Manon's fast paced cadence variations: indoor cycling training workout
Hank leads this session, written by Manon. It's all about varying your cadence and perfecting your pedalling technique
GCN
The GCN team
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This is a cadence drills session, where we'll increase the speed at which we turn the pedals every 30 seconds.
Sessions like this will expand your comfortable cadence range, and improve your pedalling technique. This session will push your ability to pedal at speed, and to pedal at a lower cadence.
Focus on maintaining a smooth and efficient pedalling technique, and do your best to avoid bobbing or rocking on the saddle.
For this session, you will need an indoor bike, whether that's a spin bike, a smart trainer, or a turbo trainer.
Ideally, you will have a cadence sensor too. This is so you can keep track of how fast you're turning the pedals. If you don't have a cadence sensor, you can still follow along with this session by keeping an eye on the screen and emulating the speed we're pedalling at.
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Warm up on your indoor bike for 5 minutes
Before we get into the main session, we'll do a gradually ramped warm-up. We'll start really easy, then gradually increase the intensity until we reach 6/10. Then, we'll bring it back down to recover fully before the session.
Even for an easier session, it's important to warm up beforehand, to give your body a chance to wake up and get working.
Main session: the cadence pyramid
Now we're warmed up, we're on to the main session. This session is a cadence pyramid. Every 30 seconds, we'll increase the cadence until we hit 110 revolutions per minute (RPM), then we'll gradually bring it down, 5 RPM at a time, to 60 RPM. After a quick breather, we'll repeat the process.
The whole session is intended to be performed at 6/10, so you should be pushing fairly hard on the pedals, but well within your aerobic zone.
Cool down for two minutes
Before you jump off the bike, spend a couple of minutes spinning your legs out in a really easy gear, and at a comfortable, natural cadence.
Top Tip
This session is great by itself, but it could be part of a warmup routine for hard rides or training sessions.
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