Training For Hills?

crossed
crossed Posts: 237
edited February 2014 in Training, fitness and health
I could really do with improving my climbing so what would be the best way to do it?

Hill repeats or just going out on hilly routes and going hard on the hills and using the sections between them to recover?

Comments

  • cougie
    cougie Posts: 22,512
    Hill repeats would give you the best bang for your buck. They're basically an interval session.

    Also - lose weight if you can.
  • supermurph09
    supermurph09 Posts: 2,471
    Think about your pacing too, if you cant go all out from bottom to top then consider which is the quickest way up, I'm beginning to learn that smashing it for 75% and dying for last 25% is perhaps not the best way!
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  • imposter2.0
    imposter2.0 Posts: 12,028
    The biggest improvement will come through a general increase in aerobic fitness - which can be achieved without riding up any hills. Difficult to suggest anything practical without knowing what you are already doing.
  • crossed
    crossed Posts: 237
    I don't really train at all, mainly just go out on my bike when I can.
    Usually I just do what I feel like so either head out on the road bike for a couple of hours either flat or a bit hilly or head out on the MTB for a few hours. The main thing that I've noticed is that I can keep up with my mates on the flat stuff without any problems but once we get onto the bigger hills I can sometimes struggle, hence me looking to improve my climbing.
  • ai_1
    ai_1 Posts: 3,060
    Crossed wrote:
    I don't really train at all, mainly just go out on my bike when I can...
    Isn't that training? It might not be very structured but riding is training.

    If you can keep up with your mates on the flat but not on the hills then more than likely it's not that you specifically can't do hills, it's just that you're drafting or working harder than them on the flat and when you get to the hills the difference becomes apparent. Drafting is a big equaliser on the flat and it's also easy for people to match speeds just by backing off or pushing on a bit. On a steep hill everyone tends to gravitate to their own comfortable rhythm/pace and it reveals differences in both fitness and weight.
    You could be just as aerobically fit but if you're carrying extra weight (you and/or the bike) you'll have to work harder. I've friends who ride similar pace as me on the flat. It would be hard for us to drop each other if we tried. However on the hills we perform quite differently.
  • imposter2.0
    imposter2.0 Posts: 12,028
    Ai_1 wrote:
    Isn't that training? It might not be very structured but riding is training.

    Not sure I agree with that. Training usually has a specific goal, or objective, or is intended to bring about some kind of improvement. Simply 'riding a bike' might improve your general fitness if you do it often enough, but I don't see 'riding' and 'training' as the same thing really.
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,312
    Crossed wrote:
    I don't really train at all, mainly just go out on my bike when I can.
    Usually I just do what I feel like so either head out on the road bike for a couple of hours either flat or a bit hilly or head out on the MTB for a few hours. The main thing that I've noticed is that I can keep up with my mates on the flat stuff without any problems but once we get onto the bigger hills I can sometimes struggle, hence me looking to improve my climbing.

    Climbing is Watt/ Kg... so you either increase the aerobic power output, or you lower the body weight or you do both. Doing the same hill over and over won't improve your climbing unless one or both of the above happen
    left the forum March 2023
  • kajjal
    kajjal Posts: 3,380
    Practicing big hills repeatedly will help with fitness and technique. It takes a while to learn how your body reacts to long hill climbs and build up the confidence in your ability. The balance is to push yourself without blowing up which to begin with can be hard to judge. Weight does also have a effect but don't get obsessed with it.

    Also some people are just faster at hill climbing. When I used to do a lot of mountain biking in the middle of no where I was normally the fastest up hills by quite a margin. When it came to fast rocky downhills I was normally one of the slowest going down.
  • ozzzyosborn206
    ozzzyosborn206 Posts: 1,340
    not sure how true it is, but i heard not so long ago that if you do lots of hills when training your body realises you are 'fighting gravity' a lot of the time and sheds excess lbs to make your life easier in the climbs. Could be complete BS as had never heard it before or since??
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,312
    ozzzyosborn206 wrote:
    not sure how true it is, but i heard not so long ago that if you do lots of hills when training your body realises you are 'fighting gravity' a lot of the time and sheds excess lbs to make your life easier in the climbs. Could be complete BS as had never heard it before or since??

    Don't you just love internet? anyone can make any crazy fantasy in his head a reality.... :lol:
    left the forum March 2023
  • imposter2.0
    imposter2.0 Posts: 12,028
    ozzzyosborn206 wrote:
    not sure how true it is, but i heard not so long ago that if you do lots of hills when training your body realises you are 'fighting gravity' a lot of the time and sheds excess lbs to make your life easier in the climbs. Could be complete BS as had never heard it before or since??

    if that was true, we'd all be lighter than air by now...
  • sloppyschleckonds
    sloppyschleckonds Posts: 8,019
    Imposter wrote:
    ozzzyosborn206 wrote:
    not sure how true it is, but i heard not so long ago that if you do lots of hills when training your body realises you are 'fighting gravity' a lot of the time and sheds excess lbs to make your life easier in the climbs. Could be complete BS as had never heard it before or since??

    if that was true, we'd all be lighter than air by now...

    Megalolz :lol:
    I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles
  • bahzob
    bahzob Posts: 2,195
    ozzzyosborn206 wrote:
    not sure how true it is, but i heard not so long ago that if you do lots of hills when training your body realises you are 'fighting gravity' a lot of the time and sheds excess lbs to make your life easier in the climbs. Could be complete BS as had never heard it before or since??

    Yes this is quite true. Unfortunately it is counterbalanced by the opposing tendency to want to go as fast as possible down the other side so not a reliable means of losing weight.
    Martin S. Newbury RC
  • ai_1
    ai_1 Posts: 3,060
    ozzzyosborn206 wrote:
    not sure how true it is, but i heard not so long ago that if you do lots of hills when training your body realises you are 'fighting gravity' a lot of the time and sheds excess lbs to make your life easier in the climbs. Could be complete BS as had never heard it before or since??
    I know exactly how true it is.......
  • Mac9
    Mac9 Posts: 134
    By 'hill repeats', does that mean just riding to the top of a hill then rolling back down and doing it again?

    How long would a hill have to be do make this worthwhile? I live near a couple of steep streets that follow on from each other with a short flat run in between.

    They're only short though - 180m climb followed by 200m flat then another 200m climb. Both are steep but obviously very short.

    Would they be viable candidates for hill repeats or would I need to find something longer?
  • imposter2.0
    imposter2.0 Posts: 12,028
    It all depends what you are trying to achieve by riding hill repeats. They would be ideal if you want to get better at riding up short steep hills. Not so useful for riding up alpine cols though...
  • Remarkable
    Remarkable Posts: 187
    Some good tips here:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbrKH4Qo ... FySHcfo_xy

    :)
  • Graham K
    Graham K Posts: 329
    I am shocking with hills, I am too big so I just grind away.
    The way i see it is that if I can go uphill I can go anywhere, Theres enough hills near me to go at, so I have a 1km hill that I time myself on regular, then I have others, short steep lungbusters that I try to sprint at, and longer elevations that i just plug away at, varying my routes to come back and try and beat my time on my hill.

    Part of a training hill
    http://app.strava.com/segments/648223
    http://app.strava.com/segments/674115

    Timed hill
    http://app.strava.com/segments/2113563

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