Bytagthe publication "What if we stopped being obsessed with pedaling cadence?"
Pedaling cadence is an essential metric for many people during training. But is it always so important?
In the world of cycling, cadence is often a major concern. Many competitors, whether recreational or competitive, often wonder what the right cadence is. They fixate on a specific goal, often influenced by preconceived notions, and feel frustrated if they don't reach that magic number. However, this obsession can be counterproductive. Here's why it's time to stop overanalyzing your cadence and let your body take the reins.
By Guillaume Judas – Photos: depositphotos.com
The illusion of perfect cadence
Many cyclists believe there is an ideal cadence, often between 80 and 100 revolutions per minute (rpm), that they absolutely must achieve to perform well.This quest pushes them to push themselves to a higher cadence during endurance outings, at the cost of an increased heart rate and premature fatigue. Similarly, during interval training, they expend unnecessary energy maintaining a specific cadence, sometimes to the detriment of the quality of the effort.
But the truth is simple: the perfect cadence does not exist.Your body is an intelligent organism that, when pedaling, naturally adapts to produce power in the most efficient way possible. This optimal cadence varies from one individual to another. For some, it will be lower (around 70-80 rpm), for others, higher (90-100 rpm or more). Studies, such as that of Chavarren and Calbet (2009), show that muscle fiber type plays a key role in this variability. Forcing yourself to ride at a cadence outside your natural cadence range uses more energy and accelerates fatigue, which can compromise your performance.
When Cadence Matters (and When It Doesn't)
This is not to say that cadence is always unimportant.There are specific situations where aiming for a specific cadence can be beneficial, particularly during workouts designed to induce physiological adaptations.
For example, high-cadence sessions, where you voluntarily pedal above your usual range, stimulate the firing rate of motor neurons. This results in faster synchronization between agonist muscles (which produce the effort) and antagonists (which stabilize), as demonstrated by Dorel et al. (2009).
These targeted workouts can improve the fluidity of your pedal stroke, making your movement more efficientOver time, this work can even increase your base cadence: an endurance ride at 80 rpm could naturally evolve towards 90 rpm. But the key is that this evolution should not be forced. It results from a gradual adaptation, where your body adopts a new cadence as the most efficient for producing power.
Outside of these specific workouts, trying to maintain a predefined cadence is often a waste of energy.. During a classic ride or an endurance session, it's much more effective to let your body find its natural rhythm. This allows you to pedal with ease, conserve energy, and fully enjoy the experience.
You will also notice that during violent efforts, you will tend to naturally increase your pedaling cadenceThis is normal, because high power cannot be achieved (or maintained) solely by pedaling hard (at a low cadence).
Let your body take control
The obsession with cadence is a perfect example of the tendency of some practitioners to over-intellectualize their practice.By trying to control everything, we forget a fundamental truth: the body knows what it's doing. By trusting it, you not only optimize your energy efficiency, but also your riding pleasure. A ride shouldn't be a constant struggle to reach an arbitrary number on your odometer.
So how do we apply this approach?
Here are some practical tips:
Listen to your feelings : focus on the fluidity of your pedaling and on your feeling, rather than on the numbers.
Vary your workouts : include specific high or low cadence sessions to stimulate adaptations, but do not impose them on every outing.
Accept your variability : Your natural cadence may change from day to day depending on your fitness, fatigue, or terrain. This is normal.
Pedal freely, perform better
In summary, stop focusing on your cadenceLet your body find its natural rhythm, the one where it produces power with the least effort. Reserve targeted cadence exercises for specific workouts, and for the rest, enjoy the freedom of pedaling without constraints. You'll save energy, reduce fatigue, and, above all, rediscover the joy of riding.
Bytagthe publication "What if we stopped being obsessed with pedaling cadence?"
