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Old 07-22-20, 10:14 AM
  #15129  
Hermes
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Trackies do not know anything but high cadence. I have been doing high cadence work for the last 12 years. I think the podcasts are great. I do not think it is so simple as increasing cadence is a silver bullet for better performance. If that were the case then all crit racers, who were also trackies, would dominate. And of course, some do but many do not.

My current coach, when we are not in a effing pandemic, uses motor pacing and 30/30 a lot. He claims to have stolen the techniques from the Russians and East Germans back in the day.

My first coach, who was Russian, loved high cadence, and uses it today. My wife was using him again last year and he had her doing high cadence for an hour on the trainer but she was putting in some real juice.

Annectdote...beware...The Russian coach ran group rides and one Sunday it was raining and none of us wanted to ride in the rain so we went to his indoor cycling gym. He wanted us to ride for 2 hours at 105 rpm. I thought he was joking and he was not. We all did it but...we never asked to forgo another outdoor ride again.

Here is a video from a couple of years ago. 8 laps of motor work by 3 sets. As I remember maybe 375 to 400 watts off the front leading the motor and a couple of hundred sitting in. 115 rpm. I should be an absolute monster. Alas, I am not.


Here is another video of a flying 150m where I am the second racer. We make the riding at the top look easy but it is anything but easy and ramps up the HR such that the dive off the rail and acceleration results in a gonzo heart rate.


Having said all that, I think high cadence is a great biohack along with low cadence work and the isometric strength training (Another thing my first Russian coach had us do) to increase myofibril density I.e. more myofibril elements, more ATP potential. I think all ELITE racers should be able to ride behind the motor at 120 rpm for some period of time doing drills.


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