Low cadence - ligaments,joints?? help please

Low cadence is not the best, since it does stress your joints and muscles, and limit's your steady power output. You want to keep training to increase your cadence, speed and and power.

Suggest you just keep training in your lowest gear until you can pedal it comfortably at 90 rpm, then shift up one gear at a time and train to bring the cadence and speed up again. Just be patient and don't push too hard every day starting out.

You're lucky to have a velodrome nearby.

Dan

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by theodoros
Hi I have been riding for a few months now and recently I bought my self a bike coupuer with a cadence meter I have only really ridden on the local velodrome due to limited time and day light hours, I prefer to cycle at a low cadence on my lowest gear, when I started was only spinning about 50 per minute now its between 65-70
I do this for an hour at a time. I have heard some people say that it puts too much strain on ligaments and joints to cycle on a low cadence, but so far my knees feel fine
My question this good strategy if my cadence keeps on getting faster.

We all have different types of bodies and capacities. If you have fast twitch muscles ( the powerful kind ) this might work for you. However, most tendon and ligament injuries occur because they do not become strengthen at the same rate of muscle growth. Just because your muscles can work with a low cadence doesn't mean your ligaments and tendons can. Another thing, a faster cadence is more energy efficient but it requires practice. The mind cannot keep up with a 100-120 cadence right off the bat. It requires a gradual build in cadence speed. This way you can establish "muscle memory". If I were you I would start practicing at a higher cadence for injury prevention and efficiency. Besides, you can always tell who the newbies are by their cadence! A fast cadence is stylish and professional. Good Luck!

Thanks Dan for your feed back I appreciate it, yes it is good living close to the velodrome if I did now live close to the track I would not get out at all.
Cheers.

All I need now I s the patience
thanks.