One-Hour Workout: Cadence Crushers

This week’s one-hour workout comes from our 16-week 70.3 training plan by coach Marilyn Chychota, and can be done on the road or on the trainer. The theme of this session is “cadence” – in other words, pedaling above and below your preferred pedaling rate. Some think cadence is simply about spinning faster to go faster, but it’s much more. Mastering an assortment of cadence speeds can help you gain muscular strength, reduce your susceptibility to fatigue, and increase your overall cycling efficiency. Yes, this means you’ll go faster on the bike, but more importantly, it will also position you to run faster off the bike.

RELATED: What is the Ideal Bike Cadence For You?

Cadence is counted in RPM, or revolutions per minute. A cadence of 60 RPM means that one pedal makes a complete rotation 60 times in one minute. You can count RPM by picking a foot (left or right) and counting how many revolutions it makes in 15 seconds, then multiplying by four. You can also use a bike computer and sensor to track RPM or make a playlist with beats that correspond to the RPM in the set (if you’re wearing headphones while riding outdoors, we recommend leaving one earbud out and keeping the volume low so you can still pay attention to your surroundings).

One-Hour Workout: Cadence crushers

Warm-up

5 min spin, progressively ramping up your intensity

Main set

2x:

5 min at 95 RPM
4 min at 105 RPM
3 min at 110 RPM
2 min at 115 RPM
5 min at 95 RPM
1 min at 120 RPM
5 min choice RPM

Cool-down

5 min easy spin

More One-Hour Workouts