic at some point. Cheers from Denmark. Stephan
As un u14 racer I spin at about 120 rpm as my average cadence and don’t think it is any disadvantage having said this I don’t know. If I would be better on a bigger gear
Hey GCN, great video, thanks. When I try these sessions, I find that a faster cadence will have me bouncing on the saddle. If I shift up and grind at a lower cadence my ride smooths out and the bouncing stops. Perhaps I haven't nailed the technique? Any advice on how I can smooth out at faster cadences? Thank you! (I'm 1.93m x 75kg, and ride with flat pedals) #askGCNtraining #torqueback
How do you train high cadence with a heart rate monitor, since spinning will put more pressure on your circulatory system? I usually know how to correlate ftp with fthr (more or less) but those specific training sessions will make a mess of it all.
what kind of speed goes with the rpm and cadence? Is that 30km or 35km? I can't measure my cadence on my bike. I ride with strava and can see my speed. Thanks. btw. That Trek bike is awesome!
Did Lance want to put more emphasis on his respiratory system because he artificially had more red blood cells to transfer oxygen around the body, IE are there any pro cyclists that rely on muscular strength and big gears more than lung capacity, Peter Sagan for example?
Hi GCN! I recently started cycling (still a novice) and use a heart rate monitor to train and see improvements in my endurance. Is there a specific advantage of using FTP with a power meter over heart rate? Would I also be able to build-up endurance? #torqueback
I think it depends on your body type and its million variables. some bodies will be better pushing bigger gears witjh muscles than spinning with high heart rate
Well, I have the opposite problem, I could easily maintain 100~105 rpm, and that's my default cadence. But at that cadence I could only reach about 75% of my FTP. (my execute for being a poor sprinter) Can only get higher output on climb with candence dropped to 95 rpm or below, and it suffers. Any advice?
I ride a cheap road bike and as soon as i go uphill I feel the effort increase by 10 fold is this normal? I feel like my bike is broken I had a mountain bike before this is my first road bike.
I've always been a spinner, no idea why anyone grinds a big gear, it's so much harder. To me spinning is natural, everyone jokes about my legs going around around like the clappers, but I hurt less and go faster for longer than when I drop my cadence. (I can sit at 200rpm on a spin bike, but only for 5 or so minutes, I guess those are easier though.)
At least around our neck of the woods, the organized club training rides top out at 20mph average for the experienced/good cyclists, 17+ for the inbetweeners and 15- for starters
That's quite hard to answer because it depends on the terrain you are riding, what equipment you have etc. If your speed is improving then that's always a good thing!
More so than a higher cadence. But once you practice high cadence your cardiovascular system will improve which ultimately means you can put out more power, helping you to build more muscle.
Do you spin to win? Or do you prefer to rider at a lower cadence?
first
second, I prefer to ride at a lower cadence, im in it to finish it!
Spin!
I always spin. Following the advice of @durianrider
Spin, but I usually don't go over 100-110. I keep it from 80-95 most of the time, especially when climbing (which tends to be most of the time).
That Madone is a work of art.
It really is
Until you have to change a bloody brake cable or something haha... then it's truly a load of work
Don’t forget to regularly look at your stem and have your arms bend outwards
Also, Oscar’s accent sounds as happy as a kid getting what he wanted for Christmas
Onoda Sakamichi style
When I started cycling, I was always one of the "grind a big gear" people (50-60 rpm). Tough, over the last 9 months, I have embraced using the right cadence. Regularly see my average cadence for a ride now is 88-92. Loads less stress going through my legs, yet because I'm getting fitter, more power.
Nice work Darren!
Dan on an actual bike? I'm not sure I remember the last time Isaw that!
The colorway on James' bike is looking stellar!
🔥
High cadence has really helped me just enjoy my riding. I am riding much further and more adventurously with a smile on my face- because my lower back no longer hurts! My pedaling technique and efficiency has also improved dramatically too.
Like many, the power meter finally opened my eyes to spinning. It's a lot easier to spin up to 100rpm to reach and hold 300 or more Watts than it is to upshift and grunt out those 300W. And if you can spin up to 110rpm or more whilst retaining fluidity and positive consistent application, the Watts shoot up at an astronomical rate!
Calamari Chris indeed. However, the only way to spin to such a wattage is to do the torque training beforehand. They never discussed pedaling techniques in the video which is shameful, so I will tell you how it's done: push down with each pedal stroke as fast as you can. The velocity of your kick will continually thrust the other foot down and you should he able to remain stable at 110rpm. Any higher and you can maintain 150rpm if you stand and sprint.
Tintin & Snowy try it. I do it all the time for laughs at the traffic lights.
Tintin & Snowy you're just jealous of my madlad cadence drills
I blew out a knee from pushing big gears many years ago. I started spinning faster. I average on every ride 96 rpm. No more knee problem and I am regularly in the 115 area on the flats. I am very comfortable spinning fast. It works for me.
It sure is a lot less stress on the knees!
I think spinning isn't just about the force on pedals. your knee joints get suspended by the muscle coordination at high spin. at low spin your muscles are uncoordinated, the joints sink and bite more.
For longer rides I switch between lungs and legs when one gets tired. Like a hybrid car. If the ride is an hour or less I just go all legs and take the burn
Matheus Barbosa Great comment
Mike Andrews thanks man (:
Nice work! 👊
3:16 Nice bike swing!
My normal cadence in around 70-75. Last week, I did an one hour "high cadence recovery" session (85-100 RPMs) and it took that took me two days to recover from it.
You should have done another recovery session to recover from the recovery session. Dan
That Trek is gorgeous🔥
🔥🔥🔥
Oscars mustache looks so epic! Probably very aerodynamic as well :D
Joakim Pekkari he looks like some sort of super villan from the 1920s
Oscar was brilliant in The Princess Bride, but now, even better. A beautiful man.
Didn't realize spinning was such a revolutionary thing, I learned about it way back in the mid eighties. Alot of people I rode with were doing it. I kinda feel like an invisible trailblazer.💪 We Americans will take credit for anything we can get our hands on. 😆evil laugh.
I ride to work and for fun cadence speed while are important fun is the biggest factor to stay on the bike
It sure is important to have fun, equally mixing up your training can make it more enjoyable 👍
Extremely helpful. Would love to see a video for us heavier riders starting out.
I miss Matt, yes. But I saw a video on GCN that went something like "Last Man Standing Fixed Gear" starring Hank and I've started loving him ever since. None of these guys are a joke, they're the real deal.
I have since I was a child had high cadence since my bikes had no gears and now as adult 90 rpm is my optimal cadence. I want keep the cadence as it is and only change gears. Uphill my cadense lower and around 70 rpm when I stand up but I am okay with a higher cadense when I sit in the saddle.
I love all this new combinations of presenters and that make GCN even better!
Thanks Petinka, glad you are enjoying all our new content!
90 is my most comfortable cadence at 70% of ftp and above. I thought I was just lazy until I got a power meter and discovered I could put out a lot of power without ripping my tendons to shreds.
It's interesting how spinning can feel like much less effort for the same power
💪🏻
I've notices (riding on a 9 speed casette) and unfortunately a still time limeted noob with big ambitions, that if you're on a limited gear range, your body is sometimes forced to put out higher cadences. After about 2 1/2 yrs. of training I find myself rinding more often at cadences around 90 or higher (sometimes 110 is my prefered cadence) judging from the indoor trainer data. And it is all about how you feel at specific cadences. I've never used a bike computer and feel I'm soon ready for it. But I always emphazised feeling the pedals and legs at all times and when it's the easiest to ride a very round pedal stroke. That's what has helped me in the past and was probably easier to adapt since I've had a few years pause from cycling before.
I was spinning in the 70's about 1977. Taught myself. Also did some grinding peddling on the flat & up hills. And also a combination of somewhere in the middle at around 65-75rpm. Got down 2 around 50rpm & high up around 90-110. No cadence meters back then. Just feel. These days l just spin between 90-110. Dance on the peddles up hills & occasionally the 52 chain ring & 11 rear.
Spinning to get for especially before wanting to tackle hills or mountains... if your lungs can handle 2hrs + of spinning at 90-110 at 30-35 & 40an hr when you come to tackle hills & dance on the peddles the heart, lungs will have already had a decent foundation layed.
The rain in Spain falls mainly, ... after the plane has landed in England apparently
😂
no it rains in england not spain you birdbrain
I’d like to ride high cadence but on tough climbs I find my heart rate goes down and my breathing is easier to push a hard gear. I think there are different physiologies. Some may have better aerobic capacity and so spinning works, others do better by relying on strength.
I miss Matt.
why did he leave?
For me Oscar Pujol is the new best GCN presenter I wish that he always join in making videos in the Main GCN channel
Wow. That madone!!
It's a super nice!
As a newly former moving man, high cadence helps me a lot recovering from all those heavy sofas caried up loads of stairs. I mean loads of sofas, loads of stairs (innercity stockholm)! Got pretty decent power in my legs out of that though. Cheers
I hate high cadence, 130kg 2m. But I’ve just got into road cycling and bought an indoor trainer, and I am using zwift. I’ve been smashing the hills out, and a high cadence recovery ride is exactly what I feel like I knead (as well as a massage, my quads are rocks).
Oscar! Glad to have you on this side GCN!
Cheers Prasanna Banwat
That new Trek Madone SLR looks sick!! Can't wait till I can purchase mine
Let us know when you do!
it's more sleek now.. i reckon it still look the best amongst the new aero bikes released this year
Got back on a bike this season after a 15 years break. Got myself a gravel bike which is a bit heavier. Spent the first 1200 km on the small chainring, spinning like mad. Three weeks ago i did a 185 km ride, high cadence all the way.
Good effort!
Fun ride, good weather, my Cannondale Slate makes long rides so much more comfortable than my old, stiff road bike with racing gears. I'm sitting while climbing hills now, at a good cadence. Life is good.
4:03 Oscar is discovering UK roads.
It was a good dodge!
Global Cycling Network yep. He's talented that's why. If there's no one pointing them out to me I hit them lol
Guy Fawkes on a bike, never thought id see that its not even November
Talks about John Travolta has blinded us from the two men with great hair who seem to have co-hosted this episode without some internal rivalry of who's hair is the better one!
Too much competition now for the best hair
Do u change gears when increasing the cadence or stay on the same with more effort? Newbie question
Great vid chaps! Big up Oscar.. let’s see you in more vids mate!
My highest cadence recorded was 191 rpm when I launched the bike for a sprint. I can generally cycle at 120rpm for an hour if road traffic is clear.
120rpm for 1 hour, I can't hold it for that long, normally 15mins I can keep at about 250rpm.
Sometimes higher, but does this mean long team my muscles will burn out or pushing that hard is too much?
One of the things that helped me spin faster is getting the correct (I.e. shorter) crank arm length.
Liked it, will try soon. Good to see 'El Cid' on the chanel Anglais!
Im using an mtb foxter brand we use it more on road. And me and my friends are spinning for long rides
Good info
I use 52/16 singlespeed to build leg muscles so that I can sprint a lot faster than other people.
Super thanks.
Spin on uphills, grind on flats to speed up. That's how I like to roll, because it feels good.
Also, I don't chase Strava records.
Let’s not forget that high cadence is only partly trainable, that those with a higher natural cadence tend to have a high proportion of fast twitch fibres and those with a lower natural cadence tend to have a high proportion of slow twitch fibres.
The fact that teams do high cadence as well as low cadence drills tells us there are advantages to a variety of cadences.
That's for sure. The training sessions in the videos do include a mix of cadences 👍
Yes, thanks, I enjoyed the presentation, and also the presentation on low cadence drills of Dr. Emma Pooley
Nice to see Dan outdoors again!
Had to look twice to realise it wasn’t John Travolta for once it was the fair weather cyclist from the Cervelo test team 😂
😂
That is a badass Madone... beautiful color scheme
I'm fairly new to cycling but I was a distance runner and still play football ⚽. 90 cadence isn't a problem but I have the problem of constantly overriding the gear I'm in, constantly accelerating as it were. Any tips on holding a steady cadence? Keeping the mass in motion instead of constantly pushing? It wears me out way too quickly.
I'll have to reprogram my automatic shifter to go higher than 100rpm. 130rpm happens to be the maximum cadence I can maintain a high power output at. Beyond that it drops from 800W to 350W. Cadence maxs out at 165rpm.
Good video, personally I raise the cadence the only way anyways it is to increase the bike weight or use a heavier alloy bike to train on. This gives you a massive cadence boost when riding the lighter racing bike. I train 80% of the time on my 14.2 kg alloy and race Crits on the lighter Carbon. Going from 14 kg to 7 is a massive difference in Cadence.
Danfuerth Gillis do your legs accept the higher cadence without any issue?
veloriderkm Yes the issue with training on a heavier bike is you have to be careful not to bulk up too much as your body will demand more food and of course water. This type of training will not work for 200 km stages or riding for 4 hours. The reason I do it is so that when racing on the lighter bike the stamina buildup from the heavy bike allows me to ride for 1 hour at an extreme power output level that cyclists usually never do as they ride in large Peletons. This training is for Crit small races ( 40 km ) and you can counter act any attack because of the training. Some elite Cyclists do train some time on heavy bikes for mountain stages for example.
Good point Danfuerth
I just bought the same carbon Vision wheels 40mm. The ride is more comfortable and my cadence went up from 70-75 to 75-80. 90 is impossible for me without shifting to a lower gear.
Excellent!
I buzz around with an av cadence of 100rpm unless I'm on what I class as proper hilly stuff., all very well and good. Problem comes when you run out of gearing though. If you run out of gearing you will find yourself lacking a bit in the torque required to turn what will then be a higher gear than you're used to. So I think it is important to do some higher gear/lower cadence work as well, so that your legs have the power to turn the gear if you find yourself under-geared.
So as a spinner, one should be wary to make sure they have the appropriate gearing on the bike for the terrain and to stay on top of all out leg power too.
As an aside, my av cadence drops to 90 on Zwift, not really sure why.
Excellent video. The Madone really steals the show, but the chat seems less forced then previous videos.
loopie007 Glad you enjoyed this one!
I think we have the same jersey sir hahahaah. Love from Philippines
Oscar so nice to see you!
He braved the English rain!
Interestingly.
Spinning Cycling cadence = 90+ rpm
Elite Running cadence =180+ spm
Considering spm is both sides and rpm counted on only one, in comparison we multiply cycling cadence by two and we get.
180
Has Oscar been on the helium?
Old school rollers can be a big help for a fast smooth spin also ;-)
High cadence most times but now and then I go Jan Ullrich and mash out some bike power
Not sure if Lance Armstrong recovered quicker because of higher cadence alone, or with certain kinds of special aids though.
Vee_DT EPO is a liver output, which allowed his muscles to work harder. But the liver turns lactate into glucose for reuse, which his liver was also good at doing. So yes, he was using better fuel but he still had a superior engine.
Matheus Barbosa EPO increases the oxygen carrying capacity of red blood cells which means it would delay the build up of lactic acid and allow him to perform longer for the same level of fatigue.
The liver turns lactate into Pyruvate which is a precursor to Glucogenesis, however this process takes time and is how your body metabolizes it’s fat stores. This isn’t happening over the course of the ride unless he’s already in a ketogenic state which is seriously doubtful given the glycogen demands of an event like TdF and the state of nutritional science of the time.
Ryon Beachner thanks I guess I only have a simple understanding of the Cori cycle. So where does mid ride recovery come from? The so-called "second wind"?
Matheus Barbosa Although it depends on the specific ride or efforts etc, it can be a couple things. It could be that the rider is feeling fatigued after an effort and has passed their lactate threshold and the period of lower intensity has allowed the circulation of more oxygenated blood to clear the lactic acid from the muscles. The other factor is that if the rider is eating appropriately while on the bike the body will continue to provide glycogen to the muscles and liver, although not typically at the rate at which it’s being used, but at lower intensity recovery is possible.
Matheus Barbosa Also it is worth noting that lactate converted to pyruvate will return to lactate if there’s is inadequate oxygen. If the requisite oxygen is available it will be used to fuel glucogenesis.
Hmm, 2 issues I tend to experience when riding higher cadence
1. Heart rate goes up way faster, is this normal or I’m not used at riding at higher cadence?
2 When cadence hits 100+ rpm, my knee feels different (in a not good kind of way)? Did I perhaps increased my cadence too fast or it’s a bike fit issue?
Any tips and suggestions?
1. That's what they meant by mentioning cardiovascular system doing the work instead of muscles.
2. It might be bike fit. You can experiment with saddle height and crank lengths
Great video! It would be awesome with more training videos based on cadence. I don’t have a power meter, so I do pretty much all my training based on cadence. This brings me to my questions; what’s most efficient, doing e.g. 30 mph at 100 rpm or at 90 rpm? And what are the downfalls of doing pretty most all my training at a 100 rpm?
Hi Stephan, glad you enjoyed the video! That's a great idea an certainly something we can look at for future training videos. Good question, being at a higher cadence reduces the strain on your muscles but increases it on your cardiovascular system. Once trained, a higher cadence is more efficient and better at accelerating quickly
Thank you for answering my question guys - appreciate that. It sounds like I should keep training at a high cadence then. I hope to see more videos on this topic at some point.
Cheers from Denmark.
Stephan
hmm might be just me, but Oscar's riding style just seems really comfortable for some reason.
Very nice Bike Denis.
Oscar sounds like a fun person to ride with :D
I'm new to cycling but a experienced rower. My average rpm is 115, assuming this is far to high to be efficient as my legs are very strong
Spin it to win it baby
👍
As un u14 racer I spin at about 120 rpm as my average cadence and don’t think it is any disadvantage having said this I don’t know. If I would be better on a bigger gear
I have always naturally ridden at a high cadence. I spin at 92-100 rpm (avg) on every ride. I don't try to; it's just natural.
That new Madone 😍
It's a lovely bike!
Hey GCN, great video, thanks. When I try these sessions, I find that a faster cadence will have me bouncing on the saddle. If I shift up and grind at a lower cadence my ride smooths out and the bouncing stops.
Perhaps I haven't nailed the technique? Any advice on how I can smooth out at faster cadences? Thank you!
(I'm 1.93m x 75kg, and ride with flat pedals)
#askGCNtraining #torqueback
How do you train high cadence with a heart rate monitor, since spinning will put more pressure on your circulatory system?
I usually know how to correlate ftp with fthr (more or less) but those specific training sessions will make a mess of it all.
what kind of speed goes with the rpm and cadence? Is that 30km or 35km? I can't measure my cadence on my bike. I ride with strava and can see my speed. Thanks. btw. That Trek bike is awesome!
Question for the 1st session: within the 6min block - when increasing the cadence, do we need to change gear?
I last hit 235 rpm in one second.
Is it skill to riding intervals 130% FTP / min with cadence 115 rpm?
I'm started cycling 6 months ago.
Did Lance want to put more emphasis on his respiratory system because he artificially had more red blood cells to transfer oxygen around the body, IE are there any pro cyclists that rely on muscular strength and big gears more than lung capacity, Peter Sagan for example?
Valverde, Yates brothers...
Where can I buy a metronome meant for cycling cadence training?
"How To Spin Gears Like A Pro"
It's easy.
Have a hidden motor.
lol
Possible to do high cadence with flat pedals on a small-ish MTB?
my legs fill with acid over 90-95 rpm and a high power. when go up a gear my legs clear and work good again.
My natural cadence is around 95 - 110 rpm, would it be beneficial to push it higher? Or just focus on getting my power up at this rpm?
Hi GCN!
I recently started cycling (still a novice) and use a heart rate monitor to train and see improvements in my endurance. Is there a specific advantage of using FTP with a power meter over heart rate? Would I also be able to build-up endurance?
#torqueback
How do you stop from rocking in the saddle at a high cadence.
So if I'm hitting over 350 rpm sometimes higher.
Is this normal?
Or is that too high and I'll burn mussel to much?
I think it depends on your body type and its million variables. some bodies will be better pushing bigger gears witjh muscles than spinning with high heart rate
Well, I have the opposite problem, I could easily maintain 100~105 rpm, and that's my default cadence.
But at that cadence I could only reach about 75% of my FTP. (my execute for being a poor sprinter)
Can only get higher output on climb with candence dropped to 95 rpm or below, and it suffers.
Any advice?
I ride a cheap road bike and as soon as i go uphill I feel the effort increase by 10 fold is this normal? I feel like my bike is broken I had a mountain bike before this is my first road bike.
Eric Sharp what bike?
Hi Eric, it's always tougher when climbing anyway. If your bike is particularly heavy, this could be having an impact.
I've always been a spinner, no idea why anyone grinds a big gear, it's so much harder. To me spinning is natural, everyone jokes about my legs going around around like the clappers, but I hurt less and go faster for longer than when I drop my cadence.
(I can sit at 200rpm on a spin bike, but only for 5 or so minutes, I guess those are easier though.)
Nice work 👊
Is it just me or does the guy in the middle (last 20 secs) mess up a bit with his lines? Anyway, another great vid
Spin baby, spin :)
yeah his cardiovascular systems while he's on epo or what's it called
One thing you guys never talk about: what speed should a seasoned cyclist be able to hold? (I've ridden for 11 years and never ridden with anyone)
At least around our neck of the woods, the organized club training rides top out at 20mph average for the experienced/good cyclists, 17+ for the inbetweeners and 15- for starters
That's quite hard to answer because it depends on the terrain you are riding, what equipment you have etc. If your speed is improving then that's always a good thing!
So, is low cadence better to build muscle?
More so than a higher cadence. But once you practice high cadence your cardiovascular system will improve which ultimately means you can put out more power, helping you to build more muscle.
Do you have any recommendations for me to train for CX i have some good summer fitness on the road but how do I convert for cross #torqueback
My average cadence used to be 30, I've managed to increase it to about 60 but old habits die hard, I can't seem to get past the 60 rpm average.
Fifth comment! What's up GCN?! im your biggest fan!
Thanks Ethan! Dan