Hill Training

Hill Training - Climbing with the mountain goats

That old saying among bike riders “If you cant climb, you cant race”, is old and has stuck around because its true.

Its difficult to separate all the physiological aspects of climbing, obviously you need to be fit. However one of the biggest factors is your strength to body weight ratio. As strength goes up or remains constant and excess body weight (Fat) comes down climbing improves.

The best climbers amongst professional bike riders weigh less than 350grams per cm in height. The non-climbers in the pro peleton typically weigh 360grams to 410 per cm of height. There are no active pro's at 430g per cm or more. Climbing favours the lean.

We have estimated that every extra 1kg of fat adds 27 seconds on the climb from town (traffic circle) to Mountain View:

Example you now climb to Mountain View in 31 min (+-15km/hr) You lose 5kgs of fat, using the same effort you will climb in 29:45 (+- 16,5km/hrs)

Doesn't sound like a lot but it's a 10% improvement for no extra climbing effort.
On a hot day the benefits of being lean will be more apparent as your body will lose heat more effectively allowing you to put in harder effort.
So — the best way to improve your hill climbing is to lose the fat and train your climbing skills.

Weight loss is best done slowly. Decrease daily food intake by 200 to 300 calories and keep training.

Ride the mountain — select a gear that keeps your cadence fairly low (60 - 70 revs), stay seated. This allows your leg strength to build up.

Women seems to climb better alternatively between standing and sitting as most of their body weight is below the waist, that said, thin and small men also often climb better alternatively between standing and sitting.

So lose the fat, add hill training once a week to your schedule (build up to 1 hour per week) and climb with the mountain goats!