Improving Power

Dave_P1

Hi all,

I don't struggle to ride up hills, but I do struggle to ride up them quickly so I'm assuming I need to improve the power from my legs. So, what's the best way of doing this, find a hill nearby and keep riding up and down until I get tired or is there something else I need to try?

Cheers,

Dave

u05harrisb

there are many things that will makew your legs more powerfull like weights, squats and such but i think the best way to really improve at somthing is to do it. for example in your case you should be doing things like interval training to help with sprints, which can then be used to sprint up a small hill, and then hill training ( up down repeat) to get your body used to the constant sort of out put that long hills give. so i would just do intervals on the flats with some short n sharp hills then hill repeats on short sharp hills and hill repeats on long but smaller gradient hills.

hope that helps

briantrumpet

dennisn wrote:

there are many things that will make your legs more powerful like weights, squats and such ...

Sorry, couldn't resist.

thiscocks

loosing weight will be more benificial than doing weights(which doesnt improve your cycling).

try reading this http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... t=12796394 if you can manage not to kill yourself after a couple of pages.

fastercyclist

To build up climbing power/speed pick an empty lane that goes up a steep-ish hill.

Cycle up it in a slightly too hard a gear, ride back down and then repeat in an easier gear...continue for 5 reps (3 is okay if you're incapable of doing 5). It should be hard enough that you have to go drink some whey protein and do sfa the next day. I used to do this on a nearby hill and it made me very menacing on the hills. Also losing weight is the same as gaining power as far as hills are concerned. Especially if you're outside cycling about, a small amount of weight loss means you can roll further up the hill with your momentum and then when you do have to cycle you can do it in a bigger gear because you're dragging less up with you.

Don't try to lose weight whilst doing the over-geared reps though, you need calories to help build some muscle/repair damage.

Using a harder gear is "weight training", it's also adaptive in that you're training doing the same style of work as you'd be doing normally. 8 reps of squatting doesn't translate well into cycling. Unless you can cycle up a hill in the biggest gear on your bike, repeatedly, at high cadence - there is absolutely no reason to do weights.

jibberjim

fastercyclist wrote:

Don't try to lose weight whilst doing the over-geared reps though, you need calories to help build some muscle/repair damage.

Don't do overgeared reps at all until you're very, very aerobically fit. Amateur cyclists are almost always much, much stronger than they need to be, and adding strength will add hardly anything to your ability to climb as what's limiting you is not strength. Climb the hill as fast as you can in the right cadence that gets your HR maximised as it's your cardio system that will give you your biggest return on training until that is maxed out. Which will be a long long time.

Tom Dean

fastercyclist wrote:

a small amount of weight loss means you can roll further up the hill with your momentum

Do you know what momentum means?

Dave_P1

Cheers for the tips guys, much appreciated.

Yes, I did take a look at the other thread, which I thought would have the answers, but got bored with all the bitching.

fastercyclist, I like the theory behind what you've written, I'll give that a go, but I know in practise it's going to hurt..............no pain no gain as they say.

briantrumpet

Dave_P1 wrote:

Yes, I did take a look at the other thread, which I thought would have the answers, but got bored with all the bitching.

Seriously, it's worth persisting with that thread if you can - there are some very perceptive posts that clarify the issues well, buried in amongst some 'lively debate', and the liveliness of the debate is entertaining in any case. I think it's even more entertaining if you read P_Tucker's posts in the voice of Basil Fawlty and dennisn's in the voice of Manuel. Alex Simmons didn't appear in Fawlty Towers, as far as I can remember.

P_Tucker

briantrumpet wrote:

Dave_P1 wrote:

Yes, I did take a look at the other thread, which I thought would have the answers, but got bored with all the bitching.

Seriously, it's worth persisting with that thread if you can - there are some very perceptive posts that clarify the issues well, buried in amongst some 'lively debate', and the liveliness of the debate is entertaining in any case. I think it's even more entertaining if you read P_Tucker's posts in the voice of Basil Fawlty and dennisn's in the voice of Manuel. Alex Simmons didn't appear in Fawlty Towers, as far as I can remember.

Dave_P1

Ok, so I've just read that entire thread, 90 minutes gone and I think I understood what everyone was talking about :oops: :oops:

briantrumpet

Dave_P1 wrote:

Ok, so I've just read that entire thread, 90 minutes gone and I think I understood what everyone was talking about :oops: :oops:

Better than I did then, but even without understanding absolutely everything everyone said, let's just say it's unlikely I'll be hitting the weights anytime soon.

P_Tucker

Dave_P1 wrote:

Ok, so I've just read that entire thread, 90 minutes gone and I think I understood what everyone was talking about :oops: :oops:

Quick test - who knows what they're talking about?

- Dennis
- Alex

P_Tucker

briantrumpet wrote:

Dave_P1 wrote:

Ok, so I've just read that entire thread, 90 minutes gone and I think I understood what everyone was talking about :oops: :oops:

Better than I did then, but even without understanding absolutely everything everyone said, let's just say it's unlikely I'll be hitting the weights anytime soon.

Ironically, I'm hitting the weights HARD at the moment. Not for cycling performance though, but because I'm tired of looking like a cancer patient on the beach FFS.

Dave_P1

P_Tucker wrote:

Dave_P1 wrote:

Ok, so I've just read that entire thread, 90 minutes gone and I think I understood what everyone was talking about :oops: :oops:

Quick test - who knows what they're talking about?

- Dennis
- Alex

I did manage to work that one out in the end

Some of the answers were very complex but interesting at the same time.

briantrumpet

P_Tucker wrote:

Ironically, I'm hitting the weights HARD at the moment. Not for cycling performance though, but because I'm tired of looking like a cancer patient on the beach FFS.

Vanity is a perfectly valid reason, Basil.

The Bounce

P_Tucker wrote:

Ironically, I'm hitting the weights HARD at the moment. Not for cycling performance though, but because I'm tired of looking like an endurance cyclist on the beach FFS.

There you go, fixed that for you.

BTW, do you have to practice hard to be such an insensitive moron or does it just come naturally to you?

briantrumpet

The Bounce wrote:

BTW, do you have to practice hard to be such an insensitive moron or does it just come naturally to you?

Interesting one. I've lost three friends to cancer in the past six months, all shockingly quickly, at ages 75, 52 and 22. I wouldn't have made the reference myself in the context it was (I haven't worked out if I'm offended), but I'd rather that cancer is a word that can be used freely and in many different contexts, given how many of us are going to suffer from it in one form or another.

P_Tucker

briantrumpet wrote:

The Bounce wrote:

BTW, do you have to practice hard to be such an insensitive moron or does it just come naturally to you?

Interesting one. I've lost three friends to cancer in the past six months, all shockingly quickly, at ages 75, 52 and 22. I wouldn't have made the reference myself in the context it was (I haven't worked out if I'm offended), but I'd rather that cancer is a word that can be used freely and in many different contexts, given how many of us are going to suffer from it in one form or another.

Indeed. Is there anyone who hasn't been affected by cancer at some point in their lives? Christ, I'm pretty confident that cancer's how I'm going to go - there's no history of any other major killer in my family. Either that or I'll be hunted down for sport by some bitter BR I've insulted.

MountainMonster

talking about cancer patients is alot like talking about fat chicks. The people who are like it '" Fat or have cancer" find it so politically incorrect to say, but at the end fo the day it's the way. People are worrying way too much about hurting other peoples feelings, and being politically correct.

personally my favorite insult is you fat cancer eating cupcake monster. Ladies love that one in the clubs.

MountainMonster

talking about cancer patients is alot like talking about fat chicks. The people who are like it '" Fat or have cancer" find it so politically incorrect to say, but at the end fo the day it's the way. People are worrying way too much about hurting other peoples feelings, and being politically correct.

personally my favorite insult is you fat cancer eating cupcake monster. Ladies love that one in the clubs.

Dave_P1

What I did find interesting was the whole gym thing and using the leg machines. I thought something like that would make a difference but obviously not.

Mr Dog

Since reading the whole weights vs hills debate on various threads I have not seen the inside of a gym for months. I ride faster and longer.. but that's not science.
I still pay my direct debit for the gym but Alex won me over. I may return for vanity reasons and the weather may get so bad I can't even face mtb action.
My wife is a strength and conditioning coach and is worried that I have lost so much weight/ strength. Our bank account is a lot skinner too