Climb training...

[PaulSecteur]

I want to try to improve my climbing as it really kills me at the moment (Im 15-15.5 stone)
The only 2 problems I have are...

1-During the week I dont have much spare time. I work from 2pm till midnight.
2-The killer problem... No climbs of any real length nearby.

I can do an hour or so a few times during the week, and there are a few climbs of about 5% locally, but they are mainly around half a mile to a mile at the most.

Will riding up and down those short climbs be of any real us for when I do a sportive that has a proper climb, or will i find that Im ok for a mile then bonk out due to lack of training?

 

[HLaB]

Not perfect but have you got a turbo ramp it up to its highest resistance and give it a go.

 

[Garz]

Yeah the turbo can re-create an artificial form of hill training. I don't crank it to full resistance though as some turbo's differ anyway (magnet etc). Find a setting to get a good rhythm to out of the saddle and practice.

 

[phil_hg_uk]

Lucky swine can't go for a sh*t round here without going up hill

 

[amaferanga]

You'd probably benefit most from losing a few stones. But doing something like a 2x20 minute session where you ride as hard as you can sustain for each 20 minutes would help. You could do this on the road or on a turbo.

 

[BSRU]

I would just spend time going up and down them repeatedly, you'll soon find they become alot steeper, especially with a nice headwind. You could also try making you bike heavier for training to make yourself work harder up any inclines.

 

[overgeared]

you dont necessarily need to be riding uphill to improve your climbing so just riding up and down small hills all morning isn't necessarily going to have the desired effect.

you just need to improve your power to weight ratio at the duration of the climbs.

power: make a note of how long it takes you to get up the problem climbs then incorporate some intervals of the same duration into your training.
weight: the benefits of weight loss can be huge when the road goes up.

 

[GrasB]

Climbing is about being able to make a lot of power for a long time... what's the difference between doing 13mph @ 90rpm up a 5% incline for 10 min & 26mph 90rpm on the flat for 15 min? The latter requires more watts! Serious, that IS the difference.

 

[Glover Fan]

Body weight makes a huge difference. I always make a point of losing the 7lbs I organically gain over the winter months by the end of April. It's amazing the difference it makes!

 

[Tynan]

he might be a well proportioned and fit and lean 15st

some of us are you know