Indoor Cycling
– Training Techniques
The goal of
this article is to help put students and instructors on the same
page. Each of us has had different experiences with cycling, spinning
and working out. It is not intended to be very scientific, or have
exact carryover to the road. It is intended to foster and improve
understanding between instructor and student.
I want you to
understand words like cadence and its modifiers (walk, jog, run,
and sprint), and what it means to be on a seated or standing hill.
So here we start on our journey. It will be a fun one, it will be
one where we help each other accomplish our goals!
We are all here to grow and to meet our personal goals. As your
spinning instructor, I am here to help you accomplish those goals.
I am here as your coach. As in any coaching relationship, I can
only oversee what your are doing I can not and do not want to be
a paternalistic coach, controlling or ‘forcing’ you to
do anything. This is your class and how hard or easy the class is
will be guided by me, but will ultimately be up to you! For example,
if you are new to spinning, or have goals of riding on the street,
then you will want to stay in the saddle more during the class.
There are several
keys that will help change the workload that you will put your body
through during a spinning workout. The big three are Resistance,
Cadence and Position (standing / sitting / jumping)
Some basic Definitions:
Cadence: The rate at which your pedals go around. Expressed in revolutions
per minute (RPM) How do you measure cadence? Watch one foot; count
the number of times that foot goes around in 15 seconds then multiply
by four.
| Strokes/15secs |
Cadence |
Descriptor |
Terrain |
|
| 16 |
64 |
|
Steep Hill |
|
| 17 |
68 |
Walk |
|
|
| 18 |
72 |
|
Hill |
|
| 19 |
76 |
|
|
Recommended Range |
| 20 |
80 |
Jog |
|
Recommended Range |
| 21 |
84 |
|
|
Recommended Range |
| 22 |
88 |
|
Flat |
Recommended Range |
| 23 |
92 |
Run |
|
Recommended Range |
| 24 |
96 |
|
|
|
| 25 |
100 |
|
|
|
| 26 |
104 |
|
|
|
| 27 |
108 |
Sprint |
Flat/Downhill |
|
| 28 |
112 |
|
Flat/Downhill |
|
Research has
found that cadences in the 90-95 RPM put less stress through the
knee at any given wattage (speed). These high cadances are more
demanding to the heart and lungs than the slower RPMs. Thus we might
think of a run as more difficult than a jog, however it is better
to keep this higher cadence most of the time to protect the knees.
If you find yourself at the lower cadences, you may need to decrease
your resistance to pick up the speed of your pedals.
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