[email hidden] (Mike Charles) wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...
Well, you have the right idea... only one problem, your not Lance Armstrong. You are correct, his
cadence per HR is a crucial determinant of efficiency of effort. And, so is watts generated at a
particular HR. However, training like Lance may not give the same results for your body. In fact, I
guarantee it won't.
His HR may be only 145 at his cadence... yours might be 155. What that means is that he is in
better shape. To copy his HR at his cadence would not be reasonable (O.K., it would probably be a
dumb idea).
Lance is a small rider, who has genetic advantages that most don't have. O.K., let's assume you
are the exact body type as Lance. Now, you also have the same athletic background, training
regimen and genetics. Now there may be some value in knowing his cadence to HR ratio. However,
this is very unlikely. In which case, you need to establish your own efficiency scale (i.e.,
Cadence to HR ratio).
The most efficient endurance athletes have more slow-twitch muscles fibers. All things being equal,
the more slow-twitch muscle fibers you have, the more power you can produce at the same oxygen
consumption. And, there is no evidence to show you can do this with training. But, you can use your
existing muscle breakdown to be more efficient. To do that would mean you would have to establish
your own cadence to HR efficient ratio. That would result in increase power. Simply copying Lances
efficiency level would not equate to you improving. In fact, it probably won't.
You can't just increase (or decrease) your HR at a specific Cadence. You have to have an efficient
Aerobic system like Lance to get the same effect. And, unless your a physiological clone of Lance's
your not going to succeed using his existing cadence to HR ratio. You must establish your own and
grow from that point.
BTW, Pushing your body to Lactic Threshold only represents what you can already do - training or
racing at that level is not much of a training stimulas. In fact, it training far below lactic
threshold is what is most likely to create improvement. Why most don't do this (commonly called base
building) is because it feels like your not doing anything.
FWIW Joe Moya
See this NG post for more...
trinewbies.comthread view.aspOpen ↗
Quoted message said:I was watching Lance Armstrong in the final Tour de France time trial and the commentator
mentioned that his cadence was around 110. I believe that he was traveling around 30mph but there
was no information shared about his expected heart rate level.
I was wondering if anyone knew what heart rate the competitive cyclists push too while in races ?
I am pretty new to the sport so I have been trying to push right up to my lactace threshold (167)
and hold there for racing. This has given me OK results but I am wondering if anyone has
experience with more a more aggressive strategy ? Any help is appreciated.
Thanks,
Mike Charles
