Climbing workouts on trainers

[tulip]

Does the gym/rec center at your school have spin classes? They are great, and much more motivating (to me) than a trainer. Plus, you cannot climb standing up on your trainer because it puts too much torque on your fork.

[Owlie]

I don't stand to climb anyway--it works on small inclines when I just need a little extra oomf without having to shift, but it does nothing for me on actual hills!

The spin classes at the rec center are totally dependent on whether they can find an instructor. I agree with you on the trainer being boring, but I'm using it as my TV time. I'll check out some of the podcast suggestions.

[tulip]

I don't stand to climb anyway--it works on small inclines when I just need a little extra oomf without having to shift, but it does nothing for me on actual hills!

The spin classes at the rec center are totally dependent on whether they can find an instructor. I agree with you on the trainer being boring, but I'm using it as my TV time. I'll check out some of the podcast suggestions.

Ah, well then perhaps you can become an instructor and get a workout AND get paid. Something to think about. I get really inspired to work very hard when there's good music in the spin class. Sometimes I can't help but jump up and dance on those pedals. A winter of spin classes makes a huge difference on the road in the springtime for me.

[ehirsch83]

I used to use my text books under my front wheel when I was in school! Or a phone book. That helped me with elevation for climbing.

Then I would put on good music and do longer intervals to simulate longer climbs.

[marni]

I fake climbing workouts by increasing the resistance in the gearing a bit and keeping a fast or as fast as I can handle cadence for as long as possible. I guess these are really resistance intervals except that I am more forgiving on the cadence if it's a "hill" climb as opposed to a speed resistance interval.

I rarely if ever stand on my bike in the real world except to scoot across an intersection to stay out of the way of drivers behind me.

marni

[Dogmama]

When I teach hills in spinning, we start at a level 7 (levels = 1-10 with 10 being hardest) and increase every 30-60 seconds (or when the song dictates) until we get to 10. We do "10" for 15 seconds & then drop back to a 7 for recovery. Then rinse & repeat.

The Beatles song Hey Jude is great for this. There are natural changes when you'd increase resistance - plus it is fairly long.

[Owlie]

When I teach hills in spinning, we start at a level 7 (levels = 1-10 with 10 being hardest) and increase every 30-60 seconds (or when the song dictates) until we get to 10. We do "10" for 15 seconds & then drop back to a 7 for recovery. Then rinse & repeat.

The Beatles song Hey Jude is great for this. There are natural changes when you'd increase resistance - plus it is fairly long.

I tried something like this today. I put together a bunch of songs that I thought might work, and treated them as hills if there were natural spots to increase resistance, and as "spinny" songs if there weren't.

Man, I know I haven't been on the bike for a while, but I didn't know I was that out of shape!

[BikingNurse]

When I teach hills in spinning, we start at a level 7 (levels = 1-10 with 10 being hardest) and increase every 30-60 seconds (or when the song dictates) until we get to 10. We do "10" for 15 seconds & then drop back to a 7 for recovery. Then rinse & repeat.

The Beatles song Hey Jude is great for this. There are natural changes when you'd increase resistance - plus it is fairly long.

I am soooo gonna try this one when we get home from the kids' soccer games today! Thanks