Keeping in Shape for Hill Climbing in Winter?
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Grupetto Bob
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Keeping in Shape for Hill Climbing in Winter?
When the hills are covered in snow and ice or they are shaded and slippery with wet and downed limbs, how do you keep you climbing legs climbing in shape?
I back-off hills in the winter (my choice) due to inherent danger. That doesn’t mean I don’t want to keep that skill intact for Spring. Other than moving to Calif or Ariz, how do you do it?
Is doing out of the saddle efforts on a trainer the only answer?
I back-off hills in the winter (my choice) due to inherent danger. That doesn’t mean I don’t want to keep that skill intact for Spring. Other than moving to Calif or Ariz, how do you do it?
Is doing out of the saddle efforts on a trainer the only answer?
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The Northern California wet season also makes descents pretty risky, so I stay out of the hills for the most part. Unless it's really dry. My worst crashes occurred when descending wet roads.
I can't tell if out of the saddle intervals do much. So what else do I do for the legs? Um, well, I think riding climbing routes on the smart trainer help. Maybe. It's something I'm trying this year. I joined a gym but have yet to visit (waiting until flu/COVID/RSV cases drop).
Last year, I did lots of lower body strength workouts at home. They seemed to help somewhat. Legs weren't as wimpy in the early season.
I can't tell if out of the saddle intervals do much. So what else do I do for the legs? Um, well, I think riding climbing routes on the smart trainer help. Maybe. It's something I'm trying this year. I joined a gym but have yet to visit (waiting until flu/COVID/RSV cases drop).
Last year, I did lots of lower body strength workouts at home. They seemed to help somewhat. Legs weren't as wimpy in the early season.
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Last month Zwift had Old La Honda as one of their Climb Portal climbs, so I did that for grins. Very similar to the real thing, in terms of gradients and turns, but the "Climb Portal" graphics are distinctly strange....
Other than that, if I feel up to it, I'll toss in a route with a climb maybe ever week or so. Innsbruck is good for that.
Other than that, if I feel up to it, I'll toss in a route with a climb maybe ever week or so. Innsbruck is good for that.
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I just started using Rouvy -- it's is a nice change from the Zwift grind. There are so many Rouvy routes to choose from. I rode Cortina on Saturday, 2910 feet, quite realistic and enjoyable. Very few other riders on the route, much like roads IRL:
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Go to the gym and crank up the resistance on a stationary bike. But to be honest, hill climbing is meh to me. So, not a lot of that actually goes on.
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I mostly hike with hiking poles in the winter. I think you use a lot of the same muscles - legs, core, upper body.
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Squats, deadlifts, and threshold and VO2 max intervals on Zwift. Better training than the real thing, for me.
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It's pretty much all hills, all the time, for me...although the big 1 hourish climbs are all snowed in for me, so most of my winter climbing is a series of <20 minute hills strung together. Even those often have ice/moisture and sand on them...it's virtually impossible for me to not do a climb-heavy route without driving somewhere.
One difference from summer, is I do a lot of zone 2 rides on the trainer. Zone 2 is hard to stick to on local roads and everything from my aerobic base to threshold and repeatability of efforts, has improved since working on that. The other thing I work heavily on in the winter, is strength training. It's not just for better all-around fitness, but to also improve endurance on the bike.
There is a mental aspect of climbing that is hard to replicate outside of just doing it, but it mostly comes down to watts per kg. So simply, I just try to build my FTP and avoid putting on weight.
One difference from summer, is I do a lot of zone 2 rides on the trainer. Zone 2 is hard to stick to on local roads and everything from my aerobic base to threshold and repeatability of efforts, has improved since working on that. The other thing I work heavily on in the winter, is strength training. It's not just for better all-around fitness, but to also improve endurance on the bike.
There is a mental aspect of climbing that is hard to replicate outside of just doing it, but it mostly comes down to watts per kg. So simply, I just try to build my FTP and avoid putting on weight.
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I'm guessing that just getting in enough hours on a trainer is good. With a mix of long Zone 2 and either simulated hill climbs and/or interval workouts. It doesn't have to be specifically targeted at hill climbing watts and climbing times.
Any "real life" exercise outdoors is nice too.
Any "real life" exercise outdoors is nice too.
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It's carbon dontcha know.
I'm at 19k ft of vert this past week all on Rouvy due to the weather. Trying to avoid the final ride I need to do to complete the GCN challenge as it's 10% most of the way up. I tend to use all the long climbs as zone 2.
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like terrymorse, i do a lot of climbing in rouvy. the routes in the alps are really fantastic.
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If you back off hills in winter why would you need to keep you legs in shape for hill climbing in winter?
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The Northern California wet season also makes descents pretty risky, so I stay out of the hills for the most part. Unless it's really dry. My worst crashes occurred when descending wet roads.
I can't tell if out of the saddle intervals do much. So what else do I do for the legs? Um, well, I think riding climbing routes on the smart trainer help. Maybe. It's something I'm trying this year. I joined a gym but have yet to visit (waiting until flu/COVID/RSV cases drop).
Last year, I did lots of lower body strength workouts at home. They seemed to help somewhat. Legs weren't as wimpy in the early season.
I can't tell if out of the saddle intervals do much. So what else do I do for the legs? Um, well, I think riding climbing routes on the smart trainer help. Maybe. It's something I'm trying this year. I joined a gym but have yet to visit (waiting until flu/COVID/RSV cases drop).
Last year, I did lots of lower body strength workouts at home. They seemed to help somewhat. Legs weren't as wimpy in the early season.
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I see that people feel that doing hill climbing really does translate into climbing IRL. Not my experience, but maybe going out too hard or not hard enough??? Have done some the interval work on ZWIFT as well, but usually high cadence, high aerobic.
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When the hills are covered in snow and ice or they are shaded and slippery with wet and downed limbs, how do you keep you climbing legs climbing in shape?
I back-off hills in the winter (my choice) due to inherent danger. That doesn’t mean I don’t want to keep that skill intact for Spring. Other than moving to Calif or Ariz, how do you do it?
Is doing out of the saddle efforts on a trainer the only answer?
I back-off hills in the winter (my choice) due to inherent danger. That doesn’t mean I don’t want to keep that skill intact for Spring. Other than moving to Calif or Ariz, how do you do it?
Is doing out of the saddle efforts on a trainer the only answer?
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I recommend giving up sex. “Women weaken legs.”
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I do a lot of indoor climbing on Zwift and Rouvy and find it translates very well into real life climbs. For example I’ve climbed the Galibier half a dozen times in both Rouvy and IRL and it felt much the same. Just lost a bit of power IRL with altitude as expected. I’m using a Kickr Bike with the climb tilt function, so it feels very realistic. Alpe du Zwift feels pretty realistic too with Trainer Difficulty set to 100%.