Spinning

I have recently (in the past 6 months) discovered the fantastic-ness of spinning (sorry for making up that word, but I couldn't think of another more suitable one). Spinning is simply pedalling at high revolutions, or cadence (in my opinion, anything above 80 RPM is spinning).

Why spin? Well, I'm sure there is a lot of physiological science to it, but I have found that if you spin the pedals at high cadence, you actually use less energy than "mashing" the pedals. In general, this means selecting a lower gear, and aiming to keep at the same speed as if you were in a higher gear.

I have recently purchased a heart rate monitor (in the last month), and interestingly I find that my heart rate is about 10% higher if I'm "mashing" the pedals, rather than spinning. I'm told that when you spin, you are adding less pressure to the pedals on each revolution. The amount of pressure you exert on the pedals directly correlates to the amount of oxygen your leg muscles require to be pumped from your heart/lungs, and this corresponds to your heart rate.

So, all this means that high gear mashing means you maintain a higher heart rate, and therefore tire quicker than if you are low gear spinning (especially noticable over longer distances, say > 50km).

Another intersting thing I have noticed is that maintaining deep breathing generally keeps your heart rate lower than shallow breathing (when working at the same intensity). I guess this is because there is more oxygen feeding the muscles, which in turn puts less pressure on your heart to pump more oxygen.

Who'd of thought there was so much science to riding a bike (I secretly love it!!).