Getting up hills

menthel

Hills are my nemesis. My legs and I hate them. Even the smallest ones leave me crying, so, as a commuter (and not a racer, sportive rider etc, etc) what can I do to make it easier? Most of my cycling is done as commuting, the rest is fairly leisurely weekend stuff. I don't shy away from hills, I just go up them very slowly and painfully.

What can I do beyond keeping on plugging away to help? Any gym based stuff to improve the strength in my legs, even a little bit?

I don't really have the time to go out and do hill reps (this would also make me hate cycling I suspect) and don't want/need turbos, cadence monitors etc. All I want is a bit more oomph in the old pins!

Bustacapp

Squats.

/thread.

menthel

Bustacapp wrote:

Squats.

/thread.

Those I can do. Bodyweight ok? Add in some wall squat holds and chuck in a plank in between just cos I can?

Barteos

Cycling is mainly about power not strength. You don't need a gym.
Choose the gear that allows you to spin (not mash) at your comfortable cadence, extend the length of your commute to get fitter, loose some weight...

mudcovered

menthel wrote:

Hills are my nemesis. My legs and I hate them. Even the smallest ones leave me crying, so, as a commuter (and not a racer, sportive rider etc, etc) what can I do to make it easier? Most of my cycling is done as commuting, the rest is fairly leisurely weekend stuff. I don't shy away from hills, I just go up them very slowly and painfully.

What can I do beyond keeping on plugging away to help?

If you just keep plugging away you will get better. I'll leave others to suggest specific gym workouts as that's never been my thing.

If you ride up the same hill every day as part of your commute then on some days push a little bit harder than you normally would. You don't have to do it every day. Eventually you will find that you are doing the faster speed from your harder efforts on a 'normal' day. The hard day will also make you appreciate the easyness of the 'normal' days as well. This is what I do and it seems to be giving me some gradual gains over a longish time based on Strava climb segment times. Don't feel guilty if you get stuck at a particular performance level or have several weeks where you just don't want to push hard. That should stop it being a chore and taking the fun out of things.

However if you really just want to make it easier and have absolutely no desire to get faster then get yourself some very low gears. MTB gearing of 22(front)-34(rear) should make it possible to ride up pretty much anything easily albeit no faster than you could walk up pushing the bike. The downside to this approach I found was that you get lazy and just drop into a really low gear until even a modest incline has you reaching for the super low gear.

So the executive summary, don't be afraid of a little pain. It will get less over time.

Mike

il_principe

Ride more hills, more often and push harder.

sketchley

If you're a bit on the large side (i am) then hills are going to hurt no matter what. You can overcome some of this with power and or lower gearing so you can be a more spinny but ultimately wieght loss is theb est thing for hills. IMO The best excecise for improving power in your legs is to cycle up more hills. Plus push yourself on the downhills and flats as well. The other bit of advice is you can get the gearing right for the hill is to try a put power down through all 360 degrees of the pedal stroke rather than 1,2,1,2,1,2 stamping on the pedals you want a smooth action. This is hard to do if you weigh a bit, the hill is steep and the gearing too high but not impossible. For me hills get really hard when I have to stamp and pull just to get up them, if I can spin I'm ok.....

menthel

Thanks all. I will keep plugging away on the commute and when I get the chance. The time I have at the moment is all I have for cycling really as I have a busy family life and childcare responsibilities.

The bike already has some nice low gears (down to 36!) and I guess I just need to MTFU and get used to the pain! Will also do some squats etc at home when I have the time! As for the weight I am already down 40kg from 3 years ago and hover at around 84kg at 5'9", losing is now a lot more difficult than it was before.

EKE_38BPM

menthel wrote:

...84kg at 5'9"...

Ah, that explains it.
Keep up the weight loss, keep riding those hills, spin rather than mash and low gearing.

kelsen

Drugs, my friend, drugs.

menthel

EKE_38BPM wrote:

menthel wrote:

...84kg at 5'9"...

Ah, that explains it.
Keep up the weight loss, keep riding those hills, spin rather than mash and low gearing.

Easier said than done with the weight loss, have hit another static patch recently after losing about 10kg doing the 5:2 diet thing since just before xmas. And I love cake!

mudcovered

EKE_38BPM wrote:

menthel wrote:

...84kg at 5'9"...

Ah, that explains it.
Keep up the weight loss, keep riding those hills, spin rather than mash and low gearing.

Not entirely. I'm 5'11" and 90kg and I can climb pretty much anything without too much pain on a 34/25 compact. But I have been hauling that bulk or more around on a bike for 20+ years so I am used to it by now.

Mike

the_fuggler

Just to echo what's been said really. I hate hills, but the more I do them, the better I get. I try to keep it spinny and also try to go easy at the start rather than blasting it to start with and putting consistent power down throughout the hill.

phy2sll2

Ha, you don't want to do hill repeats but are perfectly happy bashing out squat holds and the plank??!!

rolf_f

The Fuggler wrote:

Just to echo what's been said really. I hate hills, but the more I do them, the better I get. I try to keep it spinny and also try to go easy at the start rather than blasting it to start with and putting consistent power down throughout the hill.

Actually, blasting the bottom might be a good way to do it. This isn't about getting up efficiently but about getting stronger. I think in early days as long as you are working hard it will be doing good. It's the people you see bimbling up hills at 5mph that are the ones that will never get any good at it.

To OP - unless there are a few 1 in 4s on your commute then your gears are probably too low for the route. Anything bigger than high 20s is probably not going to help you improve.

Bustacapp

menthel wrote:

Bustacapp wrote:

Squats.

/thread.

Those I can do. Bodyweight ok? Add in some wall squat holds and chuck in a plank in between just cos I can?

Aim for at least 1.5 x bodyweight for about 5 reps. Make sure the squats are 'ass to grass' too!

kelsen

Bustacapp wrote:

Aim for at least 1.5 x bodyweight for about 5 reps. Make sure the squats are 'ass to grass' too!

Then be prepared to shell out for some new discs, and I don't mean for the bike!

kelsen

Rolf F wrote:

Actually, blasting the bottom might be a good way to do it.

Fnar!

Actually, there is a logic to this, the quicker you take out some of the hill at the start the shorter the pain to the top. Of course, this is indirectly proportional to the length of the climb!

okgo

Bustacapp wrote:

menthel wrote:

Bustacapp wrote:

Squats.

/thread.

Those I can do. Bodyweight ok? Add in some wall squat holds and chuck in a plank in between just cos I can?

Aim for at least 1.5 x bodyweight for about 5 reps. Make sure the squats are 'ass to grass' too!

Its advice like this which gives people totally the wrong message. You're talking absoloute bollox.

The correct advice is a mix of all the above, but mostly what il Principie said, obviously less weight will always help, but to get better at hills you need to be fitter, there are no two ways about it, and to get fitter you need to do something to promote fitness increase, even riding harder on the flat more often will make you better at hills.

tgotb

Bustacapp wrote:

menthel wrote:

Bustacapp wrote:

Squats.

/thread.

Those I can do. Bodyweight ok? Add in some wall squat holds and chuck in a plank in between just cos I can?

Aim for at least 1.5 x bodyweight for about 5 reps. Make sure the squats are 'ass to grass' too!

I can feel my kneecaps threatening to jump out of my knees at the very thought - is that where your name comes from?

Like the others said, I'm afraid the best training for riding up hills is ..... riding up hills.

bdave262000

Think of something that really gets your back up just before you approach the hill. Then take it out on the pedals. Works for me. By the time you get to the top you won't even remember the pain and will have got rid of some of that frustration.

or

relax into a steady pace before you hit the hill, try and get your heart rate down, then climb the hill at a constant pace, not going to hard.

notsoblue

Unfortunately the best way to get better at cycling up hills is to cycle up hills. The good news is that results can show pretty quickly if you keep at it.

BelgianBeerGeek

Don't forget the old racer's adage: "It doesn't get any easier, you just get faster."

If you don't want to go faster, get lower gears, as said above.

junglist_matty

Alternative solution:

Wait at bottom of hill (in middle of road), when a car comes along and has to stop, ask them kindly to give you a tow, grab hold and up you go

iPete

Go fixed. You'll soon learn to get up anything London can throw at you.

Don't do any hill training but fixed and a windy winter has added some serious MTFU to the legs, can dance up those lumpy things in Surrey.

meanredspider

Yes - ride up hills.

I'm 93kg and commute in the Highlands. There's a real balance, from my point of view, between spinning the pedals and pushing harder. Power = torque x rpm so you can improve either. Ultimately it comes down to aerobic fitness. Don't work at building muscle though because that's just weight you're needing to drag up. A lighter pedal pressure that you can maintain at a good RPM (90-ish?) is the way to go. Also, climb seated. As you get fitter, you'll find that you're a gear or two higher for the same climb - that's a great feeling.

menthel

Thanks all. I think keeping the gear in the 20's is something I will work on. Keep on plugging away.

As for hill reps, I just don't have the time- I could spend my evenings cycling up and down the roads along wimbledon hill but I have a lovely family I like to sped a little bit of time with at least!

Fixed would involve N+1 and an exploding wife (whom already has 1 more bike than me!) and also exploding knees. I could perhaps try SS rather than fully fixed though...

rolf_f

kelsen wrote:

Rolf F wrote:

Actually, blasting the bottom might be a good way to do it.

Fnar!

Actually, there is a logic to this, the quicker you take out some of the hill at the start the shorter the pain to the top. Of course, this is indirectly proportional to the length of the climb!

I'm always acutely aware that folk that are slow climbing suffer far more. At our club hill climb, I got up in about 8 minutes and the slowest over 15. That's almost twice as much pain as I had - so for any route we do together, they have double the climbing time. That makes them hard. I doff my hat to the slow climbers!

tgotb

menthel wrote:

As for hill reps, I just don't have the time- I could spend my evenings cycling up and down the roads along wimbledon hill but I have a lovely family I like to sped a little bit of time with at least!

You don't have to do a massive session of reps to make a difference. Just pick the biggest hill in your commute and ride it twice rather than once. That should only add a few minutes to your commute, but will make a big difference to your hill climbing ability. Once you start to see results, add another rep or two when you have the time...

menthel

TGOTB wrote:

menthel wrote:

As for hill reps, I just don't have the time- I could spend my evenings cycling up and down the roads along wimbledon hill but I have a lovely family I like to sped a little bit of time with at least!

You don't have to do a massive session of reps to make a difference. Just pick the biggest hill in your commute and ride it twice rather than once. That should only add a few minutes to your commute, but will make a big difference to your hill climbing ability. Once you start to see results, add another rep or two when you have the time...

Thanks, that does seem more managable. I may have to just detour slightly to add an extra hill in to the commute rather than going round again though.

fat_tail

As many have said you have to ride up hills and generally push harder even on the flats. Losing weight also helps.