Training - Climbing

[Bob P]

CLIMBING ELEMENT 1:

Focus On Developing Your Muscular Endurance (ME)

If there is one key ingredient to becoming a better climber it is
your ability to maintain increasingly higher levels of power
output for extended durations otherwise known as
Muscular Endurance(ME).

The ability to maintain increasingly higher levels of power without
passing too far into your lactate threshold takes practice and
discipline and in my eyes is one of the most underused forms of
training. Why? Because it's really *#$@# hard that's why.

Holding a steady pace of 400+ watts for 3 minutes or more can take
a tremendous amount of self-discipline, physical ability, and most
importantly muscular endurance and thus must be practiced
repeatedly so that when we're climbing for performance we have a
reserve of muscular endurance left to draw from.

Let's face it, climbing is something that any good cyclist worth his/her
salt strives to improve. It's the pinnacle form of satisfaction to climb with
greater confidence and fluidity. To do this you must be able to maintain
a rhythmic cadence and have our muscles under constant duress
without fatiguing. You must be able to control your effort and judge your
abilities as you're climbing if you are to reach the top without
losing steam.

You must master various levels of your Muscular Endurance!

How can you develop this key ingredient for improved climbing?

Let's briefly discuss two tactics both on-the-bike and off-the-bike that
you can use to increase your muscular endurance.

1. ME Intervals on your indoor trainer or out on your bike with various
levels of gradients on hills. The basic premise with ME Intervals is
simple, repeatability! Climbing a hill or mountain once doesn't. In fact
to truly increase muscular endurance we must master various levels
of hills for various lengths of time to improve performance. How many
times do you think Lance practiced going up Alp Du'ez?

I like intervals that range from 3 minutes at higher watts to as long as
15 minutes at moderate high watts. The key is to keep your cadence
consistent (I prefer 80+ RPM--more on cadence in element 5) and stay
at or just below your lactate threshold so that you can last the whole set.

Out on the bike my favorite ME repeats are done on a road with two
different style climbs that I repeat 4-10 times each depending on
my goals and training objectives. The first is short and steep and when
performed well I can complete in about 90 seconds with a lower, more
powerful gearing and spin at 65-80 RPM.

The other is longer and more gradual, but still really tough and
takes me about 15 minutes to complete. I use lighter gearing and spin
high (85+ RPM). I use these two style hills to generate two different
forms of ME. One is shorter and more explosive and the other is longer
and more controlling. My objective is still the same however, control
my cadence, and maintain my HR just at or below my AT.

Over time I will choose 1-3 intervals to focus on increasing cadence or
lower the gearing to produce higher watts and help to condition my
body to maintain higher levels of power output while maintaining
my heart rate and exertion level, thus improving my ME.

During these specific intervals I will also try to keep my HR 4-10 beats
above my lactate threshold to condition my body and hopefully create
a new level of sustained muscular endurance at my AT.

2. One of my other tactics to increase your ME is to utilize Power Yoga.
Out of all the various forms of training I use and teach to others, nothing
is more challenging than Power Yoga. Don't let the pony tails and hairy
chests mislead you, Power Yoga will challenge you more than your average
Alp, I promise you that!

In relation to improving ME, Power Yoga is perfect because it forces
you to hold and maintain poses and positions that directly effect your
climbing muscles, such as your low back, your core, your hamstrings,
hip flexors, and quads for extended periods just as in climbing repeats.

Power Yoga will teach control and add a new layer of strength that
classic weight training and even cycling can't match. I try to use it in my
training at least once every other week and sometimes I use it just before
or just after a ME Interval for added difficulty and a new challenge.

Combine these two muscular endurance challenging tactics together
in as many ways as you can imagine and you will greatly improve not
only your ME, but your climbing skills and lactate threshold at the same
time. Talk about a "zen moment"!

[Bob P]

CLIMBING ELEMENT 2:

Improve Your Low Back Strength and Durability

The centerpiece for improved climbing begins and ends with the
strength and durability of your low back. Climb any extended,
steep hill or mountain and you'll know exactly what I mean. Focus
on making it stronger and you will have the primary tool you need
to improve your climbing--Guaranteed!

The low back represents the centerpiece from which the large
muscles of the hamstrings and glutes can create leverage from
which to climb with. If the low back is weak, fatigued, rigid and
inflexible, the entire body during a climb will begin to crack and
break down and ultimately lead to a complete loss of power and
control.

We all know instinctively that we need to condition and work on
the physical conditioning of our low backs, but because it seems
so simple and innocuous, many of us never do the little things to
keep it strong and conditioned. And all the while we're working on
other elements such as ME, Power, and Endurance, it is our low
back durability that will determine long term improvement.

The funny thing is that the power, strength, and endurance of
the low back is the net result of just about every other muscle
and joint that revolves around it. From the alignment of the hips
and spine to the strength and flexibility of the hamstrings and
abdomen. The low back is truly part of a larger network that
must all be well balanced and maintained if it is to improve.

Let's discuss three issues one needs to address to develop a
strong, fluid, stable low back for improved climbing skills.

1. You MUST keep the hamstrings flexible! One of the key
issues for chronic low back fatigue isn't just a weak back,
but tight hamstrings. Especially for the cyclist who's repeated
actions never really places the knee through a full range of
motion and as a result has a tendency for tight hamstrings.
Unfortunately most people do a tug here and a pull
there on these vital climbing muscles and leave it at that.

The hamstrings require deep, well organized stretches in order
to truly open them and keep them strong and recovered.
From using yoga positions to more classic stretching with a
stability ball, one must have a well put together hamstring
stretching agenda to stay on top of the potential problem. Not
only will it improve the strength of your low back, but it will help
improve your climbing position and posture both in and out of
the saddle. If you can't stay aero or in the drops very long
your hamstrings are most definitely one of your limiters.

2. You must BALANCE strength and flexibility in all of the core
muscles. Cyclists unfortunately have a "quad only" vantage point
in relation to training. We overdue the training and focus
on the quads and not enough on the hamstrings, hip flexors,
glutes and low back. This imbalance can create a forward
pitch in the posture of cyclists that will result in a loss of potential
power on the bike while climbing.

A good low back conditioning routine is perfectly balanced with
strength and flexibility exercise for both the front side as well
as the back side off the body. You can't just do squats and hope
to build low back and climbing strength, you must do the little things
that make the low back complete.

3. You must CONSISTENTLY train and condition your low back
OFF THE BIKE, not just while you're on it. Yes, you can train the
muscles of the back to improve while on the bike by doing more
climbing, but to maintain improvement and add the flexibility
element, you must do more and you must do it consistently.

Many of us start a low back conditioning program, but either never
do it enough or get caught in the same routine and never add new
elements or keep it too simple and not place enough priority on
low back training.

I guarantee that if you put just 15 minutes of direct strength
conditioning and 15 minutes of flexibility for the low back and
hamstrings into your regular routine, YEAR ROUND you will boost
your climbing skills faster than any other training program there
is.

[Bob P]

CLIMBING ELEMENT 4:

Boost the Power and Lighten the Load

Climbing is all about gravity and mass. It's simple really.
The more mass an object has the more work needs to be done
to move that mass against the force of gravity. In our case as
aspiring climbers we need to have less mass and more
potential for work or power in this case.

We call it our strength to weight ratio and it is the direct
determinant of how fast we can go up a hill or mountain. If we can
lighten our mass and increase our power we will move faster and
with less effort needed to produce the same outcome.

This is good, because of any limitation due to genetics we can
deal with this issue head on through several tactics and techniques
both on and off the bike.

Let's discuss two elements needed to increase our power and lower
our mass so that we may climb faster and with greater ease.

1. The first is obvious and probably the element we should focus on
the most, developing more power at the same weight or mass.
If you're not big on losing weight or removing those sticky buns
before a ride, then this is the tactic for you.

There are two kinds of power in relation to climbing, the first is one
that we've already talked about in element one, muscular endurance
or the ability to sustain consistent power for extended periods of time.
We can use ME Intervals, hill repeats, and power yoga to help us
develop this type of power as it I the most used power mode in climbing.

The second is explosive power or short bursts of high power for
much shorter lengths of time. This type of power is actually very
important as well as it addresses the issues of changes in incline on a
hill or maybe an acceleration from a competitor.

This explosive power is best worked on with shorter, steeper climbs
that only last 60 seconds or less. You can also work on this explosive
power with short, intense cross-training exercises such as hindu squats,
hindu push-ups, plyometrics and other power provoking exercises
performed off the bike.

You can also use longer duration ME intervals layered with short
intense power bursts every few minutes to practice changes in
power demand.

2. The second component of an improved power to weight
ratio is to lose mass. Real brain trust on this one, but one that
can not be undersold. If you really want to improve your climbing
the most profound way to do it is to lighten the load and keep the
same or slightly higher power potential.

Right away most cyclists revert to calorie deprivation or excessive
training to achieve this change in mass. Let me caution you,
although it is tempting to drop calories and train more it can come
back to hurt you in the end with fatigue and a lack of recoverability.
Not only that, but restrictive diets and over training do nothing more
than lower your metabolism and catabolise muscle tissue which will
ultimately reduce your power potential.

That being said we can lower calories slightly over time
(no more than 250/day) and gradually increase our mileage to produce
a leaner, lighter frame. The best advice is to eat high energy, low
weight foods like lean meats and fish, beans, lentils, and high fiber
cereals and grains. Avoid all the crap and artificial foods that rob us of
our natural energy.

The best scenario is to focus on both and let them work together.
Focus on improving your sustainable power and explosive power while
watching what you eat and controlling your portions to lighten your mass.
Put them both together and you'll be topping 3000 foot climbs before
with confidence and ease before you know it!

[anne]

Bob "*#$@#" I have scanned the dictionary for the meaning of this but i am lost??

[Bob P]

--SPECIAL REORT--3 TIPS to Help You Get Lean and Stay Lean
from Graeme Street of cyclo-core.com

Dear Bob,

One of the most common questions I receive from my readers is
about the process of getting lean or staying lean. A very coveted
attribute of any cyclist old or young, tall or short, male or female.

Having been a bodybuilder for years, I know a thing or two about
the topic. Combined with my 20 years of cycling experience, a
degree in exercise physiology and nutrition, and common sense
I think I can put these tactics into more cycling friendly terms to
help you get lean and stay lean.

GET LEAN...STAY LEAN TIP 1: You MUST have High Intensity or
Interval Training Intermittently in Your Program BOTH on and
off the bike!

One of things I see many cyclists fall victim to is getting overly
concerned with milage and aerobic endurance and NOT on the
intensity of a given ride. Doing ONLY aerobic miles will not be
enough for MOST people to help them get leaner!

I'm not saying that mileage and endurance isn't important, BUT
if you are looking to lean your body out you would be greatly
benefited by some higher intensity work from time to time.

What is High Intensity Training?

For cyclists, most of us think about intervals in regards to high
intensity training. These intervals or blocks of time, are
anywhere from 10 seconds to 20 minutes and challenge your
body to a high level. They're tough!

You can challenge your body with the same principles off the
bike as well with body weight training circuits, core training,
and functional training. These techniques make up the backbone
of all of my programs. Learn more at cyclo-core.com