Poor climber to beast climber - how to do it in 3 months?

[Robbie Stewart]

Having just viewed the event website, I notice it is designed to have participants fail at their quest...how do they think having a free gelato stand at the finish is conducive to good event management? I will be making a dent in that thing every day...and thereafter I'd be off the pasta party and then I'd settle close to the beer stand for the rest of the day.

[bertusras]

Where is Vanzweelism when you need him!?!

 

Mate you just need the right gears, haven't you learned anything?

[Mark James]

I have a 5 day MTB stage race/ride in Italy in either May/June or at the end of August (covid dependent). Routes were published last night and are worse than I (ignorantly) anticipated.

 

The long and the short of it is that the 5 days total distance is 227 km (doesn't sound like a lot) with total climbing of 8,850 m (sounds like a *** load to me at least), with the toughest day being 2750 metres climb in a 55km stage. There are lots of incredibly steep climbs on the route, as you can imagine.

 

Anyway, I am very much a Diesel engine type rider, without a huge amount of climbing endurance. At 104 kg's and 193 cm, I am at best a grinder up hills and have never really sought them out just for fun.

 

So, I am looking for advice on the best way to quickly get stronger on hills without completely destroying myself through stupidity. I have searched the forum but can't really find any threads since 2013, so am hoping for some nuggets. Is there a specific training plan you could recommend? Should I be doing any programs on Zwift/TR etc? My instinct is to just go and ride hills a lot, but not sure if this is correct.

 

Currently riding a Giant Anthem X 29'er (2014 model but with a 2016 frame). Should I be looking to make it lighter by upgrading components etc? Should I stick a bigger cassette on the back (currently standard 2x10)?

 

I am already in the process of losing weight and have decided to accelerate this process from today. Aiming for 89kg's which should help somewhat.

 

Any advice will be appreciated and paid for in beers at the next bikehub international get-together.

 

 

 

 

I am 46, and used to ride a lot when I was younger, but have mainly done weight training for the last 25 years, so the biggest challenge has been dropping body weight. For every single kg of body weight that I drop, I can feel the difference in my climbing and riding ability. 

 

BTW: I was weighing about 102kg, and am now weighing about 95kg, this progress has been over the last 8 weeks. My body fat has also dropped from around 15% to 12%. These are some of my own observations to getting fitter, leaner, and dropping weight whilst riding and gyming. 

 

My goal is a 2 day stage race end April, albeit not nearly as gruelling as your ride in Italy!!! 

 

- I still gym, but only 2X / week, and ONLY do upper body exercises. I find the upper body strength really helps with coordination, and on tricky technical MTB accents/descents. (Probably less relevant on a road bike)

 

- I find training legs (lower body) in gym is counter-productive to my riding, and my legs feel like jelly for a few days after, so I rather leave the leg workouts for when I am on the bike... 

 

- I try ride 3X/week, 2 shorter more intense rides during the week (1 hour, 400-500m climbing), and 1 longer ride on the weekends (2-3 hours, 1000m climbing). Nice short video about how to Improve Endurance without Doing Long Rides 

 

- I have also been gradually increasing the work-load (ride intensity/time) by about 5-10%/ week. 

 

- I have been following intermittent fasting (So I eat for a 6-8 hour window period, then don't eat for 16-18 hours). I have found this to be REALLY beneficial in shedding extra kg's. There are loads of information on the web about IF, and exercising/cycing

 

Hope some of these tips help, and good luck for the ride! 

Edited March 23, 2021 by Mark James

[Robbie Stewart]

I am 46, and used to ride a lot when I was younger, but have mainly done weight training for the last 25 years, so the biggest challenge has been dropping body weight. For every single kg of body weight that I drop, I can feel the difference in my climbing and riding ability. 

 

BTW: I was weighing about 102kg, and am now weighing about 95kg, this progress has been over the last 8 weeks. My body fat has also dropped from around 15% to 12%. These are some of my own observations to getting fitter, leaner, and dropping weight whilst riding and gyming. 

 

My goal is a 2 day stage race end April, albeit not nearly as gruelling as your ride in Italy!!! 

 

- I still gym, but only 2X / week, and ONLY do upper body exercises. I find the upper body strength really helps with coordination, and on tricky technical MTB accents/descents. (Probably less relevant on a road bike)

 

- I find training legs (lower body) in gym is counter-productive to my riding, and my legs feel like jelly for a few days after, so I rather leave the leg workouts for when I am on the bike... 

 

- I try ride 3X/week, 2 shorter more intense rides during the week (1 hour, 400-500m climbing), and 1 longer ride on the weekends (2-3 hours, 1000m climbing). Nice short video about how to Improve Endurance without Doing Long Rides 

 

- I have also been gradually increasing the work-load (ride intensity/time) by about 5-10%/ week. 

 

- I have been following intermittent fasting (So I eat for a 6-8 hour window period, then don't eat for 16-18 hours). I have found this to be REALLY beneficial in shedding extra kg's. There are loads of information on the web about IF, and exercising/cycing

 

Hope some of these tips help, and good luck for the ride! 

 

I'm 45 this year. When I was still doing the gym thing I did at least one leg day per week. I included squats, crunches, calf raises, leg extensions and leg presses. My experience was more explosive power and increased overall speed as well as better endurance. My pain threshold while climbing was also improved, and since I cancelled my gym membership due to this damn pandemic, I can attest to the marked difference not going to the gym for a year has had on me. I have ridden more over the last year than the year before, but my overall power output (perceived) is not as high as it was while I was still in the gym.

[Mark James]

I'm 45 this year. When I was still doing the gym thing I did at least one leg day per week. I included squats, crunches, calf raises, leg extensions and leg presses. My experience was more explosive power and increased overall speed as well as better endurance. My pain threshold while climbing was also improved, and since I cancelled my gym membership due to this damn pandemic, I can attest to the marked difference not going to the gym for a year has had on me. I have ridden more over the last year than the year before, but my overall power output (perceived) is not as high as it was while I was still in the gym.

Interesting, and maybe I should try include 1 lighter leg work out per week (not on days before I ride) and see how this helps my riding...

 

I previously trained legs fairly heavy (150-160kg bozo ball squats, 500-600kg leg press), so have a lot of inherent leg strength, but it has (and still is) been an adjustment transferring the leg strength to cycling. 

 

Thanks for the tip, will definitely start adding some leg work into my gym training  

[Robbie Stewart]

Interesting, and maybe I should try include 1 lighter leg work out per week (not on days before I ride) and see how this helps my riding...

 

I previously trained legs fairly heavy (150-160kg bozo ball squats, 500-600kg leg press), so have a lot of inherent leg strength, but it has (and still is) been an adjustment transferring the leg strength to cycling. 

 

Thanks for the tip, will definitely start adding some leg work into my gym training

 

Those are tips I gathered from watching youtube videos of people like Nino Schurter, Greg Minnaar and others training and preparing for their seasons. Leg strength is a big part of mtb performance.

 

I get that roadies are not so into leg training off the bike, but while riding a mtb and faced with technical terrain, it makes a massive difference if you have the power reserves in your legs to hit that rocky climb or manage to manhandle the bike over some obstacles even if you are feeling somewhat knackered already. Box jumps are also not a bad idea.

 

I would usually hit legs early in the week on say a Tuesday or Wednesday, leaving me sufficient recovery time to the weekend, even if I was doing a morning spin on the road the following day. I found that this was not such a massive issue after consistently doing this for a couple weeks.

[Stefan Cremer]

Basically, the general consensus is that there is no substitute for hard work, consistency and discipline.

 

All of the suggestions involve the above, however you paint it.

 

Good luck. A good mantra to go by would be 'you race as well as you train'.

 

There is unfortunately no magic formula to being a good climber other than power/weight, a good ticker and a solid base fitness.

 

Concentrate on developing that and a suggestion would be to implement what you can into a lifestyle, not just a #sheddingforthewedding scenario.

 

If you start now, build for the race and maintain the ethic (to a point) you won't ever need to crash course diet/train again. You can just pick up your bike and ride when/how/where you like knowing you have the basics dialled.

 

That is my 2c.

 

But, my wife, my child and my animals don't listen to me, so I don't expect you to either! hahaha

 

The one component that I do not see as a common denominator in the thread is rest and or easy riding. Hard work alone will burn you out - Joe Friel and other reputable coaches, etc. have a number of articles on this subject. 

 

I used to subscribe to the "if it ain't hard, you're not doing anything" school and couldn't figure out why I couldn't go faster in races that in training...; but can state categorically that I see far greater benefits with polarised structured training. I never used to ride Z2, now I do most of my training there, with the remaining small balance being high intensity interval training. The Pareto principle applies here...

 

The reference, earlier in the comments, to Dylan Johnson's video's is invaluable. 

[Jewbacca]

The one component that I do not see as a common denominator in the thread is rest and or easy riding. Hard work alone will burn you out - Joe Friel and other reputable coaches, etc. have a number of articles on this subject. 

 

I used to subscribe to the "if it ain't hard, you're not doing anything" school and couldn't figure out why I couldn't go faster in races that in training...; but can state categorically that I see far greater benefits with polarised structured training. I never used to ride Z2, now I do most of my training there, with the remaining small balance being high intensity interval training. The Pareto principle applies here...

 

The reference, earlier in the comments, to Dylan Johnson's video's is invaluable. 

Absolutely

 

Rest is as key to gainz as gainz itself.

 

So many pseudo pro's are over trained, fatigued and burnt out all the time. Things like a tracker watch that monitors stress, recovery, sleep and fatigue can help hugely.

 

Sleep, rest and low intensity is as critical as anything.

 

Sorry, I may have omitted that. Good point and something one definitely shouldn't ignore

[Gnarly]

Side note: Get yourself some good light winter kit to carry, can be riding in sweltering heat at the bottom and snow wind and rain at the top. The anatomic rain jackets don't cut it, trust me. 

[Patchelicious]

Save a few grams by wearing short socks!

[lechatnoir]

Save a few grams by wearing short socks!

secret socks and a vest! sun's out - guns out!!

[Patchelicious]

secret socks and a vest! sun's out - guns out!!

He is in Ireland, unlikely. 

[BigDL]

Save a few grams by wearing short socks!

Lad, I only wear secret socks

[Jewbacca]

Lad, I only wear secret socks

A part of Patch just died...... 

[BigDL]

Wow - overwhelmed by all of the responses and help. Thank you all. I need to take some time this evening to try and work through them all and come up with a plan.

 

Current fitness levels are ok. Dec and Jan were quiet enough training wise. Feb was ok and have really ramped up (from a low base) since the last week of feb. 7.5 hrs last week (70% zone 2, 10% zone 1), on course for 10-12 hrs this week and aiming for 15 per week from next week with the clocks changing to give us more daytime.

Sorry I’ve taken so long to respond. Been at the vet with a very unwell dog this morning.

 

[Slowbee]

BIG DL will become small DL