hill climb racing

[hellosunshine]

the season for hill climbs is about to start.


usually i train by reltentlessly going up steep steep hills,do you think doing squats/running would also help?i never do lower body gym work..........

[Zen]

Butt power!

One legged squats. do it on the smith machine so you can concentrate on power instead of balance.

Smith reverse lunge. Do it slower than this guy and be sure to extend your back leg waaaaaay back. Don't cheat and push up off the back foot.

One more I like and will do my best to describe it.
lay on your back with your knees bent as if to execute a shoulder bridge.
So a shoulder bridge but extend one leg straight out, knees and thighs even. Keep that position and do about ten reps each side. Then do it again.

Let me know what you think of these.

[boy in a kilt]

Zen's hit it on the nose. Or butt as the case may be.

I haven't pinned on a race number in a long time. But when I started doing lots of butt-type exercises to prepare for mountain climbing, my climbing power on the bike improved quite a bit.

Normally, when I come to a hill, I use shorter, faster strides to make it up (sort of like shifting to a smaller gear). However, I've started working on keeping my stride about the same length as when I'm running flats, but powering through the entire stride. It takes some focus (and some Social Distortion doesn't hurt), but it also seems to be improving my climbing ability on the bike. In particular, I have more noticeably more power on hills than I used to.

[mimitabby]

Hey Zen, my knees hate lunges; the touch the ground part in particular...

any thing else that does the same thing?

[dex]

Mimi, my knees won't tolerate lunges at all, but I can do Bulgarian Split Squats with no knee crankiness. Here's an explanation and some illustrations: http://www.fullfitness.net/routines/...lit_squat.html

[VeloVT]

If you're going to be doing lots of quad-emphasizing lifts it's not a bad idea to do a bit of hamstring work too (and having strong hams may not be quite as important as strong quads on the bike, but it certainly doesn't hurt). So, I recommend deadlifts. My all-time favorite lift. Makes me feel so strong .

I also like plain old squats, with a barbell.

For both exercises, heavy weights/low reps are best for building power. Careful of your back on the deadlifts, you need to lock your core muscles to keep your back flat (hips tilted forward). Arching your back (in a "cat back" position, with the hips tilting back) can lead to injury.

[Zen]

Hey Zen, my knees hate lunges; the touch the ground part in particular...

any thing else that does the same thing?

I can't do lunges either, those smith squats don't put emphasis on the knees though. When you use your front leg to push up the power should come through the back of the leg (heel to butt)

[Starfish]

When you use your front leg

I only use my back legs for this. Use the front legs when I need to jump up on my owner. (I realize you monkeys are much more ambidextrous with your limbs...)

(Apologies for slight drift...)