Training & Nutrition - will a stairmaster help me be a better hill climber?

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Hardheadmandca
03-18-07, 01:51 PM
I have to train off road for a few weeks, but I also need hill training for my Tahoe ride June 3rd.

It occured to me that the stair master position was similar to climbing while standing.

Will it work, or am I wrong?

pcates
03-18-07, 02:42 PM
depends how you climb a hill........personally i sit and spin then stand the last 1/3 up over the peak.....i haven't used a stairmaster in years so i can't really tell you what muscles they're using....thighs and ass i would suspect so it wouldn't hurt.....but if you really want to train for hills....you'd be better off training on hills. i also suspect you'd do better training with intervals, sprints etc to get your power up.
Carbonfiberboy
03-18-07, 03:52 PM
I find that a standard Stairmaster - the one with steps that just go up and down - doesn't well replicate the motion of climbing. I prefer the StepMill:
http://www.strong-and-shapely.com/gym/bobimages/gym0017.html

I think that the StepMill does help out-of-the-saddle performance, but only slightly. I also use an elliptical trainer with the ramp set high for cross training. That's a good workout, but again the muscles aren't quite used in the same way. High rep squats and leg sled are definitely good. I'd use the Stairmill, StepMill, or elliptical, whatever is available, until I was tired and then go squat and leg press. Sets of 20 or 30. Do them until you are totally destroyed. That helps for sure. :)

Pat
03-19-07, 12:21 PM
Well the kind of bike they use in spinning classes would probably be better. But the stair climbers I have been on seem to feel a bit like the motion I get climting a steep grade. It would help your aerobic power and make you fitter. So it could not hurt. Getting out and riding on your bike would be better.
Hardheadmandca
03-19-07, 12:29 PM
I wish I could get out and ride, but I broke my right index finger at the base and habe to have surgery this week. The doctor cosented to letting me train off the road.

I'm doing my first century - around Lake Tahoe - on June 3rd, and he wants me off the road for 6 weeks.

I have to figure out how to do something.