Advice Re: Real Life Hill Interval Training

Secteur

Hi all,

I live in a pretty hilly area - lots of all types of hill and <10% of my local routes are 1% gradient or less (not including down hills, obviously!) i.e. there's no flats of any significance.

I dont like long rides - I never do more than 25-30 miles, but I ride usually 4-5 times a week, sometimes more, and these are all pretty hard non-commuting training rides, usually 1hr15m to 2hrs long.

I find that I tend to ease off and ride at about 80-85% of my maximum ability the majority of the time - i.e. it's hard, and I get tired but I am never totally knackered - there's always just a bit more left.

However in the last 6 months of doing this, I have made no progress at all in terms of speed / power / climbing ability etc - I seem to be stagnant.

So, I thought about a new outlook on my training, but wondered if anyone could advise on the benefits of doing this, or any other general points? Essentially I thought about doing shorter routes (say 30-60 minutes only) 5 times a week where I go at, say, 70% effort on the flats/1-2% gradients, but every time I get to a hill (say 4-5% or more) I go at as near to 100% effort for as long as I can (until I either get to the top of the hill or feel about to vomit).

It's very undulating and the hills aren't smooth inclines, so they lend themselves to lots of "micro efforts" of perhaps 30-120 seconds each before the incline tends to settle a bit and allow a small recovery.

Anyway, did any of that make sense, and is this likely to improve my ability at all?

Secteur

PS when I say 100% I really mean that - all out, gut-busting effort pretty much as hard as I can

Pseudonym

Secteur wrote:

and is this likely to improve my ability at all?

your ability to 'what'...? It's not clear what you are training for...

kamil1891

...and I think if you push hard all the time then you have no enough rest to come back fresh and smash the routes. Sometimes you could also have done theoritically much better in terms of power etc, but in real life your times were worse because the conditions were more challenging.

How do you confirm that you ride at 85% all the time? That's not easy to do for longer periods if the 85% is real 85%

jermas

Not sure you'll get better doing as you suggest, your time on the bike is going to be more than halved! Why don't you add some variety. Do some long rides, some as before (1hr15-2hrs) and some shorter "all out".

dodgy

What are you 'training' for? If you don't have an objective, you're just riding your bike. And there is nothing at all wrong in that.

Secteur

To be honest I dont know what it is exactly that I want to improve. I am not aiming to do any racing or sportives or anything.

I just feel that in the first 6 months of my cycling I made huge gains (mainly as the weight fell off), but I seem to have stalled.

Even though I do on average 100 miles a week (non commuting) cycling, I dont really ever feel tired or challenged by it. I mean it's hard when I'm actually cycling and I feel pushed, but afterwards I dont get achey, I dont feel tired and I wonder if I am just not pushing myself enough.

I cycle purely for personal pleasure, but I'd like to be faster and more powerful or just see my own personal bests get better.

I thought maybe some "all out" rides where I attack every single hill would maybe help somehow by improving my power / aerobic capabilities as my standard rides seem to be doing nothing - my times are static but I just feel that I could do more...

I did an attack "hill interval" type ride today, and for the first time my thighs ache and I feel like I really pushed it, which makes me feel good - like I used to in those first few months of cycling...

Secteur

PS my "85% effort" is based on my own perception, and partly on analysing my heart rates. It may not be exactly 85% but it feels like I could only go maybe 10% more... ok, not very scientific, I know!

Herbsman

Secteur wrote:

Even though I do on average 100 miles a week (non commuting) cycling, I dont really ever feel tired or challenged by it. I mean it's hard when I'm actually cycling and I feel pushed, but afterwards I dont get achey, I dont feel tired and I wonder if I am just not pushing myself enough.

....

I did an attack "hill interval" type ride today, and for the first time my thighs ache and I feel like I really pushed it, which makes me feel good - like I used to in those first few months of cycling...

The idea of training is not to make you feel f*cked up. It's to make you adapt to whatever it is you're doing to your body.

Tiredness or fatigue or aching muscles are sometimes a result of training, but shouldn't be the aim of it.

amaferanga

You need to do some longer rides. And you need to decide why you cycle and what you want to get from it.

I'm damn sure I wouldn't be doing intervals and hill repeats if all I wanted to do was cycle 25 miles a few times a week.

Secteur

Hmmm dunno... as passionate as I am about cycling, I just dont enjoy rides over 25-30 miles.

Before I got knocked off I used to go quite far afield, but have lost the desire to do so since and now rarely go more than 10 miles from home - I tend to do looping rides locally.

Luckily it's pretty hilly, so good for the legs, I think!

Anyway, it was just a thought... maybe I'll just keep plodding on!!

thegibdog

Sounds like you need to challenge yourself - if you just keep doing the same thing you are bound to stagnate. Mixing up longer and shorter higher intensity rides is a good idea but if you've no targets you might find it hard to push yourself.

If you really don't want to go further afield why not do two of your loops back to back? Means you get to have the cafe stop at home too!

muchalls

H, words of wisdom can be found from Giles in another place. I'll send the link to you.
I think it is important to have some aim in your cycling, be it weight loss, fitness or training for an event or even just enjoyment from being faster up the hills and not puking up after an intense effort! Either way you need to structure your training as going out 4-5 times per week always pushing the same pace you are less likely to improve. Mix it up, have recovery sessions after a hard day.

ozzzyosborn206

the reason you improved loads at first is because you went from doing nothing, or less to doing more, you have now got used to doing what your doing and so the only way to improve is to do more, doing a few shorter rides with more intensity will make you ride up the hills quicker, but for what gain if your not racing or doing sportives, the harder riders won't be as enjoyable. I would seriously suggest you sign up to a local race or sportive, could be the best thing you have ever done. But if you don't like it then hey just don't do another one, what have you got to loose?

jgsi

Stop riding solo... best incentive to use your 'training'

cyco2

A hill training loop that I used hundreds of times had 10 small climbs on it and when I used to get bored with it I would spin my way round. Then on another occasion I would would big ring all of it. I was at times nearly at a stand still but I was enjoying it. Now at times I use different bikes. If your not going to race why don't you try some Audax's and blast you way around them.

thiscocks

Would suggest maybe joining a cycle club if there are any near you. Even if you dont want to enter events it's a good way to judge your fitness against others. Ofcourse solo riding is good too, but riding in a group is often an easier way of doing longer rides and increasing endurance.

amaferanga

I think what's really holding the OP back is his unwillingness to ride further than 25 miles. Not many club runs that are as short as that.

Pross

amaferanga wrote:

I think what's really holding the OP back is his unwillingness to ride further than 25 miles. Not many club runs that are as short as that.

+1

Secteur, if you are worried about being more than 10 miles from home (which I can understand if you've had a bad accident) can you develop a figure of eight course or simlar so that you can add miles without going too far from home or repeating a circuit?

keef66

When I came back from Yorkshire having failed to get up Rosedale Chimney I started doing some of my local 'hills' much faster / harder than I'd ever tried before. This induced burning thighs and lungs, so I assumed it was doing some good in terms of adaptation, but I might have overdone it because at the moment I feel like I have no energy in my legs at all. Either that or I'm going down with something.