Originally Posted by
gregf83
Fancy breathing techniques aren't going to give you any extra power going up a hill. If it's a shortish steep hill you will be getting much, if not most, of your power from anaerobic sources.
Lung capacity is seldom an issue in power output so I would focus on changing your gearing so you can climb at a more manageable pace and improving your power output with hill repeats. If you're having to get off the bike, that's a clear sign you're overgeared and going much harder than you should be. Nothing you do with breathing will fix that problem.
All true, but . . . I've always thought that VO2max is associated with the muscles' maximum oxidative capacity. On top of that capacity is the muscles' maximum glycolytic capacity. Thus for me at least, the division between aerobic and anaerobic energy systems during hill climbs of 15 minutes or more seems to be affected by the amount of oxygen I can consume. Thus I find that sustaining my LTHR, currently 149 and 91% of MHR at 67 yrs., is affected by the amount of air I can pass through my lungs. I have to concentrate on the fancy breathing techniques to sustain this HR for long climbs, currently down to only about 45 minutes at a time. Or maybe that's now a beat to two too high. In any case, if I don't get the air, my HR poops out a lot earlier than if I concentrate on my breathing, I assume because, while I'm producing the same power, I'm shorting my oxidative system and subsituting the glycolytic system.
Your gearing comment is also interesting. With our current tandem gearing, I have trouble hitting LTHR on the tandem on 10% grades, I think because I can't spin fast enough to put the necessary power to the road with our gearing. I've been climbing at higher cadences the last couple of years, maybe because I just don't have the leg strength to consume enough oxygen at lower cadences, though I've been sledding 4 X bodyweight. OTOH we have very few grades of 10% or better around here, so that's OK. Ageing is weird.