Tempo is the intensity that can be sustained for longer durations. It is the intensity that is used in marathon mountain bike events, Ironman and Ironman 70.3 events. This session gives three short exposures to this intensity, with a variety of cadences. The changes in cadences with give a different training stimulus building strength at the lower cadences. This workout is great to include early in a build up, or later in a build up to enhance aerobic efficiency or as a recovery session.
Each Sunday, I’ll post a Smart-Trainer Session that you can do in about 60 minutes to enhance your cycling. See a previous post about training intensity (Levels) to know how hard to work. If you are working directly with Coach Ray, he will, in most cases, prescribe either a Power Zone or Heart Rate Zone to work within if you are training with these tools.
Coach Ray’s Tempo Cadence in Control
- 10min WU Level II;
- 3min Level III- Cad 85;
- 3min Level III- Cad 90;
- 2min Level I Cad 85;
- 3min Level III Cad 75;
- 3min Level III Cad 95;
- 2min Level I Cad 85;
- 3min Level III+ Cad 70;
- 3min Level III+ Cad 100;
- 10min CD Level I-II;
- 10min Stretching
The warm-up (WU) should be done at an intensity that is steady but not over-consuming at Level II, riding for ten minutes.
There are three six-minute reps, all ridden at Level III. Within each rep the two halves are ridden at different cadences. The first half is at a lower cadence, the second half is at a higher cadence. Each rep gets a little higher intensity. Take a two-minute Rest Interval (RI) at Level II between each rep.
The first rep is done at Level III- (80% of Functional Threshold Power (FTP)), the first half has a cadence of 85RPM and the second half has a cadence of 90RPM.
The second rep is at Level III (85% of Functional Threshold Power (FTP)). Start with a cadence of 75RPM, before increasing it to 95RPM for the second half.
The final rep is at Level III+ (90% of Functional Threshold Power (FTP)). The initial cadence is 70RPM for the first three-minutes before increasing it to 100RPM for the final three-minutes.
Conclude the ride with a Cool Down (CD) of ten minutes riding at Level II.
Finish with ten minutes of stretching to assist with the recovery.
Here is my data from doing the workout:
If you would like further advice feel free to contact me.
I am the Head Coach & Director of Qwik Kiwi – Endurance Sports Consultant.
I specialise in assisting first-timers and recreational athletes to achieve their sporting goals. I can be contacted at coachray@coachray.nz and 021 348 729.
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