garethzbarker

I'm not a racer. Everyday lately I do weight loss/endurance rides. I generally do them at 80-90rpm while trying to stay in my HR zone. I have to do these for a while. Would I benefit from switching up cadences on some days? like perhaps doing the entire ride at 60rmp one day then back to my normal cadence the next then 110 the next. If they are good for me in what way are they good exactly? Or is training at the same HR and cadence every time more important for endurance?

ericm979

Riding at an endurance pace is only good for endurance if you're also riding an endurance distance. Short endurance pace rides aren't useful for training.

As far as cadence, if you ride on varying terrain then you'll get plenty of variation in cadence. It wouldn't hurt to work on learning to pedal faster in case you race, but it's not going to make you faster. Some people claim that short low cadence high effort intervals are good for leg strength but I am not convinced. Sometimes low rpm high effort pedalling can make you feel uneven application of power in your pedaling stroke which you can attempt to address.

For endurance/weight loss you could just go ride and not worry about HR zones or cadence, just worry about time on the bike (more time = more weight loss). There's no reason to be overly regimented and take the fun out of it.