Uphills

JonH

Right been off my bike for a good few years so trying to build my fitness back up.

At the weekends I'm out on the hills but I have no power in my legs these days

So after work I go out on the roads to try and get my muscles working again, however when I get to an uphill should I be out of the saddle pushing hard or sat down plodding away at it spinning the gears?

The hillls I go up are only short but I pushed hard up one earlier and it really did my legs in, am I asking too much too soon?

Burkie

like all things there has to be a balance. for general riding fitness you need to out in longer hours at easier pace to help build up your base fitness levels. add in some interval stuff on shorter steeper hills to build up the muscle and top end performance will improve. no quick fix though, hard work is the only way!! good luck

Tino4444

Hi JonH,

I too am fairly new to road cycling (started last September) and I too find hills a challenge, but I dont think anyone finds hills easy no matter what level of fitness they are at.

I am currently cycling 3 times per week, which consists of 2No short 10 mile sprints mid week and then a 30/40 miler on a weekend.

I tend to go all out on the midweek sprints getting out of my seat and riding hard up hills and try to keep a fast average MPH throughout. However on the weekend rides I tend to ride some hills in my seat and then others out of my seat pushing hard so not to burn my self out too quickly.

I am hoping that eventually I will be able to hit all of the hills over 30 to 40 mile runs out of my seat pushing hard, and then eventually try out longer weekend runs of over 70 miles and keep building my fitness and power.

I think the only way to improve on the hills is to ride them over and over and over again consistently and the leg power and fitness should eventually build....thats what I am hoping for anyway!

Tino.

Burkie

Make sure you build in rest time too though. got to allow your body time to recover

Steve Kish

I find that when I'm unfit (a mere 99% of the time) and old (100% of the time), a circular motion of the pedals in a relatively low gear, like you'd use moving the bike with just one foot clipped in, helps a fair bit.

Gone are the days when I could just blast away at the gradients.

JonH

How much rest time should I be taking?

After a good ride on the weekend I'll find that my legs ache a bit the day after, should I be waiting until that has gone before getting back on the bike again?

weeksy59

JonH wrote:

How much rest time should I be taking?

After a good ride on the weekend I'll find that my legs ache a bit the day after, should I be waiting until that has gone before getting back on the bike again?

Mostly personal preference, but the 'rules' say 48 hours give or take.

Personally i train 5-6 times a week and ignore them rules

Surf-Matt

I reckon you can get away with cycling every day, as long as you're not doing a mega epic every time - I do, plus I run 2-3 times a week and do weights twice a week too.

With hills - try and "spin" the crank in a lowish gear rather than concentrating on pushing down on each pedal stroke. Helps use more muscles and keeps things smoother.

Bit random but I also find a diet high in iron (or supplements) helps muscle stamina.

Burkie

Go for a 4 week cycle - not 4 weeks on the bike, obviously - with a fairly easy week to begin than step it up to a hard week at the end. have at least one day off a week and in 6 - 8 weeks you'll be amazed at the difference. If you're starting at a lower fitness level the improvements come much more quickly at the beginning so you will notice a real change in how you feel. Then you've got to just keep slogging away at it.

bexley5200

keep up the good work you will soon get fitter

Anonymous

I discovered one way which seems to build up your climbing muscles very quickly - for me anwyay.
I often go riding with friends who are new to mountain biking, and push up every hill.
Rather than walk with them, I just stand on the pedals, and pedal very slowly up the hill, at their speed.
After a few rides, the speed at which I can get uphill, as well as how long I can sprint out of the sadle for, seems to increase incredibly.

Might be a peculiarity for me, but it's easy to do, so try it.