If You Aren’t Doing Cadence Training, This Is Your Sign to Start
We know that cadence training has a lot of potential benefits for your cycling. For example, spinning at a high cadence may help you stay with a pack on a group ride or in a race, or get up to speed in a smoother, more efficient way.
On the other hand, pedaling at a low cadence—putting out more power with fewer pedal strokes—can help you win a sprint or get back into a group when you’ve fallen behind. And both can help you crush climbs.
But how much do you really need to train your cadence? You’re already doing interval workouts and long rides during the week, so where should cadence work fit in?
We talked to two coaches about the best ways to boost your high and low cadence, and how to schedule cadence training for major payoffs on the road.
Why should you care about cadence?
Ryan Kohler, a coach for Rocky Mountain Devo, says that newer riders tend to pedal at low cadences in a relatively big gear because it’s more comfortable—at least, it feels that way. But it’s often not the most efficient cadence. It may work for a while, but if you want to get faster, more powerful, or even more technically skilled on the bike, you’ll need a wider cadence range that feels comfortable for you.
“With new riders, we start by figuring out where their cadence ‘comfort zone’ is, and then we try to expand it from there,” he explains. “So if you’re comfortable at 70 to 75 rpms, that’s where we spend most of the time. But we’ll start to add in cadence drills so you get comfortable spinning at up to 100 rpm or pedaling hard at 50 rpm comfortably.”
Should you do specific cadence workouts?
If you’re new to cycling and you don’t have the wide cadence range that Kohler mentions, a weekly high cadence workout can be hugely beneficial, especially early in the season. “Cadence workouts can be fun and give riders a new thing to focus on,” Kohler says.
To train high cadence, try a cadence pyramid:
10-15 mins easy spin warmup
Do 3-4 sets of the following:
1 min @ 85 rpm
1 min @ 90 rpm
1 min @ 95 rpm
1 min @ 100 rpm
1 min @ 95 rpm
1 min @ 90 rpm
1 min @ 85 rpm
2 min easy spin cooldown
A low cadence workout typically involves simply doing some of your threshold or tempo intervals at a cadence of 50 to 60 rpm instead of your normal middle-range cadence, says Kohler.
Low cadence can also be trained in the gym. Because low cadence is all about force, lower-body strength moves, like squats, will help improve your ability to push down on the pedals. “If you’re doing some strength training, the forces on the pedals are so low relative to what you’re doing in the gym, so you’ll see a pretty quick improvement in low cadence work as you gain strength,” Kohler says.
What should you focus on when doing cadence work?
Especially if you’re doing your cadence work while riding inside on the trainer, it’s important to focus on your technique. It’s easy to get sloppy, especially with high cadence—you start vibrating on your saddle, no longer maintaining control of the bike. But the point of cadence work isn’t to hit the highest number possible, it’s to hit the highest number possible while still maintaining full control.
“Think about how you ride outside and focus on having that same feeling on the trainer as you speed up your cadence,” Kohler says. “Maybe you can ride at 90 rpm and your body is calm and quiet, but when you go up to 95 or 100 rpm, you’re all over the place. In that case, go back down to 90 rpm where you have control, and stay there until you can be in control at higher cadences.”
Should I train high and low cadence together?
Because low cadence uses a lot more muscular power, Basecamp cycling coach Lorri Lown recommends separating your high cadence and low cadence work. “I find on the days I do low cadence work, I have a really hard time getting my cadence back up to normal, let alone pushing into higher cadences,” she says. “It’s hard because we’re using our energy systems in a different way when we do low versus high.”
What’s the ideal cadence training schedule?
If you’re trying to improve your cadence, one high cadence workout per week is plenty, says Kohler. You can swap out an easier endurance ride for a cadence workout, and simply keep your power/heart rate in the endurance zone even as you speed up your pedaling. Sprinkle in high cadence drills during your other rides as well—they’re low impact enough to do during endurance without stressing your body.
You likely don’t need to dedicate a full workout to low cadence work, says Kohler. If you’re doing lower body work in the gym one day a week, you’re already working on that muscular development. To get even better at low cadence, simply use climbs during endurance rides to drop your cadence down and practice then.
How do you add cadence work to an endurance ride?
If you’re not interested in adding another workout to your training plan, remember that the simple alternative is to add cadence work into your endurance rides. “I like putting cadence work on endurance days since it can be done while still pedaling in the easy or endurance zone,” says Lown. “I have clients do fast pedal spin-ups to start their workouts, and then I add cadence drills within the workout.”
One of Lown’s go-to cadence drills: Do two minutes at 90 rpm, then a short break at the same power but at a natural cadence, then two minutes at 95 rpm, 100 rpm, and 105 rpm with the same breaks in between.
“The point—whether high or low cadence—isn’t to increase the intensity or up your power, it’s to keep at the same endurance pace while speeding up or slowing down your cadence,” Lown explains. (Indoors, this is easy to do with ERG mode on the trainer.)
You can also use the terrain to add more freeform cadence drills during a ride. Going up a hill? Try to spend five minutes at your normal cadence, then five minutes at 55 rpm holding the same pace to force that neuromuscular development. At a stoplight? Stay in a harder gear so you’re forced to do a “big gear start” at a low rpm for 10 seconds. Descending? This is a great chance to let your legs spin at a high cadence.
Can you sprinkle cadence work into other rides?
Definitely—in fact, Lown and Kohler both recommend doing this on a regular basis. “I like sneaking the broccoli in with dinner,” says Kohler. “I’ll sneak cadence drills into warmups so it’s done quickly and it doesn’t feel like a lot of extra work, but at the same time, you are developing that skill.”
Similar to runners doing short strides—quick bursts of sprinting—cyclists can do “cadence strides,” before getting into another effort. That means short 15- to 30-second bursts of spinning as fast as possible—aiming for a cadence of 95 to 110 rpms, depending on how skilled you are at high cadence. These are commonly referred to as “spin-ups,” and are often used in things like Peloton spin classes to get riders ready for the hard work ahead.
You can incorporate a few of those into the start of long rides, says Kohler, and this will keep that high cadence ability sharp. Similarly, you can use hills for short bursts of low cadence practice by staying in a lower gear for a few power-heavy pedal strokes before you shift to an easier gear.
Should you do cadence work indoors or outdoors?
Outdoor cadence work will benefit you more than practicing your high or low cadence on the trainer, because the blend of balance and handling while also pedaling at the different cadences is important, says Kohler.
If your goal is gravel or off-road racing, you definitely need to put in time outside working on cadence, says Lown. “On gravel, you’re not always going to have the gearing that you would prefer,” she says. “So you will have to pedal at a cadence that isn’t natural to you. You can’t just train that indoors, since on gravel, you’ll also be navigating changing terrain while you’re trying to spin higher or grind lower. Indoor cadence work will improve your fitness, but it won’t improve your technique or your skill.”
Is there any point in which you shouldn’t be focusing so much on cadence?
There’s a point where cadence-specific workouts aren’t necessary, says Kohler. Once you have that wide range of cadences that feel comfortable for you, it’s okay to skip the cadence pyramid and prioritize more power-based interval training. But cadence drills within your endurance rides will always have a place.
“It’s always worth sneaking cadence work into endurance rides even for a minute or two in warmup or during a climb,” says Kohler. “It’s a tool that you want to keep sharpened so when you do need to spin up to stay with a group or put in a big dig on a climb at a low cadence, you’re able to do so confidently.”
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