The Real Science of Sport

In this spotlight episode, Ross and Gareth put some of the interesting discussions from our Discourse community in the spotlight. Gareth, master (and moderator) of Discourse, learned all about high cadence training from the coaches in the Discourse community when he tackled a Zwift cycling programme that had him spinning his legs. We discuss whether high cadence training has merit, or whether we should actually be looking at the other extreme – Torque training, with very low cadence, to develop cycling ability? A fascinating recent paper is the basis for that discussion. We also talk about a paper that documents the remarkable energy costs of cycling in the Tour de France Femmes – an incredible 7500 kCal per day, not met by energy intake in the case study. Finally, we tackle two doping stories. The first is a call by the UCI for WADA to „take a position“ on alleged Carbon Monoxide misuse by elite cyclists, and the second is the latest step taken by the Enhanced Games, who, among other things, wish to classify aging as a disease. And they’ll pay a cool million to a human who runs a sub-9.58s 100m, powered by any means necessary.

Show notes

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The research study that finds that low cadence training enhances performance more than self-selected (high) cadence training during an 8-week polarized training block

The case study of energy demands in an elite woman in the Tour de France

The UCI calls on WADA to take a position on Carbon Monoxide use

The Enhanced Games message to Robert F Kennedy to declare war on aging

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