- Who doesn't want to become a better climber?
I mean the quicker you go up a hill
then the sooner you get to enjoy the fun part, going down.
- Yeah, well, whatever your incentive you'll pleased to hear
that there are a number of areas that you can address
that can all work to improve your climbing ability,
and we're going to be covering all of them today.
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- You've got options when it comes to technique,
and there's the age-old debate
of whether it's best to stand up or sit down
and a lot of it does come down to personal preference.
So much so that if you watch the pros in a race,
and you'll see some of them going up the same hill standing
and some sitting down.
But there are a few things that you need to consider
when you're choosing this.
- Yeah, one of which is the gradient.
So as it does start get steeper,
more likely going to want to get up out of the saddle
just to make things easier for yourself.
But then as it really does start to pitch up
you may find it's the only choice
just to keep those pedals turning over.
- Yeah, and often sitting down allows you to
get a little bit smoother,
'cause you can continue that rhythm
and make sure you concentrate of the full circle
of each pedal stroke.
And put a more gradual gradients
we'd recommend that you do to stay sitting down.
And if you're on an undulating terrain then
it just helps you to keep that smooth rhythm
as you go over the top.
- Yeah, but if you're someone does
quite like to stand up out of the saddle, I'm one of them.
Well, I'd really advise just trying to hold it off until
it really does start to pitch up.
For a lot of people does take a little bit more effort,
so you just want to save that.
Now in terms of the technique you want to to think of it
as if you're trying to put your body weight
through each pedal stroke, as if you're stepping into it.
Now obviously your body weight is then going to be
over your hands a little bit more.
So just try and keep your hands relaxed,
move the bike nice and easily and freely beneath you,
just focus on putting the power through the pedals.
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- Whatever the incline
you want to aim to keep your cadence nice and high,
so somewhere between 75 and 90, and as you go up a hill
you're probably going to start to get slower,
so there for you to change down gear
in order to keep your cadence.
And you want to do this before it's too late,
as it's much easier to keep your momentum.
So you need to look ahead and see that gradient
so you can make sure you're in the right cadence
and keeping it nice and smooth.
- Yeah, now, if you do find yourself grinding a gear
in a low cadence,
you're actually going to find it quite hard then
to get out of that gear because what's happening is
the chain is under so much tension.
So if this does happen to you, what you need to do is
just sit down into the saddle, don't stand up,
and then just ease off the pedals just put one pedal stroke,
or not even, and then just drop back down to an easier gear.
But obviously we want to preempt this, as Heather mentioned.
So as you approach a hill make sure you ease down,
drop down through your gears, keep that cadence as high
and avoid it altogether.
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- There's no denying that riding up hills requires strength,
so getting stronger on and off the bike will certainly help,
and hill reps are one of those ways to do that
as you're going to be training
those specific muscles that you need for climbing,
as well as naturally improving your confidence
and probably getting better at pacing.
But they can be a little mind-numbing,
so if you're lucky enough to live somewhere
in the hills or the mountains
then why not go out and do a long ride
that just incorporates lots of climbs.
- But if you don't have any decent hills near you
you can still strengthen your legs
by doing some over gearing sessions,
where you ride in slightly harder gear
than you normally would.
Alternatively you can head down to the gym,
you can work out your legs and your core,
and if that is of interest to you you can watch our video
on how to get more power on the bike in the gym.
- Pacing is key too,
you don't want to go all out at the bottom of the hill
and suddenly find out you've got nothing left.
And yes you do want to use that momentum
as you come into a hill,
but if you've gone too hard at the start
then it's going to be a really long way of just grinding it out
and you won't have any chance to recover.
- Yeah, when it comes to hills
you want to to forget about speed
and start focusing on some other metrics
to really gauge that effort.
Now if you're fortunate enough to have a power meter
this is a fantastic metric to keep a track of.
Now I might add that when you do come onto hills
you'll naturally find a little bit more power
as compared to going on the flat.
I tend to say it's somewhere around 10% extra,
but just make sure you keep a cap on that
so you're not burning too many matches too soon.
Another metric, obviously, is your heart rate,
but also just be mindful that it can take
a little bit time to catch up,
so if you are doing short, sharp hills,
may not catch up by the time you're at the top.
- [Heather] Yeah, or you could go old school
and go with perceived with perceived effort.
And doing hills regularly is a great way to
get to at least know your fitness.
And say you're doing hill repeats
or there's a hill that you know really well,
well you can even use a timer
so you know how long it usually takes you.
- Now another thing that I used to do
quite a lot in my own training
was actually pushing on over the top of hills.
What you normally see people do
is they're so exhausted by the top they ease up.
Now actually by pushing on over the top,
it's actually a really good training method
and can make you a much better climber.
Plus gives you a bit more momentum
for that flat or the descent after that.
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- Right, we haven't mentioned this one yet,
and I can feel you shouting at us, well at me,
"Lose some weight!"
But we're not going to take it personally,
it is, though, very valid point when it comes to climbing.
And in cycling we bang on about the power to weight ratio
and, of course, it's crucial, but
becomes even more important
when it comes to climbing and, yes, obviously,
you can increase your power, but losing a few extra pounds
will make a significant difference.
And it's maybe you're someone who's lucky enough
that you don't have any spare pounds to lose, well,
you can look at your bike and look at taking some weight off
or think about it as training
and then save those times for races
and make your bike as light as possible then.
- Now another thing to consider is that
as hills do start to ramp up a little bit,
what we tend to see that happen
is that the road starts go diagonally
back and forth across the hill,
with switchbacks every so often.
Now on those switchbacks, as you round the corner,
it does tend to be steepest on that inside corner,
or very often does.
So you may want to avoid that, obviously,
stay within the rules, stay on the right side of the road,
or the left side of the road,
the correct side of the road, and all we be good.
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- Think about which sort of hills it is
that you struggle with and then focus on those.
It is all too easy to just go and do the ride that we enjoy
and the ones we enjoy usually the ones that are easier.
So be honest to yourself
and if say you struggle on those short punchy climbs
then go and find some of those
and do some hill reps up them,
or if it's maintaining a good gradual pace
on a more clement climb then go and do that
as part of a long tempo ride with some undulations.
- Yeah, now, earlier we mentioned about cadence
and keeping that cadence up, but you may find
that your bike has come equipped with too larger chain ring
or a small cassette with quite tough gears.
Now for some people that might be quite hard
to keep that cadence up,
when maybe you don't have the strength
or it doesn't suit your riding style.
However, fortunately, you can quite easily
change those chain rings,
get a compact or semi-compact set up
or go for a larger cassette with easier gears.
Which is particularly useful
if you do live somewhere that's hilly
or you're targeting a hilly race.
- Yeah, well, like we said
we didn't promise a magic answer here
and getting better hills does require
a certain amount of hard work, but if you follow these tips
and focus on those weaknesses we've mentioned
you will get better at hills,
or at least you'll get up them quicker,
we don't promise that they'll hurt any less.
- Yeah, if you have liked today's video
please hit do hit that thumbs up button.
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And if you'd like to find out whether you should ride hills
in your aero bars, you see that video by clicking down here.
- And if you want some tips
on how to ride a hilly bike course, just click down here.
- And we're at the top of the hill, Heather.
- Ah, yes, the descent!