Suggested Cadence

Training
1

When reading the description for a workout such as “Walk This Way - 90”, I read

“Focus on your breathing (breath rate and depth) and cadence as you near the top of each pyramid.”

What is meant by focussing on cadence when I don’t know what cadence I am supposed to be doing?

Thanks

Pat

2

WalkThisWay
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Ride your preferred natural cadence which will vary during the stepped interval sets that rise slightly past LTP.
If you view the Remote or Session Player while running EBC the Cadence Optimizer (CO) gauge shows your preferred cadence range at torque.

RainbowGaugeCO
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Focus on your breathing and notice how that helps you relax and smooth out your pedal stroke.

The CO gauge isn’t displayed on EBC although there is a Target Cadence field on the XMB Endurance page (Android app). That shows the midline value for your preferred cadence. Perhaps Xert will add the CO gauge to iOS and Android EBC like it works with XMB for the Garmin Connect IQ app. I find the gauge especially useful during indoor workouts.

3

The Target Cadence is also on the Magic Buckets app for Garmin devices but I don’t find it very useful, at least not off road - way too much delay.

SUGGESTION (for the Magic Buckets app): It’s not clear to display “Shift Up” and “Shift Down” because those mean entirely opposite things to some people. I think using arrow graphics (left and right arrow) would be better - all cassettes slope the same direction (smaller cogs are to the right).

1 Like
4

CO is definitely a steady-state tool.
Off-road is so sporadic you only reach steady RPM on smooth single track or when a trail ends and you find yourself on-the-road. :slight_smile:
Indoors on a trainer I use it all the time to spin-up before a HIT interval starts, but also to remind me to throttle RPM down during rest intervals.
The gauge will even inform you when fatigue starts to set in. You’ll find yourself pedaling below your “preferred” cadence during a rest interval, reminding you to spin back up. If it feels easier at a higher RPM it is easier. :smiley:
You can also use CO indoors to perform cadence drills (in Slope mode) when a workout supports doing that. Glance at the gauge then deliberately pedal above or below your “normal” pace during the interval.
I also relied on my preferred cadence to determine the gears I needed for my successful run up Mt Washington. I.e. gear range at preferred cadence for target watts required to meet my time goal.

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5

I really hope we get an iOS upgrade soon

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6

tvOS Player app!