ILLUMINAIRE said:
I'm new to cycling so bear with me. I've read enough to know that higher cadences work cardio more than legs, etc. I've also read that it's best to balance out the amount of work your legs and cardio system do to be the most effective. However, I'm not at the point of knowing precisely where this is for me yet.
I would like to work on both legs and cardio but I would like to know in what fashion I should do this. For instance, should I spend one day just focusing on one or the other then alternate? Or should I go back and forth between the two during one particular ride?
Just FYI... I tend to ride about 10-15 miles if I ride during the week but always do a 30 mile ride on the weekend. Thanks for the advice!
Due to knee problems preventing me from running, I started serious biking about 10 months ago and also read a lot about balancing cardio and leg work. You will know when you should push one compare to the other. Basically when the legs are starting to burn it's time to step to an easier gear and spin faster. When your heart rate is going to the sky switch to an higher gear and use your legs more.
In practice you will notice that when the legs are burning too much you are losing efficiency and your heart rate is going up. Going to an easier gear has the result of getting the load off your legs, tends to lower your HR because your are getting back in rhythm, and make you more efficient thus gaining some speed. In the same manner if you are spinning too much there's a point where you cannot go faster and your HR goes crazy, you then have to lower your spin and use your legs more if possible.
Training helps a lot both leg power and spinning speed. For helping my cadence I usually select a rather flat 20 mile route where I can ride some long stretches without stopping. When I started I could only do a 70-80rpm average for long periods, now I am at 90-100rpm with some stretches up to 105-100rpm. It has help improve my breathing as well. I am 47 and never did serious endurance work before, I was more a short distance guy (team sports, 100m and 400m dash running), I am very impress on how long I can now go and how my average speed has gone up. My goal is to keep the same rhythm for the whole 55-65mn it takes me to complete the ride.
Some days I ride a 15 mile hilly course to work on my legs. The cadence training seem to have helped here as well as my cardio (HR and breathing) has improved.
On weekends I ride a 25 mile course that combines both (hills and long flats). My goal is to do it without stopping and trying to increase my average speed each week.
Cycling has surely improved my health and conditionning. And my knee problem is also gone. So spinning and leg work is surely worth the effort.
I hope I did answer some of your questions. Good spinning...
