If You Always Struggle Through Climbs, Focus on These Training Techniques to Get Stronger
Click, click, click….no click. You’re out of gears, with gassed legs, and still have 100 meters of climbing left to do. The only options are to buckle down and push through the hard work—or walk your bike.
If you continuously have trouble feeling strong through tough climbs, it’s probably time to brush up on your strategy and technique. It does take work to become a better climber on the bike, but it’s absolutely possible if you employ the right training strategies.
Here’s what coaches say you should focus on to crush climbs with more ease.
1. Improve Your Power-to-Weight Ratio
A lot of people “miss the forest for the trees when it comes to climbing,” Jason Boynton, Ph.D., sport scientist and USA Cycling Level 1 coach tells Bicycling. “To improve your ability to climb, start with watts per kilogram,” he says. That means improving your power-to-weight ratio, which will have a big influence on your climbing, Boynton says.
There are two ways to improve your power-to-weight ratio: Increase your functional threshold power and/or reduce your bodyweight. For both, cyclists can get from point A to point B in any number of ways.
Keep in mind that while you may see climbing progress with weight loss, you don’t want to lose pounds to the point of being underweight in an attempt to raise your power-to-weight ratio (or go on a crash diet to make it happen). In fact, doing so could have a detrimental effect on your performance (and your health) despite good intentions.
“There is a point when being too light can cause you to lose the power,” Doug Guthrie, USAT Level 1, TrainingPeaks Level 2, and U.S. Masters certified coach, tells Bicycling.
How to Increase Your FTP
Functional threshold power is a measure of mean power output over the course of a specified period of time, usually an hour. Improving it requires spending ample time riding at both low and high intensities to raise various physiological thresholds, including aerobic and anaerobic (lactate) thresholds.
Ideally, you would build an aerobic base with an endurance-focused training plan (a.k.a lots of zone 2 work), perform an FTP test, and then build upon that base with high-intensity workouts focused on improving your ability to produce more watts for longer periods of time.
FTP-focused workouts typically include extended intervals at a given percentage of your FTP (which is why you want to start with a baseline FTP test, so you can find an estimate to work with).
Here’s one example of a high-intensity workout that may help improve your FTP, from Boynton:
10-minute warmup in endurance zone 1, sprinkling in 10- to 30-second high-cadence intervals
5 x 5-minute intervals in zone 5, targeting the highest average watts you can achieve throughout all 5 intervals
5-minute high-cadence recovery interval after every high-effort interval
20-minute cooldown in endurance zones 1-2
2. Nail Down Climbing Technique and Pacing
The principle of specificity dictates that you should train for the outcome you want. That is, do more of the things you want to get better at. This comes into play for climbing performance, particularly when it comes to climbing technique and pacing strategies.
“Improving your cycling skills can have a significant impact on your ability to climb better,” Guthrie says. “Working on fundamentals like pedal stroke and body positioning while seated or standing on climbs can help you climb more efficiently with less effort.”
Pedal Stroke
Guthrie recommends a single-leg drill on an indoor bike trainer to work on pedal stroke, if that’s a component of climbing you’re struggling with. Here’s how to do it:
Warm up, then unclip one foot and place it on a chair.
With the other leg clipped in, do 30-60 revolutions focusing on a smooth pedal stroke for the entire 360 degrees.
Repeat with the other leg.
Additionally, it can be helpful to focus on your body positioning. “When I climb, I focus on moving back in my saddle and maintaining good upper body posture to maximize deep, controlled breathing,” Guthrie says.
Pacing
Pacing will be different for each individual and the ideal pace for a given climb depends on a number of factors, including the grade (percent incline), terrain, the rider’s kit and other aerodynamic factors, environmental factors like altitude and wind, and more.
The important thing, Guthrie says, is to stay below functional threshold power for the climb (a power meter can help with this). “When I am climbing, I am focusing on being smooth with my power which will allow me to maintain a controlled heart rate avoiding spikes in power and heart rate,” he says.
3. Do Climbing Drills
This may not be the advice you want to hear, but Guthrie says nothing beats—you guessed it—climbing drills. “We can spend a lot of time on the trainers in Zwift or Fulgaz climbing hills,” he says. “This type of training will help, but nothing can replace getting out and climbing on the roads.”
To work on climbing skills and threshold fitness simultaneously, Guthrie recommends the 30-30 hill session:
Warm up with 10-15 minutes of easy spinning.
On a short, moderate-to-steep (4-8%) hill, sprint uphill at a high cadence, out of the saddle, for 30 seconds at power zone 5.
Turn and coast/spin back down the hill for 30 seconds.
Do 20 to 25 of these repeats, breaking them into sets of five with 3 minutes or more of recovery between sets.
Cool down with 10-15 minutes of easy spinning.
4. Invest Time in Strength Training (But Not at the Expense of Riding)
Overall leg and total-body strength is critical to becoming a good climber, Guthrie says. “Improving your cycling skills can have a significant impact on your ability to climb better, and you can accelerate the process by investing time in the gym,” he explains.
Guthrie recommends that new cyclists complete up to three strength-training sessions per week, while experienced cyclists and riders in season complete one or two sessions weekly to complement their training rides.
As for what exercises to do, compound lower-body and full-body exercises, as well as unilateral (single-side) lower-body exercises are ideal for building strength for cycling. Examples include variations of deadlifts, lunges, squats, rows, and presses. Power-based movements, such as kettlebell swings and power cleans, can also help build strength for cyclists.
Learn more about strength training for cyclists in Bicycling’s guides:
According to Boynton, strength training is not always the first and best course of action for cyclists who want to get better at climbing. However, it’s likely true that strength training improves FTP on the bike because it provides a unique and beneficial stimulus that is not experienced during typical cycling and endurance training.
Research also indicates that strength training improves various markers of cycling performance in both recreational and competitive populations. For example, cyclists in one study experienced improvements in both functional threshold power and lactate threshold power after one year of combined strength training and endurance training. The improvements in their cycling fitness were significantly correlated with increases in the cyclists’ maximal strength, tested by one-rep max efforts on the barbell squat and leg press.
Strength training has also been linked to other cycling performance metrics, including time of peak torque during the pedal stroke, power output at 4 mmol/L (lactate threshold), cycling economy, and durability (the ability to produce high outputs after prolonged submaximal work).
The caveat: Current scientific research doesn’t tell us point-blank that strength training improves climbing performance specifically.
Additionally, “with strength training, we have to consider the context and the trade-offs that are involved with it,” he says. “If someone wants to become a better cyclist and they’re only heading to the gym three days a week [and not riding], that doesn’t make sense because they’re only doing strength training when they should be riding their bike.”
If a cyclist wants to maximize the outcomes of both these types of training, the how and when of both components is an important consideration, Boynton says. If you’re a recreational rider and have three days per week to train, consider using two for cycling (for instance, one long endurance ride and one high-intensity ride) and the third day for strength training.
If you want to ride for life, it’s important to consider the benefits of strength training outside of cycling performance, like reduced risk of injury, improved quality of life, and muscle maintenance.
5. Focus on Becoming a Better Rider Overall
The bottom line, according to both Boynton and Guthrie, is that improving your overall cycling fitness or cycling economy is going to improve your climbing performance.
So don’t overthink it. “Broadly speaking, anything that improves your general cycling skills and abilities will help your climbing,” Guthrie says. “The best way to improve your cycling is by riding your bike.”
Research also points to the idea that strength training can improve cyclists’ overall performance and that training at high intensities, such as VO2 max and lactate threshold intervals, can improve functional threshold power. If you focus on improving those fitness metrics that generally improve your ride, you’ll also improve your climbing.
You Might Also Like
