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Get low to climb hills faster
- By David Heatley
- Published 04-Jul-08
- Hill Climbing
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Are you climbing low and strong? How to improve your cycling hill climbing by improving your cycling core strength.
Most cyclists have problems climbing hill well because they either have a weak core or Ride in a position that is not optimal for hill climbing.
When riding your bike uphill you''ll want to avoid sitting straight up on the bike. In this position you are not engaging your core, gluts, hamstrings and lower back. Functional strength on the bike involves recruiting not only your legs but all your structural stabilising muscles in your core and lower back. By training these groups of muscles together functionally you''ll be able to develop more power, enabling you to climb better on the bike with more comfort and with great ease.
Most cyclists don''t address their functions strength weaknesses off the bike which results with poor form and strength on the bike. Pre-season and base building phases of your cycling program will be enhanced if you are able to spend some of your building good functional core strength off the bike. Once the season is underway then a regular top-up every week is all that you need to maintain this core functional strength on the bike. And... it''s this that will make a considerable improvement to your cycling when riding your bike up hills.
On the bike climbing tip
To engage more functional core strength and recruit good stabilising core strength, try sliding back a little on the seat and stretch out your body. This will provide you with more leverage on the pedals to produce greater force while opening up your rib cage to enable you to breathe better.
Taking a firm but not tight grip of the handle bars us your strong core and back to help you pull up and push down on the pedals during those demanding steeper sections of the climb. When pedalling practice developing a full circle pedalling stroke. One way to do this is to focus on "scraping chewing gum off the soles of your shoes". Remember to keep it fluid and relaxed.
Want to train your core strength and climb hills faster?
Click here for more information
Most cyclists have problems climbing hill well because they either have a weak core or Ride in a position that is not optimal for hill climbing.
When riding your bike uphill you''ll want to avoid sitting straight up on the bike. In this position you are not engaging your core, gluts, hamstrings and lower back. Functional strength on the bike involves recruiting not only your legs but all your structural stabilising muscles in your core and lower back. By training these groups of muscles together functionally you''ll be able to develop more power, enabling you to climb better on the bike with more comfort and with great ease.
Most cyclists don''t address their functions strength weaknesses off the bike which results with poor form and strength on the bike. Pre-season and base building phases of your cycling program will be enhanced if you are able to spend some of your building good functional core strength off the bike. Once the season is underway then a regular top-up every week is all that you need to maintain this core functional strength on the bike. And... it''s this that will make a considerable improvement to your cycling when riding your bike up hills.
On the bike climbing tip
To engage more functional core strength and recruit good stabilising core strength, try sliding back a little on the seat and stretch out your body. This will provide you with more leverage on the pedals to produce greater force while opening up your rib cage to enable you to breathe better.
Taking a firm but not tight grip of the handle bars us your strong core and back to help you pull up and push down on the pedals during those demanding steeper sections of the climb. When pedalling practice developing a full circle pedalling stroke. One way to do this is to focus on "scraping chewing gum off the soles of your shoes". Remember to keep it fluid and relaxed.
Want to train your core strength and climb hills faster?
Click here for more information
Share this Article with your friends on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and others
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5 Responses to "Get low to climb hills faster" 
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said this on 04 Jul 2008 9:51:16 AM EST
Ha Mate
After riding for 50 years you tend to have wonky hips. Dicky knees and other injuries. By wonky I mean the things the Physio just looks at with dismay.My best way up the hills is big gear long cranks and bonk up it. I do it every time I go out training I head up the You yang's 3.2km climb and fairly steep in parts. But to be able to do that you need to shed the beer belly. keep weight down especially upper body. I get up the hills with the bunch and sometimes without them but some take too many risks descending. Every square inch of skin is worth $1,000. I take care and catch up on the flat road home. |
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said this on 04 Jul 2008 12:45:45 PM EST
Thanks dude... will keep that in mind when climbing as I am sure I sit up too much and thinking about it when you see the TDF they get low on the climbs.
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said this on 27 Aug 2009 3:52:22 PM EST
good information to climb hills faster, and to learn to use your core excellent
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said this on 03 Sep 2009 11:08:31 AM EST
My cycling and general body strength has markedly increased in the last 6 months. I used to attack hills by getting in a low gear early and grinding upwards. Now I find myself moving up to harder rings so I can stand out of the saddle and attack more aggressively. This seems to go against general advice such as in your article but I am finding it hard to hold back. So maybe I should sit back down and pedal higher...
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said this on 03 Sep 2009 11:25:40 AM EST
Hi Saul, Thanks for your question.... Depends on the hill. On the shorter steeper climbs I too like to wack it in a big gear and power up over them. Standing up and grinding a big gear is ok if you are a strong powerful rider but there are limitations to this technique. Just like lifting a big weight at the gym… your fast twitch fibres can push a big gear but only for a short time. This is because they tire quicker than your slow twitch endurance fibres. For longer climbs it is much better to increase you cadence and climb seated to increase the recruitment of these slow twitch endurance fibres. This ensures that can still climb powerfully but for longer. You only want to watch any Tour de France hill stage to see this in action. They remain seated most of the time unless they are attacking or following an attack. By relying less on your brute force you will need to however rely more on your cardiovascular fitness to "spin" up hills. That's the trade-off. Hope this helps answer your question.
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