"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - I can finally climb better...but breathing still sucks??

Hey all just a quick reference on training to climb better. Been racing now my first season and have been training about 150-200 miles a week. Not a ton but enough to be going out 5-6 days a week and racing on the weekends. This is my first year riding/racing and at the beginning of the year in January (about 20 pounds heavier, I was struggling at 12-15 miles per hour up the hills on my 30 mile loop. Now I blast up some of them at 20+ mph. Problem is....when I get to the top of that hill climb or a sprint...I am still gasping for air. My breathing is just slightly better than 20 lbs ago and 2100+ miles ago...I am faster in every way and have been doing well in racing with multiple top 5 finishes..flat crits..HOW DO I CONTROL the breathing?? When will it get better...

better fitness = less hard breathing for the same amount of work performed.

in the meantime, don't try to "control" your breathing - work to increase fitness.

-bullseye

better fitness = less hard breathing for the same amount of work performed.

in the meantime, don't try to "control" your breathing - work to increase fitness.However, at max-HR after a hard-effort, your breathing will ALWAYS be hard. Just that you can be producing 300watts+ right before you blow up compared to just 150watts before. The effort will suffer just like before, but you'll be able to do more work, generate more power and go faster.

At 5'6" and 160 lbs I know I can still lose more weight. Is there a way I can improve fitness for better breathing aside fom cycling? Or do I just need ot ride the bike more more more...

do some vo2max intervals

At 5'6" and 160 lbs I know I can still lose more weight. Is there a way I can improve fitness for better breathing aside fom cycling? Or do I just need ot ride the bike more more more...

As Danno pointed out, the breathing is just an indication of your relative effort. Since you seem to go hard on the hills, you've been maintaining effort while increasing speed.

*Everyone* breathes hard when they're going hard, whether you're Lance Armstrong or a little kid who just sprinted down his driveway.

The only way to reduce breathing is to reduce effort. For example, if you start going up those 20+ mph hills at your old speed of 12-15 mph, I'm sure you'll breathe a bit easier.

A good way to measure your effort is to measure your heart rate. You'll find that your heart rate seems to plateau at a certain number and that your breathing will be rapid. That's your threshold, sort of, and if you're climbing at your threshold, you'll be breathing hard. Doesn't matter how fast you're going, nor how fit you are. If your threshold is 170 bpm, and that got you 12-15 mph before, fine. Now it gets you 20+ mph. Fine. But it doesn't mean you're going easier, and that's the only way to reduce your "breathing".

In fact, as you get more fit, you can go even harder and for longer. At the beginning of the year I struggled to maintain 165 bpm, exploding at about 170 bpm. Last weekend I held 170 bpm for the whole race (40 minutes) and held 178 bpm for 5 minutes.

Finally, at 5'7", I'm 180 lbs (Cat 3), so you're fine as far as weight (at least for flatter races lol). Sure everyone can lose some weight but I'd kill to be 160 lbs. Okay not kill. But I'd be psyched for sure.

hope this helps,
cdr

Yes this helps alot....I am stuck on always thinking I am too heavy for this sport or too out of shape still. Still thinking like the fat kid..lol. Like the old saying goes: It never get's easier, you just go faster! I guess it really is true. On my recovery rides I do those same hills spinning easy at 15 or so and can sing a song...so I guess the fitness is coming.

You can do some things to help your breathing while climbing. Short shallow breaths are not as good as full breaths. Concetrate on fully exhaling. Your body will take care of the inhaling.

Also some people recommend try to get in a rhythm where your breathing correlates with your cadence. No sure it helps that much, but it may take your mind off the pain.

"It never gets easier, you just go faster"

"It never gets easier, you just go faster"

Beat me to it. That's my favorite quote. Your MAX effort NEVER gets easier, you just accomplish more. As a cruel little bit of irony, sometimes when climbing its harder to go slowly, so what used to be unattainable for me I can now do at a moderate effort, but what used to be a low/moderate effort is frickin' hard, because I'm not moving fast enough to keep a good leg speed and end up basically having to re-accelerate myself with every pedal stroke. Mostly because I have much higher gearing now...

You can do some things to help your breathing while climbing. Short shallow breaths are not as good as full breaths. Concetrate on fully exhaling. Your body will take care of the inhaling.

Also some people recommend try to get in a rhythm where your breathing correlates with your cadence. No sure it helps that much, but it may take your mind off the pain.

Getting a rhythm helps me and having it be uneven, example in for 2 revs and out for 3, helps with merlins point of fully exhaling.

However, at max-HR after a hard-effort, your breathing will ALWAYS be hard. Just that you can be producing 300watts+ right before you blow up compared to just 150watts before. The effort will suffer just like before, but you'll be able to do more work, generate more power and go faster.

Hey Danno, I haven't seen you in ages. You should come out and ride with us sometime.

Try to relax while working hard. Sounds strange I know but it makes a huge difference for me.

Sometimes I catch myself panicing on a climb and everything seems more labored, including my breathing. If I consciously try to relax my arms, shoulders, face, etc while reassuring myself that I can certainly hang onto the pack, everything instantly gets better.

On lower intensity efforts focusing on deep breathing can help as well. At the ragged edge, some of that smoothness will carry over, but you're still going to be redlined.

Hey Danno, I haven't seen you in ages. You should come out and ride with us sometime.

Yeah, I've been busy getting married and starting a new job. Going to get back into it once things get stabilized. :)

Doing yoga and tai-chi actually helps with breathing. It trains your brain to manage your diaphragm for deep full breaths. You want to breath deeply into your belly, not just fill the lungs. You'll want to stick out your belly to make room to expand the lungs. Andy Hampsten did a nice article on this about 15-years go. There was a picture of him from the side in the Giro. It totally looked like he swallowed a volleyball, he looked like he had quite a pot-belly. :)

Stamina is what you're after; the ability to endure suffering. With sufficient VO2-max training, you'll be able to keep up those high-efforts for longer. It may not necessarily be more comfortable, but you'll be able to deal with the suffering better.