Is it worth training to increase cadence?

[SquareDaff]

My normal cadence on my weekend rides is around 70 rpm. In an effort to improve I did a couple of midweek 10 mile rides focusing on cadence. I increased it to 80-85 rpm and found it really hard. My average speed dropped and my heart rate was up by around 10 bpm.

Should I persevere with training for the higher cadence? I'm sure it will make me fitter once I overcome the first few weeks of pain.

You sound like me of about 2 years ago. I'd just got back into things and was "grinding" at about 70rpm.

The way I worked on mine was to proceed in stages - if you try and leap from 70 to 85 you're going to fail. Set yourself a small target (say an average of 75 rpm) and aim to achieve that. Stick with it until you can average 75 without even thinking about it (i.e. just like now with your 70). Once you get to that increase again to an 80 average and so on. Don't be afraid to drop a gear - as a returning rider I had it in my mindset that I had to push as high a gear as possible to build those muscles up asap. It's much better to "spin" more on a lower gear. As others have said a higher cadence means you can put out the same power with less effort per pedal stroke. It also means your less likely to "corrupt" your technique too. Just look at some of the guys with big weights in a gym. They usually have awful technique and as a result dont develop as well as someone with lighter weights doing the exercise properly. It's the same theory!

Don't be too swayed by magazines - think the average mentioned for a general "sportive" rider is in the range 80-100. That's a BIG range as an average -just remember how you felt when you upped yours by 10-15 turns per minute. Always do what's comfortable for you on any given day and nothing more.

 

[philinmerthyr]

I'm amazed how much I have progressed with improving my cadence over the last couple of weeks. I am finding 80rpm much easier and my heart rate has dropped from an average of 155 to 147.

This morning I rode 26 miles and after 17 miles my average cadence was 79 rpm even having gone up a 3 mile gradual climb. In the end it dropped to an average of 77 rpm after 9 miles riding east into 20-25 mph winds. My legs are feeling fresher as well.

This cadence thing does seem to work

 

[Nigelnaturist]

I'm amazed how much I have progressed with improving my cadence over the last couple of weeks. I am finding 80rpm much easier and my heart rate has dropped from an average of 155 to 147.

This morning I rode 26 miles and after 17 miles my average cadence was 79 rpm even having gone up a 3 mile gradual climb. In the end it dropped to an average of 77 rpm after 9 miles riding east into 20-25 mph winds. My legs are feeling fresher as well.

This cadence thing does seem to work

Anything over about 45ft per mile climbing (over the whole route) my cadence tends to be less than 80 (75-80) less than that its usually 80+.

 

[ianwoodi]

I have been training on rollers for around 6 months and covered 3000 miles my legs are stronger and my cadence is up to 100rpm I do 20miles in one run at a speed of 22mph in the mornining and then do 10miles later sprinting through the gears