Warm up before climb

chrisjohnsen

Hi!
I am doing a 130 km ride with some friends. The ride starts off with a pretty steep (aprx. 7%) 7,9km climb. My questions is if we should do a 30-40 minutes warm up before we get there or if the clim can work as a warm up itself.

Thanks, Chris.

markhewitt1978

130km is going to be tiring enough in the first place. Just set out and ride, you'll warm up pretty quickly on the climb!

denniskwok

I would definitely warm up first. Otherwise, you will put yourself into the red too soon and build up a huge oxygen debt and associated lactic acid, which will make the rest of the ride less pleasant. Believe me, I know from experience. By warming up, you'll get your body working aerobically, which will make the climb and the rest of the ride easier. It will also reduce the chances of potential injury.

16mm

Is that a constant 8% ie about 500m elevation? That's a nice start:-)
If you've got the gears to take it steady you may be OK, but if it's gonna be hard work I'd have a roll around for 20mins beforehand.

davidefernandes

I live in Sale and recently did Snakes Pass so I drove to Glossop and started cycling from there, which if you don't know is basically the bottom and the start of the climb. Next time I do it, I will park further away so I have time to warm up before climbing straight away. Not too far but at least 2/3 miles of flat (ish) cycling to get legs warmed up after stretching.

chris1967cycling

I made the mistake of tacking Mt Ventoux from cold start - not good and suffered for the first 30 mins as a result

As per other replies a bit of a warm up is best

diamonddog

I agree with the majority of replies definitely warm up. Pro athletes do it whether it's cycling, football or athletics etc.

chrisjohnsen

thanks a lot for the feedback! warm up it is then.

smidsy

chrisjohnsen wrote:

thanks a lot for the feedback! warm up it is then.

15 mins or so should do it, you should not need the 40 you suggested.

Pross

Depends how hard you intend riding up the hill really, if you have low gears and aren't intending pushing hard then it will act as a warm up in its own right but if you are going to have to put a bit of effort in going up it then definitely warm up first.

oldwelshman

denniskwok wrote:

I would definitely warm up first. Otherwise, you will put yourself into the red too soon and build up a huge oxygen debt and associated lactic acid, which will make the rest of the ride less pleasant. Believe me, I know from experience. By warming up, you'll get your body working aerobically, which will make the climb and the rest of the ride easier. It will also reduce the chances of potential injury.

Don't men to be rude but this is absolute rubbish.
If the op has a compact and rides in easiest gear twiddling how the hell is he going to even reach going into the red.
Simple thing to do is start off steady, its not as if its a race. The hill can even be used as warm up for rest of ride.
If it was me I would ride first 20 mins in easy gear as warm up.
By the way, what potential injury is prevented by warm up? I do not think I have seen any injuries caused in cycling by lack of warm up and certainly no evidence of such.

denniskwok

oldwelshman wrote:

denniskwok wrote:

I would definitely warm up first. Otherwise, you will put yourself into the red too soon and build up a huge oxygen debt and associated lactic acid, which will make the rest of the ride less pleasant. Believe me, I know from experience. By warming up, you'll get your body working aerobically, which will make the climb and the rest of the ride easier. It will also reduce the chances of potential injury.

Don't men to be rude but this is absolute rubbish.
If the op has a compact and rides in easiest gear twiddling how the hell is he going to even reach going into the red.
Simple thing to do is start off steady, its not as if its a race. The hill can even be used as warm up for rest of ride.
If it was me I would ride first 20 mins in easy gear as warm up.
By the way, what potential injury is prevented by warm up? I do not think I have seen any injuries caused in cycling by lack of warm up and certainly no evidence of such.

Usually, when people start a sentence with 'don't mean to be x', they end up being exactly that. You are no exception.

How the hell do you know what the ops fitness level is? Do you know what the starting gradient of the climb is? The simple answer is, you don't. Regardless, anyone doing an 8km climb with an average gradient of 7% from cold is risking it. Are you seriously suggesting that warming up before physical exertion doesn't prevent potential injury? If so, then it suggests to me that you haven't the foggiest idea what you're talking about and it's you who is speaking absolute rubbish.

NewTTer

denniskwok wrote:

oldwelshman wrote:

denniskwok wrote:

I would definitely warm up first. Otherwise, you will put yourself into the red too soon and build up a huge oxygen debt and associated lactic acid, which will make the rest of the ride less pleasant. Believe me, I know from experience. By warming up, you'll get your body working aerobically, which will make the climb and the rest of the ride easier. It will also reduce the chances of potential injury.

Don't men to be rude but this is absolute rubbish.
If the op has a compact and rides in easiest gear twiddling how the hell is he going to even reach going into the red.
Simple thing to do is start off steady, its not as if its a race. The hill can even be used as warm up for rest of ride.
If it was me I would ride first 20 mins in easy gear as warm up.
By the way, what potential injury is prevented by warm up? I do not think I have seen any injuries caused in cycling by lack of warm up and certainly no evidence of such.

Usually, when people start a sentence with 'don't mean to be x', they end up being exactly that. You are no exception.

How the hell do you know what the ops fitness level is? Do you know what the starting gradient of the climb is? The simple answer is, you don't. Regardless, anyone doing an 8km climb with an average gradient of 7% from cold is risking it. Are you seriously suggesting that warming up doesn't prevent potential injury? If so, then it suggests to me that you haven't the foggiest idea what you're talking about and it's you who is speaking absolute rubbish.

Risking What?

denniskwok

NewTTer wrote:

Risking What?

I thought that was obvious. Potential injury and/or spoiling the enjoyment of the rest of the ride.

NewTTer

denniskwok wrote:

NewTTer wrote:

Risking What?

I thought that was obvious. Potential injury and/or spoiling the enjoyment of the rest of the ride.

What sort of potential injury? how will it spoil the rest of the ride? They just need to regulate the effort when they start off after 15 - 20 mins they will be well warmed up!

Do you do much competitive cycling Dennis?

denniskwok

NewTTer wrote:

denniskwok wrote:

NewTTer wrote:

Risking What?

I thought that was obvious. Potential injury and/or spoiling the enjoyment of the rest of the ride.

What sort of potential injury? how will it spoil the rest of the ride? They just need to regulate the effort when they start off after 15 - 20 mins they will be well warmed up!

Do you do much competitive cycling Dennis?

I've only done a few sportives, but so what? I've been cycling on and off for nearly 20 years, but again, so what? I play tennis in the local county leagues, do a lot of running, circuit training, weights work, etc. Nine times out of ten, I stretch and warm up before doing any serious work.

As for regulating their effort, again, do you know what the fitness level is of the OP? Do you know what the starting gradient is of the climb? No, you don't and neither do I. Regardless, I would still warm up before setting off on a 8km long gradient with an average of 7%. I've made the mistake of tackling steep climbs within 5mins of setting off and been blowing out of my arse. Then had to back off to a pathetically slow pace to recover, or try and push on while suffering.

The benefits of warming up before any physical exercise for prevent potential injury:

Increased body temperature produced by warming up reduces the potential for skeletal muscle injuries and connective injuries, since cold muscle and tendons have been shown to be more susceptible to injury.

The earlier onset of sweating promotes heat loss. This helps to prevent an individual's body temperature from rising to dangerously high levels during more strenuous exercise later on.

A greater level of blood delivered to the heart reduces the potential for exercise-induced heart abnormalities such as EGC irregularities.

A higher level of blood reaching the muscles, tendons and ligaments involved in the activity increases the elasticity of these tissues, resulting in a safer, more effective performance in exercises.

Ensures that the cardiovascular system is given time to adjust to the body's increased demands for blood and oxygen. It can also reduce the likelihood of DOMS, although warming down correctly and an ice bath is probably more beneficial for this.

These reasons are not cycling specific, but I fail to see how that are no less relevent than in any other strenuous physical activity.

smidsy

Ok I'll bite.

I have always believed that warm up is essential to avoid muscle injuries and also to get your CV system ready for the hard work.

Certain individuals on this thread now suggest this is not the case. Can you elaborate?

NewTTer

smidsy wrote:

Ok I'll bite.

I have always believed that warm up is essential to avoid muscle injuries and also to get your CV system ready for the hard work.

Certain individuals on this thread now suggest this is not the case. Can you elaborate?

Ah Smidsy but the OP asked if he needed to warm up before tackling a gentle climb which fell at the start of his 130k ride. Not prior to going balls out in a local Crit or TT. Therefore we get the unending question of does he now have to warm up before he warms up to prevent injury, which is really daft as all they have t do is use the start of the ride, as the warm up. No one said he had to smash up the climb. However our friend here seems very confused.
Now I always warm up prior to playing Rugby as this is a high impact sport requiring quick direction changes, quick changes in pace etc along with the obvious impact issues. Some warmth and elasticity needs to be generated in the muscular system in order to reduce the likelihood of injury, however this really isn't the case with cycling, it is more a case of getting your CV system going which the OP can by regulating his effort at the start of his ride, regardless of his level of fitness, which must be reasonable for him to be attempting a 130k ride.
As you mentioned earlier 15 mins should do it, this could be the first 15 mins of the climb

denniskwok

NewTTer wrote:

Ah Smidsy but the OP asked if he needed to warm up before tackling a gentle climb which fell at the start of his 130k ride.

You're assuming the start of the climb is gentle.

NewTTer wrote:

However our friend here seems very confused.

A bit less of a patronising, sarcastic attitude please.

NewTTer wrote:

Some warmth and elasticity needs to be generated in the muscular system in order to reduce the likelihood of injury, however this really isn't the case with cycling, it is more a case of getting your CV system going which the OP can by regulating his effort at the start of his ride, regardless of his level of fitness, which must be reasonable for him to be attempting a 130k ride.
As you mentioned earlier 15 mins should do it, this could be the first 15 mins of the climb

So are you saying that cycling doesn't require warmth and elasticity to be generated in order to reduce the likelihood of injury or is it just needed less than in other sports? Again, you assume that the start of the climb is gentle enough for the rider to treat it as his warm up, you assume that the OP has a good level of fitness, finally, you assume that the OP has a low enough gear to be able to gently amble up the start of the climb.

Also, the OP is going to be riding in a group. I'm betting that some of the other riders will already be warmed up, ready to go at a decent lick. So what is the OP to do in the first 15 - 20mins? Get left for dead, frustrate the rest of the group by asking them to stay at his slow pace while he gets warmed up, leave them standing at the top of the hill waiting while he ambles up?

Agree to disagree I think.

smidsy

Hmm. Not sure i would classify a 7% 8km climb as gentle. If it were me I would do 15 mins of warm up first, that is all I am saying.

sbbefc

chrisjohnsen wrote:

Hi!
I am doing a 130 km ride with some friends. The ride starts off with a pretty steep (aprx. 7%) 7,9km climb. My questions is if we should do a 30-40 minutes warm up before we get there or if the clim can work as a warm up itself.

Thanks, Chris.

I'm intrigued to know where this climb is, I take its not in the UK?

NewTTer

denniskwok wrote:

NewTTer wrote:

Ah Smidsy but the OP asked if he needed to warm up before tackling a gentle climb which fell at the start of his 130k ride.

You're assuming the start of the climb is gentle.

NewTTer wrote:

However our friend here seems very confused.

A bit less of a patronising, sarcastic attitude please.

NewTTer wrote:

Some warmth and elasticity needs to be generated in the muscular system in order to reduce the likelihood of injury, however this really isn't the case with cycling, it is more a case of getting your CV system going which the OP can by regulating his effort at the start of his ride, regardless of his level of fitness, which must be reasonable for him to be attempting a 130k ride.
As you mentioned earlier 15 mins should do it, this could be the first 15 mins of the climb

So are you saying that cycling doesn't require warmth and elasticity to be generated in order to reduce the likelihood of injury or is it just needed less than in other sports? Again, you assume that the start of the climb is gentle enough for the rider to treat it as his warm up, you assume that the OP has a good level of fitness, finally, you assume that the OP has a low enough gear to be able to gently amble up the start of the climb.

Also, the OP is going to be riding in a group. I'm betting that some of the other riders will already be warmed up, ready to go at a decent lick. So what is the OP to do in the first 15 - 20mins? Get left for dead, frustrate the rest of the group by asking them to stay at his slow pace while he gets warmed up, leave them standing at the top of the hill waiting while he ambles up?

Agree to disagree I think.

You ASSUME that people ASSUME a lot when they don't, they read the info as given go ASSUME that

oldwelshman

smidsy wrote:

Ok I'll bite.

I have always believed that warm up is essential to avoid muscle injuries and also to get your CV system ready for the hard work.

Certain individuals on this thread now suggest this is not the case. Can you elaborate?

yes I am one of those individuals I guess.
I only ever warm up for track events using rollers 20 mins before races but I never warm up for club rides or training rides, and have never personally seen anyone do this, I have never seen any riders in the TDF warming up prior to stages apart from TT or prologue where they are flat out from the start, I have never "warmed up " before any road race I have entered either, unless you count riding round Hillingdon at 15 mph a warm up.
I have never been on any training ride or club ride where riders go bollox out in the first couple of miles, in fact if the op was going for a 130km ride I would not expect him to go in the red for any part of the ride, going into the red is for short burst interval training and for those intervals would generally do a few miles steady with rest intervals in between, but I do not recall the OP saying he was doing threshold levels for 130km.

oldwelshman

NewTTer wrote:

denniskwok wrote:

oldwelshman wrote:

denniskwok wrote:

I would definitely warm up first. Otherwise, you will put yourself into the red too soon and build up a huge oxygen debt and associated lactic acid, which will make the rest of the ride less pleasant. Believe me, I know from experience. By warming up, you'll get your body working aerobically, which will make the climb and the rest of the ride easier. It will also reduce the chances of potential injury.

Don't men to be rude but this is absolute rubbish.
If the op has a compact and rides in easiest gear twiddling how the hell is he going to even reach going into the red.
Simple thing to do is start off steady, its not as if its a race. The hill can even be used as warm up for rest of ride.
If it was me I would ride first 20 mins in easy gear as warm up.
By the way, what potential injury is prevented by warm up? I do not think I have seen any injuries caused in cycling by lack of warm up and certainly no evidence of such.

Usually, when people start a sentence with 'don't mean to be x', they end up being exactly that. You are no exception.

How the hell do you know what the ops fitness level is? Do you know what the starting gradient of the climb is? The simple answer is, you don't. Regardless, anyone doing an 8km climb with an average gradient of 7% from cold is risking it. Are you seriously suggesting that warming up doesn't prevent potential injury? If so, then it suggests to me that you haven't the foggiest idea what you're talking about and it's you who is speaking absolute rubbish.

Risking What?

Ok I will be rude, your still talking bollox I never claimed to know the OP fitness level but it seems you know better as you said he would go into the red, not knowing his fitness level or effort intended?
To say anyone doing a climb cold is risking it is again bollox, modern bikes have great new technology which enable riders to be able to change their effort during a ride or climb, this new technology is called "gearing" so in basic terms if a rider goes up this extremely difficult climb of 7% using a 35 x 28 at a cadence of 50 gear he will require significantly less effort and power than if he attempts the same climb using a 53 x 11 at 60 cadence, yes he will be slower but hardly in the red no matter what his fitness level is. Your making too many assumptions, all I am saying is that there is no reason he cannot regulate his effort selecting the right gear and effort to ensure he does not go in the red and if his mates get to the top before him and don't wait, just do the ride alone and enjoy it
Oh and by the way , with respect to injury, for cycling there is absolutely no evidence (unless you can post some) to show no warm up carries injury risk, warm ups are done for events like TT, hill climbs, track races etc to get the heart rate and cv system to optimal level for maximum performance from the start, absolutely nothing to do with injury prevention.
If I do not warm up for the track races I do, I would get dropped first two laps,or really struggle but not injured. (speaking from experience)

rolf_f

It's a shortish Alpine type climb. If it is average 7% then presumably there will also be steeper grades - say up to 10% - and that makes a huge difference. How many people can honestly say they have clambered up a French alp, looking for the next km marker and not dearly hoped that it would state 7% for the next km rather than 9%? By Yorkshire standards these numbers sound tame but of course the length of the climb is what counts. Ultimately, why would you not go for a 15 minute spin before hand. It can't do any harm and it will probably help make the climb more enjoyable. It only takes a little loss of pace and you might find your bottom gear changes from being ideal to painfully a couple of teeth too small.

oldwelshman

Jesus lol it is a bike and a climb on a club ride by a non professional rider lol just ride the bloody thing. Warm up for a club ride, heard it all now lol

supermurph09

Surely you can start the ride at a different point? If I turn right outside my drive its a 9% gradient, so I turn left every time. Can you not do the same? Maybe ride down the hill, find a bit of flat then turn around and just take it steady up the climb.

ct8282

Just be sure to wear a helmet ok.

desweller

Doesn't the neutral zone on a tour stage qualify as warmup? It's also routine to engage in a warmup before a TT event because the minimum intensity is obviously not low; if the hill is a tough one then the minimum intensity required might demand a warmup.

imposter2.0

chrisjohnsen wrote:

Hi!
I am doing a 130 km ride with some friends. The ride starts off with a pretty steep (aprx. 7%) 7,9km climb. My questions is if we should do a 30-40 minutes warm up before we get there or if the clim can work as a warm up itself.

Thanks, Chris.

As others have said - just ride your bike. Unless the ride is timed, or in some way competitive (in which case it would be better to hit the climb warm), then don't worry about it.

andrewjoseph

Two roads out of my valley are between 10 and 15% practically from the doorstep, then the bwlch is about 7% for about 6 km then the rhighos is about the same for near 10km.


There is a lot of research now showing that stretching before exercise can cause more problems than not.

I don't warm up before any ride, but I don't do TT's.