I have riders do regular 30 min tempo blocks, up to 5 or 6 of them, at self-selected cadence. I don’t know that asking them to do those at lower cadence would allow them to do “more” of that = more adaptations. But a 3x30 at 85% in high Z2 HR anecdata isn’t really moving the needle for me.
That said, I do have some riders do lower cadence tempo and torque sets as part of base training, but generally not high volume stuff like this.
There was a recent study just published that trained low cadence sprint and vo2 and they improved their aerobic power more than self selected cadence. So it increased their vla max (if it’s still a thing) more than default cadence.
Edit: It also increased LT1 more than LT2 though. I’m guessing this means Vlamax did go down or maybe at least didn’t go up? Either way, low cadence was significantly better for all measured indicators.
Do you measure / investigate your riders’ torque curves?
In Swart’s world it seems very significant.
He says they specifically train to increase torque for particular time periods, with the objective of increasing durability (in his definition how the power curve looks after 4,000kJ energy expenditure) and the ability to deal with steeper climbs.
This YouTuber analyzes pro riders training and talks a lot about their specific torque training.
Not specifically, no. I have access to the post-2500kj (etc.) type power and work numbers, and I do look at that stuff occasionally for ultra types and look to do a bit of focused training on that for events like Leadville, e.g., but I don’t have the torque curves.
Typically I look at comfortable cadences and subjective feedback from riders and target what they’re not comfortable with. E.g. a guy who likes pedaling at 80rpm and feels comfortable as a grinder is going to do a lot of leg speed work, and vice versa, during base periods. In truth, I have everyone do SOME leg speed work, and then a few do torque-y stuff.
Lower cadence, torque stuff is generally either big gear “sprints” (more like spin-ups), or 55-60rpm tempo work in relatively small interval doses (like 5 min). Have to be careful with this kind of stuff, especially if someone has any kind of balky knee.
