![]() The skill lies in doing this exercise with the only movement coming from below the waist: keep your arms, torso and head still and spin the legs. The basic premise is to pedal at high revolutions, in a gear small enough that your heart rate doesn’t go too high. With less fatigue, you’re able to better concentrate on pedalling well in smooth circles with both legs. In terms of a training exercise, I encourage athletes to spin fast (often above 120rpm) in a small gear, so that their legs don’t fatigue too much because the resistance is small. Incidentally, this means the smaller ring in a two-ring set-up: even if your bike has a third ‘granny ring’, it’s best avoided as using it with the largest rear sprockets can put too much stress on the chain. It has the effect of reducing muscle fatigue and is the main reason you might undergear as you approach T2, in order to prepare for the run by (in a sense) warming down on the bike. Undergearing means lessening the resistance required to pedal, achieved by using the smaller front chainrings and the larger sprockets on the rear cassette. This is because the focus is on perfecting pedalling style and introducing good habits, rather than solely chasing fitness first with overgearing and then trying to change bad pedalling and/or cadence habits later. Novices and developing cyclists/triathletes should master this technique before attempting overgear work. Use it also to save energy when riding in a group and to develop the ability to accelerate fast. This is useful for perfecting a smooth pedalling action and is good for warming up/down either side of a hard effort. Undergearing will teach you to spin your legs quickly, which will pay off in breakaway situations ![]() So now let’s look at both training techniques in a little more detail… Undergearing
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