It's official; I suck at climbing

[Dogmama]

First off - a 17 - 20% grade is a mountain!!

1. Hit the botttom of the hill as fast as you can. Momentum is your friend.
2. Shift slightly before you need to shift so you don't blow out your legs.
3. If you are going to stand, shift to a slightly harder gear. When you sit, you'll have the easier gear to fall back on.
4. Ride hills. If you have to go slowly, do it slowly. Speed and endurance will come.

In the weight room you want to mimic cycling:

1. Do your exercises with single legs & switch them out. In other words, if you are doing lunges, alternate your lunges. Ditto with leg extensions, hamstring curls,etc.

2. To hit the glutes - bulgarian split squats. This is a great glute exercise. It is basically a lunge, except your back leg is on a support, so you cannot push off with it. It works quads and glutes. Obviously, you cannot switch these out easily.

Back up to a bench, chair, aerobic steps, no higher than knee height to begin. Stand about 3 feet from the bench.

Put one leg on the bench, shoe lace side down. You may need to be next to a wall or something to use for balance in the beginning.

Now, lunge. Do not let your knee go past your toes (or not very much.) Concentrate on bringing yourself up using your glutes.

[indysteel]

Bulgarian Split Squat? I'll have to try that.....

Although I wish all who responded were as good at climbing as they wanted to be, but all the same, I'm glad I'm not the only one who's struggling with it.

Brandy, I am so envious of your periodization spinning class. I will have to talk to the people at the Y where I go about offering something like that. If you have any more specifics, I'd love to hear about it....

Kate

[Cassandra_Cain]

If folks are lifting weights because they want to be more 'toned' or 'buff' or help preserve their bone density, etc - then cool, do it

I do not think that weight training, of any form, will help you with climbing on a bike though. Forces in endurance cycling, are quite low - comparable to climbing stairs 2 at a time even.

For sprint and track racing, I think weights can be very useful.

The reason a cyclist has a hard time on a climb is because their body cannot supply what her muscles need in order to keep working at a high rate due to cardiac output and oxygen delivery.

[indysteel]

If folks are lifting weights because they want to be more 'toned' or 'buff' or help preserve their bone density, etc - then cool, do it

I do not think that weight training, of any form, will help you with climbing on a bike though. Forces in endurance cycling, are quite low - comparable to climbing stairs 2 at a time even.

For sprint and track racing, I think weights can be very useful.

The reason a cyclist has a hard time on a climb is because their body cannot supply what her muscles need in order to keep working at a high rate due to cardiac output and oxygen delivery.

Interesting....I assumed that weight training to strengthen (at least) my glutes would help. Several of my cycling books speak favorably of weight training (in moderation) to help strengthen certain muscles that are needed to climb but which are hard to actually develop unless you climb a lot. From what I've read, climbing is a function of both aerobic capacity and leg strength? Not so?

[Cassandra_Cain]

Interesting....I assumed that weight training to strengthen (at least) my glutes would help. Several of my cycling books speak favorably of weight training (in moderation) to help strengthen certain muscles that are needed to climb but which are hard to actually develop unless you climb a lot. From what I've read, climbing is a function of both aerobic capacity and leg strength? Not so?

Hi....

You are familiar with Lance Armstrong I take it right? So a few years ago he did a blazingly fast time up in a Time Trial on a very famous and difficult mountain stage in the Tour de France, Alpe d'Huez. If you look at the watts he produced, take into account his cadence, then the 'force' he was putting out with both of his legs was equal to about 55 pounds. There are few adults I know of, who can't do 55 pounds with 2 legs, I mean just climbing stairs requires that much....and more.

Lance reportedly rode up that mountain at around 475 watts or so. You know what though? I am certain you could do 475 watts - just not for an hour or anything close to it obviously, and neither can I!

Also, consider when you sprint you are exerting far more force than on any long climb, so you already have the 'strength' to do those climbs. The reason you, me, or anyone else typically struggles on a climb is because our bodies cannot meet the demands of our muscles - delivering oxygen, fuel mix, etc...and why? Our lactate thresholds, Vo2max, etc aren't developed enough for what we are trying to do.

In addition, weight training doesn't nearly replicate the joint angles and velocities of cycling. That's along the lines of the whole specificity principle, so those gains are not going to be very transferrable.

I'm not telling you weight training is bad or that you shouldn't do it - there are lots of benefits to it.

What I do think is that it won't make you a better climber on a bike. It can make you a better track sprinter or pursuiter - though if you gain weight (from muscle gains), it can then cost you in climbing and other aspects of riding.