There is some of evidence that there is an energetically optimal cadence at which athletes can cycle or run that allows for better performance in endurance events.
Cadence became a big deal in cycling with Lance Armstrong’s return to the sport after his battle with cancer. His style involved a lot of “spinning” at higher cadence, particularly on hills. As his performance improved and peaked, other cyclists caught on, and began to work on increasing their cadences as well, and now sustained cadences of 90-110 rpm’s (sometimes more) are common among cyclists in longer races. Less getting up out of the seat and muscling up hills with brute strength of the quads, and more sitting in the seat and spinning in lower gears.
Cadence is also important to runners. Indeed, cadence is related to running speed, and there has been research showing that trained female runners are most energy efficient when running at about a 9 min/mile pace, while trained male runners are most efficient at about a 7 min/mile pace (on a treadmill). As increasing your running speed requires either a change in stride length or cadence, or both, depending on individual biomechanics, it can be inferred that an optimal cadence is approached in trained runners at these optimal speeds. read more…
Title: Cadence in cycling and running
Technorati Tags: bicycling, biomechanics, fitness, health, indoor-cycling, running, training
