Originally Posted by
One Wheel
I have to admit I'm a bit skeptical on the spinning thing: intuitively, high cadence is unnecessary aerobic effort, and low cadence is unnecessary anaerobic effort. Both will tire you out, in different ways. The calculus for where that balance is obviously varies from one person to another. The more mass you've got in your legs (muscle or fat), the more the ideal will swing toward a slower cadence. I know you're correct about using more muscles, but I feel like it should be possible to make it more natural to do that by adjusting position. When I'm worn out it's hard to think about technique.
This has nothing to do with cadence, other than practicing at a very high cadence (which one would never use) teaches which muscles to fire when. The fact that it was quads which wore out means that only half (or less) of the leg muscles were being used. The same technique is to be used at all cadences, from 35 to 130. Adjusting position has nothing to do with it, though it will slightly change the balance of effort from some muscles to others, but the technique remains the same. Further back recruits more hams, forward more quads. The object of the game is efficiency; only tangential force applied to the pedals.