Did the above workout last night and am wondering about a couple of things.
I have Speed, power, Hr and Cadence on the graph
If you only look at Power then its a solid workout, but clearly there is more going on that that.
As I progress each interval, my cadence drops along with Hr, power stay constant (Erg mode)
Why am I finding it hard to hold the same cadence if I can still hold the same power?
Its not like the cadence is silly high and is well In the normal range for me.
Does this show an area I should be focusing on ie. I have the muscle power but not the cardio power to hold the interval.
I do 350-400hr a year on the bike training. and have done for the past 5 years.
Difficult to tell from your pic, but pretty normal to see a positive correlation between HR and cad (i.e., as cad. decreases, stress is shifted off your cardiovascular system).
My guess is muscle fatigue as the interval progresses.
To use the terminology Chad prefers, your speed endurance is lacking. Your peak cadence over the entire workout is 96 and your average is 79. That indicates that you’re generally what would be considered a “low cadence” rider from the perspective that most coaches would probably tell you 85-95rpm is where you’ll be most efficient. Now, that can vary from rider to rider, and discipline to discipline, but I’d have you working higher cadences at lower power to get comfortable riding closer to 90rpm than 80rpm.
Absent other information, I don’t see it as an issue with your “cardio” - specifically your aerobic engine. The primary issue I see there is that you’re just not comfortable spinning your legs at higher cadences. It takes training to get used to doing that. It’s just tough to determine much else from a picture of one workout absent other information.
You could probably benefit from riding zone 2 workouts at a higher cadence and incorporating drills like spinups, or sustained efforts at cadence outside your comfort zone. That would allow your legs to adapt to spinning faster without so much of a power requirement to worry about.
FWIW, if I tried to ride that workout at 79rpm average, my legs would fall off, but I’m usually between 90-105rpm naturally.
Thanks yes, I would deffo say I’m happier at slightly lower cadence. Iv got no problem spinning 120-140 if I have to but normally left to my own devices I would say 80-85 is where I’m happier. Iv got short big legs.
On my TT bike I run 145mm cranks which result in slightly faster cadence usually. That workout was on 170mm.
Seems like you’re conditioned to ride at a lower cadence naturally, so as you fatigue and start focusing on simply sustaining power, you’re going to fall back to what you’re most used to. As was previously mentioned, the lower cadence shifts some load from your cardiovascular system to your muscles, and overall your legs will fatigue faster in a fit athlete than your cardiovascular system will. I think you just saw that play out as your legs started getting tired late in the workout. The ability to sustain a higher cadence and save your legs a little bit can definitely be trained.
