DOSE (Power) AND RESPONSE (Heart rate) RELATIONSHIP

Power and heart rate measure two different things:
Power is a measure of dose and heart rate measures response to that dose. As a rider gets stronger, they are able to tolerate a higher dose (power) for the same heart rate. Heart rate and power are affected by hydration, fatigue, over-heating, etc... To optimize training, understanding this dose/response relationship and being aware of the factors that can affect them is important.

Adaptation to dose leads to improvement and this can be more easily monitored with heart rate response to the dose. With heart rate only, how do you know if the dose (power) was high enough for long enough to induce the overload required to stimulate further improvement? Alternatively, if the dose was higher but you don't monitor heart rate, how can you be sure the extra power wasn't as the result of a higher heart rate.

A good example of using power and heart rate in combination is with the power based Aerobic Endurance (Sweet Spot) sessions. From week-to-week, cyclists at Cadence they can compare this dose response relationship and see their improvement (see below).

These 2 Sweet Spot sessions, that are 10 days apart, were sent in by Jono Cech. On 22nd June, Jono had a lower heart rate on both 20 minute Sweet Spot intervals compared to 13th June. Perhaps more important, there was only a 4 beat difference between the 1st and 2nd interval on 22nd June compared with an 11 beat difference on 13th June. As mentioned above; fatigue, hydration, etc... should be considered to have also played a role but this is invariably the result we are looking for, i.e. the rider can tolerate the same power at a lower heart rate with a longer time to fatigue, so we can now adjust their training intensity accordingly to stimulate further improvement.

Cadence Cycling Ladies Team take 1ST place at The Unlimited Dusi Mfula MTB Stage Race!

Well done to all riders for completing this challenging and well prepared 116km course. Single track, single track, single track, rock was a pretty apt rhyme to describe this race.

In the ladies race, Brenda Potts and Sarah van Heerden took the lead from day one, despite Sarah getting washed downstream at one of the waist deep and fairly fast flowing river crossings. The team raced well on day 2 to retain their lead, take the win in the ladies race and finish 16th overall in the field. Great result!

Mark Dain and Shaun Dibb, who train at Cadence Durban North, deserve a special mention. They came 14th overall, quite a change from 2 years ago and 135th place! Thank you for wearing Cadence kit in the race!

In the spirit of mountain biking's appeal as a family event, David and Brigetta Hamilton brought their 2 hairy children to the race.

Well done to Nikki Coates and Gary Doyle, they were drawn as the male and female winners in the Hill2Hill sponsored rider competition. We will train them at one of our Hill2Hill training slots, pay their entry to the 105km race and provide Cadence cycling kit. Retha Shaw will be their dietician.

Gary has never ridden 105km on a mountain bike but has completed the 45km in 2hr:37min. Nikki was 8hr:45min last year for the 105km after heat and insufficient preparation saw her hit the wall at the 70km mark. Those that raced last year will remember it was pretty warm and many riders suffered with the heat. Getting the hydration and nutrition right will be the first step to avoiding this problem.

THE NEXT CADENCE TRAINING BLOCKS BEGIN NEXT WEEK IN HILLCREST AND DURBAN NORTH. CONTACT US ON 031 7652611 OR E-MAIL info@cadencecycling.co.za:

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