Hills – drive up them hard, or spin until you are fitter?

[medication25]

I'm a big guy (20 st) often go for a ride with my GF (slim) and as soon as we hit a hill she fly’s off ahead.. with a sly grin on her face.. but as soon as we reach the top WOooosh i come flying by with a bigger grin on my chops... my question is; which is the best way to improve on hills so that I'm not dead every time i hit one... should i just spin up them until i lose more weight.. or should i push myself into them and would that make a faster improvement...

Cheers.

 

[Auntie Helen]

You need to tie a tow-rope onto your girlfriend's bike, of course

 

[Theseus]

Ride a fixie. No choice but to go for it.

 

[RedBike]

He just wants to sit behind and admire the view!

My vote is to get your momentum up before you reach the hill then changing down the gears as you need to in order to keep those legs spinning.

 

[yenrod]

SSssssspppppppppppiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnn !

 

[johnnyh]

mix it up, spin and sprint!

 

[marinyork]

I think spinning is theoretically the way to go in terms of weight loss. But people would say spin anyway.

It also really depends on the total climb and gradient. A blast up a hill for a minute is totally different from settling down for a 20 minute climb up a hill.

 

[Hont]

If you want to burn fat, stick to low intensity levels. As the lighter you are the easier hills are, I think you'd be better off losing weight first. But I'm no fitness coach so I can't tell you whether that will improve you quicker than going for it. It will be easier on your heart at least, though, which could be important if you're overweight.

 

[I am Spartacus]

I'm a big guy (20 st) often go for a ride with my GF (slim) and as soon as we hit a hill she fly’s off ahead..

to be brutally honest, if you are going to stay a weighty guy.. I dont know you may be rock hard prop forward for all I know.. yup you'll ALWAYS struggle in the mountains carrying your weight.. there is a formal scientific law but I cant be arsed to look it up.. best stay behind then and enjoy the views

 

[asterix]

Compared to your spidery grimpeurs I'll always be heavy but I am fit. Long hills I spin (altho' I can grind if they are steep bastards) short hills I get off the saddle.

I never try to overtake on hills, I might pass people but I know it ain't worth the effort until we get to the top.

 

[gbb]

As johnnyh says, i mix it.
Although i'm lightweight at 10.5 stone, the hills are hard for everyone at first. Short hills i'll sprint up, then once topped, take it easy for 1/2 mile.
Longer, slower drags, i'll spin.
That way you hopefully increase fitness at 2 different levels.

BTW...on my normal loop i push myself quite hard. I used to spin up hills and was therefore able to get back to cruising speed quite quickly.

Then i started sprinting up hills, take it easy for a few minutes once topped, then get back to cruising speed.

By sprinting then getting my breath back for a few minutes, i could increase my average speed noticeably.

 

[medication25]

Thanks for the reply's all.. i think ill work out a 2-3 mile loop somewhere in south London (im in Peckham) that includes a hill and practice on there..

 

[Losidan]

If you are staying sat down would you be best spinning more so you dont do any damage to your knees? Might also make your legs less tired than grinding a big gear. I'm a "larger" gentleman and find spinning is better.

Just a thought.

 

[Hont]

By sprinting then getting my breath back for a few minutes, i could increase my average speed noticeably.

That's interesting.

I did a route that took in the same 5 mile loop 3 times. The first time I went all out up the hills and recovered on the descents. The second loop I went tempo up the hills and flat out on the descents and the third tempo all the way around. No surprise that the last was slowest, but I was surprised that the second one was the quickest.

It may be the terrain, it may be that I was warmed up more for the second loop, but it didn't tally with what I would have guessed.

 

[eldudino]

mix it up, spin and sprint!

I agree, I was 19st 11, now 17st 3 and I've found that a mix of spinning and monkeying up uses a nice wide range of muscles.