How to Coach Resistance in Your Indoor Cycling Class, Part 5: Cause and Effect—Exploring the Impact of Cadence and Resistance

How to Coach Resistance in Your Indoor Cycling Class, Part 5: Cause and Effect—Exploring the Impact of Cadence and Resistance

In part 4 of this series on cueing resistance, I gave you critical information about how to guide your riders toward selecting the right amount of load or gear to meet the intended intensity of a given segment. That guidance boiled down to a simple but powerful formula:

Cadence × Resistance = Intensity
(C × R = I)

In this final installment, we’ll explore how to manipulate the variables in that equation to help riders better understand how their effort changes when cadence or resistance changes, either independently or in tandem. I’ll also share six drills you can use to create powerful awareness exercises in your classes, helping to solidify this concept through real-time experience on the bike.

Understanding the Equation in Practice

Now that you know the theoretical equation, let’s break down what happens when you adjust each variable on the left side of the equation:

• Hold cadence constant, increase resistance → intensity increases
• Hold cadence constant, decrease resistance → intensity decreases
• Hold resistance constant, increase cadence → intensity increases
• Hold resistance constant, decrease cadence → intensity decreases
• Increase cadence and decrease resistance → intensity can remain stable (depending on the amount of change)
• Increase resistance and decrease cadence → intensity can remain stable (again, depending on the amount of change)

While these shifts may seem obvious to experienced instructors, they’re often not apparent to your riders—especially beginners or those without power meters. Even instructors sometimes miss how subtle changes in cadence or resistance can impact performance.

Here’s an example I experienced: I once had a rider who couldn’t understand why her power wasn’t increasing when she added resistance. She tried again and again, but only got more frustrated when the watts didn’t change or even dropped when she turned the dial. The issue? Each time she reached for the resistance knob, she unknowingly slowed her cadence. The increased resistance was offset by a decrease in leg speed, so her wattage stayed the same or dropped. Without a power meter to expose this disconnect, it would have gone unnoticed.

This is a classic case of the final scenario listed above: increasing resistance while decreasing cadence can result in stable—or even reduced—intensity, depending on the magnitude of the changes. It’s a reminder that the relationship between cadence, resistance, and intensity is more delicate than it appears. Helping riders understand this relationship is one of the most valuable lessons you can teach.

Why Cause and Effect Matters

Several years ago, I created a workshop called Cause and Effect to teach instructors how to turn this concept into a tangible learning experience. While that workshop is no longer offered, it laid the foundation for how I approach this topic at ICA. By intentionally manipulating cadence and resistance—and guiding riders to notice how their heart rate, breathing, and muscular effort respond—you create a bridge between theory and feeling.

One of the most illuminating profiles I’ve ever created is also called Cause and Effect. It uses small shifts in cadence—usually just 2–4 rpm from one song to the next—to help riders build awareness of how their bodies respond to changes in tempo, load, and effort. It’s a foundational ride I recommend every instructor teach at least once—but only after you’ve done it yourself. Trust me, it’s much harder than it looks on paper! Experiencing it firsthand will give you the insight (and empathy) needed to guide your riders through it effectively.

Practical Drills to Build Awareness

While you can absolutely dedicate a full class to this concept, you don’t have to. Even just a few well-chosen songs using the drills below can help open your riders’ eyes to how cadence, resistance, and effort work together. These drills are designed to give them hands-on experience of the cause-and-effect relationship, making the concept more tangible.