TT cadence for more anaerobic type rider

On last weeks podcast, I think it was Chad, mentioned that one of them (I forget who) who is highly anaerobic was doing more low cadence force work to target the force capabilities of that riders muscles as they will rely on them a lot. I wonder if riders who are more anaerobic in nature should spin slower in general to be more efficient? Asking as a quite anaerobic rider myself.

Interesting question. What i heard in some talk or read in some study , is that slower cadence led to faster oxygen kinetics and therefore w’ is saved.
Unfortunately i can’t remember the source :frowning:
For me, after working years on higher cadence I step back to a silently lower cadence in TT. But slower cadence means also higher force, that may led to faster muscular exhaustion. That’s the flip side if the coin.
This may one mechanism thy strength training can led to a better TT performance.

But I don’t have any data to support this. Maybe someone know more ?

Very interesting, I’ve always worked on keeping a high cadence but it sure seemed easier today spinning at around 80 ish during a sweet spot workout.

I posted this article months ago in another thread but, it may shed some light on this topic:

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I’m not sure you should be basing your target cadence based on what you perceive as your anaerobic capabilities let alone applying a blanket cadence target based on the type of event.

In general a lower cadence will lead to more muscular fatigue and less cardiovascular stress which is why we see the grand tour GC riders nearly always focusing on a high cadence.

However, for the riding and racing that nearly everyone else does, this type of muscular fatigue/cardiovascular stress imbalance is nearly meaningless. Sure, you will fatigue your muscles quicker but if we’re talking about a single TT and single event you need to do what works for your body. If, however, you are participating in a three week stage race, or even a 5-6 day stage race, you may want to train yourself to avoid that type of muscular fatigue as it will accumulate and damage future performance more meaningfully. Likely this also applies to ultra-endurance events like full distance triathlon and RAAM

Long way of saying - find the cadence that suits your body - experiment with vastly different cadences and see what your RPE is at each of them. For nearly all of us any cadence between 80-110 is going to be viable and it will just depend on who you are as a rider what makes the most sense for you

I’ve always thought of myself as a high cadence guy but saying that when I was racing I was always a better climber than TT rider, I used to drop lighter riders who’d beat me in the TT and I’d never know why. Climbing was always a lower cadence higher force type of scenario. That would suggest a higher level of slow twitch fibers I’d guess. To complicate things though I was always a good uphill sprinter too. Now I’m a big old 80kg (in cycling terms) fatty I’m actually a good flat sprinter but my TT ability is just as bad as ever. Maybe those lower cadences could be the answer.

I think in general you should mix it up a bit. Sometimes I do an interval effort at 80 to 85 rpm. Others times I will change gear and increase the rpm to 90 to 95 but maintaining the same power.

This will benefit you in all kinds of ways.

Sure, find your optimum cadence for you, but still mix it up. Sometimes in a race of a TT, changing your gear & cadence can instill a bit of life back into tired legs.

Very enlightening article Landis. So little seems to be written about the (sort of) paradox of good and heavy climbers.

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I agree!

I’m not sure cadence has a direct correlation to the type of rider (aerobic/anaerobic) that you are

Here’s the U23 National Champion TT ride from yesterday, nearly 100 rpm and 400 watt averages over 30K: 18.7 mi Ride Activity on June 20, 2019 by Ian G. on Strava

Based on his numbers shown with Elevate extended stats, I’d guess his weight at about 178lbs since averaging nearly 5 w/kg for the event. Also based on weighted average and intensity, his FTP is set at 421. I think this young man has a future in cycling.

He was 2 minutes faster than second place and a minute faster than the open men winner.