How do I climb better

[Wonder Woman]

ok, so another question, relating to geting better at hills.

 

How does it fit into a training program? Does one set out a program to ride hills, then have a day for working on speed, then a day where it is about recovery and riding at a spinning pace. Or do you just ride a few hills everyday as part of your ride ?

 

Yea, sure riding more makes you fitter, but where does riding hills fit into a heart rate porgram then? Do you just throw the heart rate out the window and just ride the hill at top speed? What is the best way to get faster ?

 

Slowbee, you would do maximum 2 days a week of hill intervals. Most people would do shorter harder intervals on Tues and Thurs. Weds a more recovery ride. Saturday and sunday 3-6 hrs LSD which includes everything. Friday I used to do easy with a couple of flat sprints to keep the speed up.

[tombeej]

Doing too much hill training is one of the quickest routes to injury that I know of (besides poor setup). I completely agree with others who've said to do hill repeats max. once a week.

 

The other wonderful way to really injure yourself is to try and ride with gears to big for your abilities. So while there are some who are used to their single speeds, Richard please be very careful if you think you can just start charging at hills in a big gear. Guaranteed you will get yourself an injury.

 

There are no shortcuts to this, and no way to believe you can speed up the process by packing in hill training every day. Once a week is safe, but also start slow and build up over time. Like smaller hills to start with, progressing to bigger/steeper stuff over time.

Edited March 26, 2012 by tombeej

[The_Break]

Loose weight and up your power. No other way if your form is good and your pedal stroke nice and circular in or out the saddle.

[Wonder Woman]

Doing too much hill training is one of the quickest routes to injury that I know of (besides poor setup). I completely agree with others who've said to do hill repeats max. once a week.

 

The other wonderful way to really injure yourself is to try and ride with gears to big for your abilities. So while there are some who are used to their single speeds, Richard please be very careful if you think you can just start charging at hills in a big gear. Guaranteed you will get yourself an injury.

 

There are no shortcuts to this, and no way to believe you can speed up the process by packing in hill training every day. Once a week is safe, but also start slow and build up over time. Like smaller hills to start with, progressing to bigger/steeper stuff over time.

 

Agree, don't go from tiny gears to big ones, just one gear higher than you would normally ride it to build some strength.

[Li Mu Bai]

I am trying to lose weight, 2 kg's to be exact, but it's been an 8 month battle.

 

Just eat less salad A, haha

[tombeej]

Some things I try to focus on when doing hill repeats:

- I try to stay seated as long as possible. It's a very mental thing - how long are you prepared to suffer 'the burn' until you can't take it any longer and need to stand...

- While pedalling seated, I focus on keeping my upper body as still and relaxed as possible, focusing on a smooth pedal stroke. It's very easy to find yourself bobbing side to side and stomping on the pedals. See how difficult it is to keep your upper body dead still during max effort on a climb.

- Contrary to what someone else said earlier, I never look up to the top of the hill. I keep my head down and focus on 1-2 metres in front of me. If I zone out mentally and don't keep looking up to see how far I still have to go, I can get into a rhythm more easily, and if it's an offroad climb I can manage my front wheel traction and direction better. On a road climb, I try and follow the yellow line so I don't have to look up, maybe even counting off the cats eyes one by one. If I submit to temptation and lift my head to see how far I still have to go, that could be the end for me... crack.

Edited March 26, 2012 by tombeej

[Li Mu Bai]

some sage advice I once got from a seasoned rider for climbing:

 

1. relax your arms and shoulders

2: relax your hands (hold your bars like you would hold a bird)

3: breath steadily through your nose and mouth.

4: stay seated, move slightly back on your saddle (still keeping front wheel down)

5: keep a steady cadence (85rpm) and rhythm, pedalling full revolutions in a comfortale gear

6: relax your arms and shoulders again because you have tensioned up whilst worrying about the above pointers.

 

Hill repeats once a week( find a consistant steady hill with enough distance): 15min warm up, 3min uphill as fast as you can, 3 mins down to recover = 1 set, do 10 sets, 15 mins cool down.

another way tobuild leg power is to visit Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve for a loop (Dont Litter)

 

Patience: it takes time to get stronger and fitter. you will see improvements if you keep at it.

[ramsew]

I second this....a little bit of hard work never hurt anyone.....ie, if its done the correct way.

Also ensure your bike has been setup correctly so that you are peddling as efficient as possible and to also save your knees, neck and lower back!

[covie]

I had to laugh ! All good advice though

 

I have no granny gear anymore i miss spinning like a helicopter, now i just have to follow a rythem and increase my leg strength.

[Wyatt Earp]

Just eat less salad A, haha

I'll leave the onions out

[W@nna-BE]

i love climbing, used to hate it..... used to be slow, now i love it, still slow not as slow though...... bit of a rhyme lol

 

i have to agree as stated earlier, you got to enjoy the climbs, that way you will start fighting to do better, enjoy the challenge! All the pain is over shadowed once you reach the top!! i always give myself a pat on the back once i have reached the top......

Suikerbos nature reserve ( dont litter!!!) got me going on the climbs , if that place does not make you a climber nothing will!!

 

my previous post https://community.bikehub.co.za/topic/114391-hill-training/ shows the hill training i do now, yesterday i actually did 3 loops instead of the 2 on the attachment, i will try add an extra loop ( comaro + Pieter Ackroyd) every few weeks, i recon if i get to 6/7 i will be pretty strong on the climbs....

[Blokman]

Even if Suikerbos is out of your way ,it's worth going once just to check out those climbs.

Even if you're not fast no hill in Jhb will scare you again.

Road that is , but must work for MTB as well.

[Riamich]

Hill repeats best medicine to improve your climbing there was an article as well in 1 of the bicycling mags worthwhile checking www.bicycling.co.za as well for some advice

Had the same issue, had to drop a few kilo's too and what got me stronger I'm greeted by a 1.5km climb every morning just outside my gate... that motivated me

[walkerr]

7. Core work.

 

Amen to that - never been a great climber, but steadily improving and the core strength work at gym seems to be really helping. Trainer has also got me doing hill rep sets too - hurt like hell, but definitely work

[mtbvip]

A hill is just like a level stretch of road, except that gravity adds a bit of resistance (the more you weigh the more the resistance) and due to the slower speeds you have less of a headwind (less benefit of wheelsucking).

 

The best way to get better a climbing is to lose weight (if you have weight to lose) and simply get better at cycling: ride more and do more high intensity intervals. Whether you do the intervals on the the flat, a stationary trainer or an actual hill makes little difference as you use your gears to keep your cadence stable. Forget about all this nonsense of sitting back, sitting forward, pulling up or down, relaxing, getting a singlespeed and most importantly DO NOT START RUNNING MORE (doing more of another activity when you are not doing enough of cycling to start with is a no-brainer).

Edited March 26, 2012 by mtbvip

[Blokman]

A hill is just like a level stretch of road, except that gravity adds a bit of resistance (the more you weigh the more the resistance) and due to the slower speeds you have less of a headwind (less benefit of wheelsucking).

 

The best way to get better a climbing is to lose weight (if you have weight to lose) and simply get better at cycling: ride more and do more high intensity intervals. Whether you do the intervals on the the flat, a stationary trainer or an actual hill makes little difference as you use your gears to keep your cadence stable. Forget about all this nonsense of sitting back, sitting forward, pulling up or down, relaxing, getting a singlespeed and most importantly DO NOT START RUNNING MORE (doing more of another activity when you are not doing enough of cycling to start with is a no-brainer).

One of the principles of training is specificity.Joe Friel advises athletes to cut non specific exercises as their training progresses . This could vary as we are all different.( Another principle is individuality.) So with your last sentence I can agree to some extent. However.If you apply the same principle, you ride hills to improve your climbing. You sprint to improve sprinting.That is a no brainer.

 

Some of the " nonsense " advice were given by cyclists that really know what they are talking about. (They are dof on other subjects.)

 

I have not read many, but I have yet to come across any training manual without at least a chapter just for hills.

 

Sure some of the power that you apply on the flats will translate into better climbing . But I cannot imagine the peloton going up the Col de Tourmalet on this advice. Or anybody tackling the Epic with it.

Edited March 26, 2012 by Blokman