Training & Nutrition - I hate hills

Can someone give me some mental workouts to help me cope with hill training? I suck at climbing, and I hate feeling totally wiped out after climbing one moderate hill. Cycling is supposed to be enjoyable... and it just ain't no fun when you're done after only 45 mins on the bike

- discouraged flatlander

Keep repeating this to yourself when climbing hills "hills are my friend, hills are my friend". Practice makes perfect - keep at it and it will only get better. I'm not sure what kind of bike your riding, but maybe try a lower gear so all it feels like you're doing is spinning as opposed to pushing hard on the pedals. As you get stronger then you'll want to go to a higher gear. I'm a flatlander too. On our weekend training rides we purposely choose routes with hills, and especially for training before rides like Pedal The Peaks (cycleamerica.com). Keep this in mind also "pain is just weakness leaving your body". (I don't totally subscribe to this last saying). Question - are you doing these climbs by yourself? All the best to you for improved climbing.

If you hate hills - make sure you destroy them rather than them destroying you.

I have seen a lot of guys get beaten by hills before they even start the climb. You can watch them and as soon as they see a climb ahead, their shoulders drop and the hill has beaten them already. The attitude they take to the ride is that "I hate hills and I can't climb." If you convince yourself of that, you'll be proven right.

I agree with MC above, the mental approach is important to climbing a hill. Maybe if you take the attitude of "what does this pathetic starry-eyed piece of crap think it's doing in my way?" or something similar, you'll eat it up. Oh yeah, and practice makes perfect! :D

Keep working at the hills, You will improve... You can beat them, don't give up....

<----------------------;)
Hills are my favourite, I love 'em. I was blessed with a fast cadence which means I can spin up hills with no problem. But There are other things you can improve:

Like the good advice above - it's all in your head. You can get over this hill and the next and the next.

Pace yourself. Don't blast off at the start of the hill, just to burn out half way up. Set off gradually, so that you can make it all the way up with energy to spare - however long it takes.

Set yourself small targets going uphill - Tell yourself that you can make it to the next bend on the hill. When you get there set yourself another target to aim and go for (as long as it is not as far as the eye can see ;) )

Try changing position regulary - stand up out of the saddle every now and then or try to spin a little when sat down.

Most important of all - get in a rhythm, and one that suits you, not someone else. It doesn't matter if you get overtaken - take your time, conserve your energy, and don't panic - it's only a hill!

You will get better. :)

Some people are natural hill-climbers, and some are not.
I would suggest the slow and steady approach. You dont sound like you can blast up a hill with a smile on your face, so slow down, gear down, spin up.

Don't keep looking at the top of the hill to see how far you've got left. That just makes you think - "Oh my god, this is the longest hill ever!".

Instead, try looking about 10 to 15 feet in front of you at the ground. Pick your gear - You don't want to be in too low of a gear so you just end up spinning like crazy, and you don't want to be in so high of a gear that you can barely turn the crank. Then find your "zone" - a good rhythm between your pedaling and your breathing (I try to inhale for two crank rotations, exhale for two crank rotations, etc, etc).

Before you know it, you'll be over the top and rolling again...

-Mike

Originally posted by Weasel
Pace yourself. Don't blast off at the start of the hill, just to burn out half way up. Set off gradually, so that you can make it all the way up with energy to spare - however long it takes.

Excellent advice! I've been trying to start off slow, and really hammer @ the top. I feel better, and ultimately, it's faster!

Win-win!!! :D

Change your gearing so you can get over the toughest hill you encounter without killing yourself. Then, as you progress, use a harder gear.

You may have to swap out your cassette, or convert to a triple up front.

Also, pick a hill and time-trial it with a stopwatch. Then repeat every week or two. Your improvements will boost your morale.

I love hills, i see them when i am driving and want to get the bike off the roof andclimb them. My girlfriend objects.

How big are these hills that you are climbing? Are they so big that you give up after awhile? How about hitting smaller hills and gradually build up.

Drop a gear and spin, baby, spin!

Seriously, though...Mentally - I use a "power" image when I hit some heavy-duty climbs. This may sound weird, but it works for me. On steep hills I'll think of a mountain goat...on long steady climbs I think of a powerful locomotive train. I put those images in my mind, control my breathing to synchronize with my cadence, and think of nothing else. Once you near the top of the climb, upshift, pop out of the saddle and accelerate over the summit.

Physically - Intervals will help alot. Try some muscle tension intervals to really help with some of that low-end power. Find a steady climb with a decent grade. Drop your cadence to 50-55 rpm and roll with power up the hill. Concentrate on your pedal stroke and work through the entire range. You'll probably have to use a high gear to keep the cadence low and the tension high.

You can also run some climbing repeats to get acclimated to riding at (or near) your climbing LT. Using your LT, ride up a hill with a decent grade around 80 rpm...keeping your HR near, at, or slightly above your LT. Over time your body will adjust to riding at this intensity and you will be able to take more of the "pain" when making some killer ascents.

Good luck...and keep hittin' them hills!

Hey, without hills what would you do with all those "gears"?

Hills are like "batteries". If you charge up one, you get the "juice" back when you coast back down. Smart riders know that hills are the best place to work really hard because the energy lost to wind resistance is decreased as you go slower. The best hill-climbers "leverage" the bicycle with their whole bodies at the hill's steepest points. Other, bigger climbers remain seated and use their backs and "core trunk strength" to grind up the climbs. In either case, great power is developed at the steepest part of the climbs, which eventually is given back to you on the descent, assuming the route is a circuit....

Originally posted by MichaelW
Some people are natural hill-climbers, and some are not.



Weighing in around the 16 sstone mark, I'm not, alas, one of life's natural hill climbers. I'm a little like Ullrich, and then about 60% more... :p

Im not climbing mountains here but there are definetly more hills than in AZ, Im in No. VA right now. At first they would all kill me, no matter what size/length. Luckily I had just been watching the Giro the weeks before I got here and remembered how smooth gilbert simoni was so thats what I thought of on all the climbs. Now Im smooth on my own and am upping my speed and even starting to stand up and go for a while just to power up the hills a little. Its very satisfying to look at a hill coming up and just htink 'not so big, not so tough' and I just focus and get up the hill.

Think like "This hill is nothing, when I've passed it I will be able to just go over it without even feeling it next time". And as said before don't look at the top of the hill, it will make you feel worse.

I usually just look down a couple of meters infront of me and try not to think of what I'm doing, and after a short while I'm over the hill :) Hope it will work you for you!!

Little engine that could, baby!

"I know I can! I know I can! I know I can!"
:D Just keeping repeating that and you will be downhill in no time!!! YAAAAHHHHOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!
;)

Forget your speed, forget your cadence, ..... listen to your heart :love: and follow its rhytm.

Seriously, get/borrow a HRM (if you don't have one) and focus on keeping your HR just below or at the lactate threshold all the way to the top (you still have to stand up once in a while, though). The trick is not to make any sudden jump in your heart rate during and just before the climb. Let the rate steadily increase and try to ease up a bit when it goes beyond your threshold.

If it's still unbearable, get a bigger cog.

Bad-ass hills are one of the reasons for me to ride another day. It's a great motivator, especially if someone drops you on the way to the top.

Originally posted by firebolt
It's a great motivator, especially if someone drops you on the way to the top.
Yeah, and I always seem to have lots of motivation. ;)

Think of a hill as a really strong headwind. But at least, you can see the hill and doesn't come in unpredictable gusts, or it doesn't suddenly turn sideways...

As someone who has always been good at hills and has always enjoyed finding new ones to conquer, here's what I have learned.

1) Don't slow down as the hill approaches, keep the momentum and click down one gear at a time to keep a good cadence. 80-100
2) If you run out of gears, then stand and hold a steady rhythm. Keep the bike rocking slightly and maintain the rhythm in time with your breathing.
3) Don't race up the hill. Try to hold a steady pace all the way, sitting or standing.
4) Don't look too far ahead, that can be depressing.
5) Pedal in circles, concentrate on pulling up on the pedal. It makes a huge difference.
6) Drink before the hill or on a section that levels out.
7) If you simply can not make it up then get off and push. But come back at a later time to finish the job.
8) Wear a bandanna or anything that will keep the sweat out of your eyes. Climbing is hard enough without trying to wipe sweat out of your eyes.
9) Find a hill that is several kilometres long and keep trying to improve your time. Experiment with sitting, standing, high cadence, mashing. Find out what works for you.
10) Report back and tell us how it's going.

Good luck

Mark

Can I just congratulate Dutchy on an excellent post! :thumbup: I second every word of it.

If it wasn't for the fact I enjoy descents I'd carry tunneling equipment ;)

As one of our members used to say
"Descents: the price you have to pay for a good climb."

I found the key to climbing hills is PATIENCE.

I did a "hill climbing" century this past Sunday that had over 10,000 ft. of climbing. I found that on the long hills that if I got into the slow grind early and took my time I was OK.

mental approach: don't look at the end. look at the immediate pavement before you. ride in the moment...not the future (even if its 10 seconds ahead)

physical approach: use different gearing to get up and over. stay in your regular flatlander cadence as long as you can. then either decide to gear up and stand or lower the gear and increase cadence. don't spin out. it will tire youquicker. keep your heart rate steady.

first get up and over. even if it means lowing down to a rediculous speed. then improve on that. leave a little in reserve for the tippy top of the hill.

better hill climbing happens off the bike in the off season. leg presses and squats for power.

Thanks for all the great replies everyone... I have already integrated alot of your advice into my training, and I already feel like a better climber (it's probably more mental than anything - but as was stated, the mental stuff is important).

Hills have always been like medicine or vegetables to me... you know it's good for you, but you just don't like doing it.

Yesterday I did some hill repeats doing both the high geared muscle tension intervals and high cadence spins. I think I prefer spinning up hills, but both get my heart rate near max by the top of the hill...

I dunno I just can't get myself to slow down for hills... it's just disturbing to see the speedo drop that much.

Originally posted by Dutchy
Experiment with sitting, standing, high cadence, mashing. Find out what works for you.
Mark

Slightly OT...

what is "mashing"? Hear the term used a lot here, but no idear what it means.

mark
t

Originally posted by trappermark
Slightly OT...

what is "mashing"? Hear the term used a lot here, but no idear what it means.

mark
t

From: http://www.kevinlippert.com/workouts.php?show=3&CAmenuOpen=on

Mashing Efforts (ME)

Workout goal:

Mashing Efforts will increase your leg strength while you are in the saddle. Mashing Efforts should be performed on a flat section of road with a slight tailwind or no wind at all. Your gearing will be 53 X 15 to 53 X 11, depending on your level of physical development. This Effort should begin somewhere around 15 to 20 mph. To start, stay seated in the saddle and begin pushing down on the pedals down as hard as possible. Concentrate on pushing the pedals down during the Effort. These Mashing Efforts should last 10 to 20 seconds. You should have at least 5 to 10 minutes of recovery between each effort.

Maybe this and the pedalling thread should be merged? :)

I like hills.

Here in central Florida we have some short mildly steep hills. As an aside, I did a tour in Colorado and none of the stuff with one exception was not as steep as a few of our steep ones around here.

Climbing hills depends on the hill.

On a short hill, you can build speed on the flat and then sprint up it. Our local club riders tend to do that. Of course, on the big hills, they tend to flame out and slow to a crawl on. It is amusing to watch this.

Longer hills, you need to avoid going over your anaerobic threshold on.

Another thing to do is try to diagnose hills. I like looking at a hill and mentally I plan my climb. It is quite satisfying to map out my use of energy so I climb quickly and efficiently. Of course, sometimes my plans don't work, but that is fun too.

We have a local hill here called "Spook" hill that is something over 7% for a little way and the blasted thing looks downhill where it starts to climb! Sneaky rascal.

On hill climbing, some people like to sit and spin (that's me) and others like to get out of the saddle. I recall riding up a small mountain in Colorado with a guy. He had a double chain ring and I had a triple. I was seated and he was out of the saddle. He knew I was from Florida and I stuck with him in my granny all the way up to the top. If you run a high rpm like I do on climbs, you want really low gears. So get the gearing that works for you.

I often go out west and climb passes for vacations. I generally don't push really hard. It doesn't seem smart to burn out your legs 1 mile into a 10 mile climb now does it? Odd thing was that even relatively low effort hill climbing improves my climbing quite a bit. I come back to around here after climbing passes for 2 weeks and I can climb all the local hills in bigger gears. So in order to improve, just going out and doing "easy" hill climbing has its place.