Small ring v big ring?????

nickyg1987

I was told to stay out of the big ring at the front and spin away on the front while training and it would help burn fat instead of building strength in the big ring! Is there any truth in this???

mec287

Absolutely. Try it for an hour on a ride you know and see how you feel compared to riding with both. Try and keep spinning on the downs too for maximum heart rate elevation!

mattshrops

Erm, you could spin in any ring you like providing the effort is relatively light.

All exercise burns calories. Hard effort burns more than light effort. light effort uses a higher proportion of fat as fuel(allegedly)


How old are you? Spinning is good for young legs. Its also good for long distances.

As with many things there is no right/wrong answer.

#clearasmud

Alex_Simmons/RST

nickyg1987 wrote:

I was told to stay out of the big ring at the front and spin away on the front while training and it would help burn fat instead of building strength in the big ring! Is there any truth in this???

Your metabolism doesn't care what gear you use, just how hard you are riding relative to your capabilities.
IOW, it's just folklore/mythology.

nickyg1987

Thanks for the replies!! I'm 26 on Monday coming!! Getting old I'd horrible lol

oldwelshman

mec287 wrote:

Absolutely. Try it for an hour on a ride you know and see how you feel compared to riding with both. Try and keep spinning on the downs too for maximum heart rate elevation!

really? It makes no difference at all!!

styxd

nickyg1987 wrote:

I was told to stay out of the big ring at the front and spin away on the front while training and it would help burn fat instead of building strength in the big ring! Is there any truth in this???

Nah spin the Big ring as hard as you can! Pissing about in a little gear isnt going to burn much fat, and its not going to make you any faster either!

nickyg1987

Cheers for the replies!! I'll switch to the big ring then!! Weight loss is easier said than done!!

patchy

What's a 'small ring'?

http://bigringriding.com/

dzp1

Alex_Simmons/RST wrote:

nickyg1987 wrote:

I was told to stay out of the big ring at the front and spin away on the front while training and it would help burn fat instead of building strength in the big ring! Is there any truth in this???

Your metabolism doesn't care what gear you use, just how hard you are riding relative to your capabilities.
IOW, it's just folklore/mythology.

^^ like ^^

Low cadence - working the legs hard, heart rate will be slightly lower
High cadence - working the cardiovascular system harder, heart rate will be slightly higher
Middle cadence - both systems taking a fair proportion of the stress = optimal ?

A coach told me he reckons he tested hundreds of riders and hardly any had an optimum cadence of anywhere near 100 - more likely 90 ish or possibly even lower. I dunno how lance did it then, he must have had an awesome cardio vascular system lol

In my first 18 mths back to the sport I forced myself to train at high cadence. This was because I knew I would get back problems if I dived straight into my "optimum" cadence.

Since then..

I've been using slow pedalling in training for specific (core engagement related) reasons
And I've been using fast pedalling in training for specific (pedalling technique) and other (see above) reasons
But mostly I've been training at race cadence 85-95.

Hopefully my logic isn't too far off, but it might be !

Alex_Simmons/RST

In cycling, people often improve but not for the reasons they attribute it to.