Elevate your climbing power: Conor Dunne's 20-minute low cadence indoor training session
This quick 20-minute spin bike session will replicate the demands of long, steady climbing. Follow along with Conor to improve your climbing power
GCN
The GCN team
Conor Dunne leads this quick 20-minute session, designed to develop power for climbing. In this time-efficient session, we'll be working at the top end of the aerobic zones, just like you would on a climb. To replicate the experience of climbing, this session focuses on cadence selection. Whereas normally, most of us tend to pedal at about 90RPM, we'll be dropping the cadence right down to 60RPM. This will put extra strain on your thigh muscles, developing that climbing power and will replicate climbing up a steep hill and running out of gears.
For this session, you will need an indoor trainer, static bike or spin bike. Ideally, you'll have access to a cadence sensor too. This will help you find the specific cadences we're working at more easily. If you don't have a cadence sensor, you can still do this session; simply follow along with the cadence by watching Conor and the team in the fitness studio.
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Warm up on your indoor trainer for three minutes
Since this session starts at 6/10 before progressing into harder efforts, there's no need for a really long warm-up. To prepare, we'll just spin the legs for a couple of minutes at a low intensity, then step up to 4/10 for a minute to wake up the muscles.
Top Tip
If after a couple of minutes of spinning, you still don't feel warmed up, pause the session and turn the legs for another couple of minutes.
The main session: low cadence, high power intervals
This session features a mix of efforts in the upper end of the aerobic zone. We'll be working at 6/10, 7/10 and 8/10. More important than the specific intensities, though, is the cadence you pedal at. Follow Conor's lead as we switch between 90RPM – your normal pedalling speed – and 60RPM – the kind of slow cadence you might use on a steep climb.
Cool down for a minute and a half
The session is over, but it's not quite time to stop pedalling. Spend at least a minute and a half spinning the legs at 2/10. This should feel really easy; it's designed to keep your blood moving so your body can start the recovery process.
You can enhance the recovery process by finishing this session off with a recovery meal or smoothie with plenty of carbohydrates and protein.
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