Tips for improving climbing?

[rebeccaC]

I think about strong climbing as power to weight ratio. Doing lots of interval work if you’re small, combined with diet if you’re not should help. I’ll even throw in some intervals on my commute to/from work to help with my power.

Sitting with a smooth high cadence and knowing the correct gear for you for changing gradients is the best use of stored energy. I usually don’t stand at all for hills with a lower than 10% gradient, I will if it's a really long climb. I’ll stand on a 10%+ gradient or really long climb to change up muscles for a moment, (also with foot position while sitting to bring different muscles into play), stretch a bit or to crest a hill. I'll use the momentum of standing to keep up with a faster rider/group only if I know I can make up for the larger loss of stored energy later on.

I work on psychological issues too. I break a hill into sections for a lot of positive small mental accomplishments and to avoid a mental image of disappointment. Concentrating on form and mechanics can get me into the now, help to divert my attention from negatives and gets me back to being efficient and focused on the positives.