What are your best climbing tips?

A GCN video came up in my recommended videos a few weeks ago, gave it a watch and now I've got my own road bike and am hooked on the sport already!

5 minutes out of the saddle is my speciality. I'll usually combine that with a coffee stop...

Hank says “try it on your favorite climb.” Hahahahaha! Favorite climb! Like there is such a thing.

GCN: What are your best climbing tips? Me: Avoids climbing area 😆

I recommend hill repeats, belly (diaphragm) breathing, hamstring "scrape" pedaling for 90-95% of climb, and quadriceps/calf out of the saddle pedaling for 5-10% of climb/attack. By alternating muscle groups, you can prevent early fatigue. I wrote a book coauthored with Greg LeMond "The Science of Fitness".

It would be helpful if GCN included all the different interval training options discussed in the video in the description area on KZfaq.

Thanks for the encouragement, and the laugh when Hank's voice goes up a couple octaves at 3:46. I've always liked climbs because of the rewarding view from the top and the massively fun downhills, plus that great feeling of accomplishment. In the last couple of years, I've taken to riding up steep long grades on a fixed gear and it has taught me: 1.) Proper pacing, 2.) The most effective pedaling techniques in the saddle, 3.) How to use my full body to climb including arms, shoulders, back, core, and, 4.) Proper posture to maximize leverage when out of the saddle. I'd encourage you to get a full, deep muscle contractions using a taller gear to gain strength and power; it translates nicely to winning sprints and maintaining speed with endurance in a headwind. Make sure you keep your nutrition spot on and get plenty of rest to fully recover and to avoid injury the next time you train. Don't worry about climbing fast at first, just work on technique and in about 3 to 6 months you'll find you're going plenty fast. Don't be surprised if other riders are amazed by your ability to keep going at a such a good pace, and then when they ask what you've been doing, you can share your story of how you got such deep power reserves. Oh yeah, I also use two psychological tricks to keep my pedals turning over on long, challenging climbs: 1.) I imagine there's a magnet at the top of the hill/mountain pulling me up towards it just a little bit with each pedal turn so each push doesn't feel as hard as it could. I pretend I getting a little "free energy" from the magnetic pull, and what ends up happening is I positively reinforce my good effort and good attitude, rewarding myself for trying hard, but not being too hard on myself. The last trick: I imagine colors in my mind's eye that match how I feel, and these colors produce energy and positive motivation to make things easier. This ends up distracting me from the difficulty of the work and focusing me on feeling good or not as bad as I would feel if I weren't seeing these amazing iridescent blues, translucent neon greens, intense shades of yellow, and reds that transition from burgundy to radiant pink hues. After doing this for a few minutes, a sort of synesthesia occurs where these colors automatically transition with my emotions surrounding my present efforts on the bike and the inspirational beauty of the natural environment. I imagine each of these colors as having a unique emotional characteristics and positive physical effects, including helping me to get more in touch with my abilities and tap my full potential. These neat tricks work for me, and if you try them, I hope they work for you too! Happy riding : )

My old cycling coach used to say "Train your weaknesses, race your strengths." Wanna be a better climber? Climb. Ride with better climbers, stay on their wheel as long as possible.

Five minutes out of the saddle is 'surprisingly difficult'... I think they forgot most of us are mere mortals.

It really helps me to increase the three/four gears when I go out of the saddle.

yeah, I think you've also recommended this in previous vids, but the final answer is to lose weight. I was a "heavy" cyclist (track-oriented) with 78kg, and I hated climbing almost anything that took longer than 1~2m. I start taking spinning lessons, and even when my intention wasn't to lose weight, it burned like 8% of my fat, and now I'm 64kg. All hills I hated feel like nothing now. But again, I hate all hills ;) And on long rides I try to avoid them as much as possible. But yeah, no matter how much you train, I think in the end it is just that biomechanically and muscularly speaking, you have to be thin/light to get full potential of your legs on increasing inclination terrain.

1:37 I looked for Hank at the recent Academy Awards, but he wasn't nominated for some strange reason.

These will definitely help, thanks. I climbed (well, tried.. stopped more than I care to admit) a very small portion of the course used in the 1984 Olympic men's road race in Mission Viejo a couple days ago and it was so bad it didn't qualify as pitiful. Now, I was 17.5 years old back then so I'm...um.. a bit older (read: I qualify for the senior discount in restaurants in the USA in 5 weeks) but still. I've been riding on and mostly off since back then. I got re-bitten by the cycling bug a couple years ago and have been going 2-3 times a week since then, I should be further along. These tips will give me some structure to work with. Many thanks

Some random person on the internet said once... The best way to get better at riding up hills is by riding up hills.

Best training for climbing is climbing.. or gym work, leg press, quad extension, hamstring extension.. IMO

Are we going to have "Meet the Presenter" videos for Manon and Conner? Pretty please?

I just do Cadance and Out of the Saddle style, now i'm adding more...

Great Video! The new presenters did really well. Very clear, relaxed, energetic presentation! Nicely done!

I am a simple man, I see a great gcn video and I press like

Come to Pittsburgh and commute around the city. All the hills all the time.

Come here in Philippines we have uphills that can make your front wheel go up

I’ve been consistently training with you on the fantastically challenging indoor training rides this winter past. It’s springtime in Utah, USA 🇺🇸. I love that my skills seem to have improved significantly! I just turned 68 years-old and climbing out of the saddle for five minutes seems impossible! Yikes 😳!

Is that a random shot of Ollie at 6:14?

A drill I’ve incorporated into my workouts is climbing out of the saddle but hands on the drops then back down onto the saddle but still in the drops. This helps when the gradient changes frequently but the speed is quick enough for aero gains to matter.

Been climbing a really long steep road(about 20 minutes straight, fuck.) for days now because of this person who really just impressed me climbing really fast. I tried his pace hoping the higher cadence will help me, turns out I was wrong. Ended up practicing on the lowest gears and trained using one gear up after a rest and kept trying to break my records. It improves and hoping it doesn't take so many months.

Great video! Hills! HILLS & MORE HILLS 👍🏻🔨

Biked up the Alpe D'Huez, on my TT bike. Pretty much 1:19hr of standing and starting at my stem. Standing is the way to go. I did stop for some views, and did enjoy the ride down a bit more than the up.

Climbing isn’t inevitable here in the Netherlands, love it 😌

Love your show guys - DANKE and regards from Germany

Awesome “out of saddle” tip! Thanks so much!

I literally just led a 2x15min Sweet Spot workout with my cycling group on indoor trainers yesterday with the exact goal of improving climbing.

Man I need this video. In fact I need anything I can get to improve my climbing. Cheers 🍻

Or you could just try climbing more hills or include routes with higher elevation. I find turning off the yahoo and ignoring your urge to beat your PB on a segment coming up, will help you focus on the climbs. The more you do it the quicker you can recover. The hills never get easier but your tolerance to them improves. Find what’s easiest for you, we are all different.

Could someone please photoshop the thumbnail to have him pointing at all sorts of random objects?

Yesss the terrific trio returns!

Hard to do this when most grades around here start at 8% and go up from there. British Columbia.

The Sufferfest workout Who Dares is designed to do exactly what they recommend at 4:25 (three sets of max sprint, then tempo). Plus, it features killer footage from the Women's Strade Bianche, Ghent Wevelgem and Amstel Gold.

6. sing hime-hime with the whole squad

The best tip for being a better climber is to say "no" to that extra serving of cake.

Ride out of the saddle for 5 mins???? I wouldn't be able to walk for days if I did that.

So, it's so cold that you need arm warmers and full tights but not gloves? I cannot figure out the motivation and idea behind being kitted up like this.

It's difficult to explain in comments and would require reviewing the basics of human performance but actually what people need to learn is (above improving their lab test generated performance data) is what I call governing doctrines. What that means is that it's not enough to have a list of zones and so forth. You can come up with the statistically perfect training scheme by zones and so forth and still not understand how to pace yourself to continue improving. Status quo protocols and status quo explanations lead to status quo results. What athletes need to do is learn to use the data and results to continue to improve their "perceived exertion" while performing and using that nuanced insight to learn more about how to improve not just ever narrower zones (matched to goals) but also how to make adjustments in and out of those controlled (interval) periods. That means when to shift, when to breathe, and even when to jump, shift down (first lower cadence without reducing power, sometimes then higher cadence at slightly reduced power), while forcing deep breathing for a moment in order to - get this - recover slightly before carrying on. All of those things happen intuitively already. The question is how much we learn about perceived exertion and governing/efficiency doctrines (and ever improved intuitive reactions) while doing the "zone" training that impresses the coaches or whoever else is reading the data. If you're not tracking HR curves with power curves and never look at torque data, you're not going to be even looking for nuanced "perceived exertion" that can help you find the ideal pace and break through those artificial performance ceilings. You have to learn how to continue to raise the ceilings, learn when (and how) to recover, when to rethink what gears you use on training rides and so forth. The very first thing I recommend is getting dedicated climbing cogs. Something like a 15-28 would be perfect for most people interested in having a regularly scheduled weekday climbing session. That is when you really learn how to pace yourself while climbing, closing gaps, recovering while staying within your goals, and so forth. More important than having a 'bailout' gear is having the smallest possible gaps in between gears when you're attempting to hold a narrow "power zone." If you don't understand why I say this none of my advice will make any sense to you.

Looking this video cause i live 10 min away from Formentor and want to climb it faster and you’re there in the video 😂 (nice video btw!)

Coll de la Creueta shoutout Climbed that on a Backroads trip, that was an epic day - sure earned that freewheeling downhill! Not any hills that big around Boston

Loving the 80s sounding music nowadays, and funk also

Excellent Mallorca footage 👏🙌

I like the opening

All I can say is enduring the pain of burning legs will bring rewards. I've fairly recently returned to cycling. I ride a flat bar hybrid with a 44/32 chainrings and 12-32 7-speed cassette, 26" wheels. I initially struggled on any incline, and most steeper climbs would see me either grinding in 44-32 or even dropping into the small chainring on the front, or even worse having to stop before the top. After about 3 months of perseverance and trying to keep my cadence up on the climbs (with some serious leg burning) I am now managing to power up my regular climb in 3rd gear (21t) on the 44 chainring and still have the legs at the top of the climb to keep going. I'm obviously not going to be winning a polka dot jersey anytime soon, but I'm certainly getting faster and fitter. It still hurts though 😂

Is smaller chainring faster to go uphill?

I only ride out of my saddle during climbs to get the momentum, aft dat I will sit back down

We need more GCN content filmed in Mallorca. Those streets 😍

I live in a relatively flat area so when I visit my Daughter there is a ride of 1000m of climb in about 38kms with some real stiff climbs two days of that really helps when I get back to the more rolling gentle hills of home

Out of the saddle is one thing I really need to learn, my place has a lot of steep roads

The new bridges over the M4 in the Slough area are about 9%. Up and doesn't a few times is useful training.

Tha ks for the tips

fun intro

My legs felt like they were going to fall off. 😅 But man, going downhill after that feels so good. That wind is amazing.

Great stuff 👏 👍 👌 I really appreciate it all. My subscription is in 😃👍👏

How on earth do you do 120 cadence up a hill ? What sort hearing would you need ? 🚲

I hate hills, I love hills, it’s a strange relationship. They hurt, they make me feel like I should just sell all my bikes, and I just can’t get enough of them. Getting used to riding at 50 rpm for long periods has helped me... but mostly, getting the gearing right for my strength and age has been the big win for me.

The real question is whether Conor can climb as well as Eros Poli, a man of similar stature who won a TDF mountain stage. EP is my hero.

Very thorough discussion of standing vs. sitting cycling with references and science in the debate. Liked it very much.

I enjoy trying to top and/climb the strava leaderboards on local routes. It’s a great way to gamify my efforts and gives me reasonable goals. L

Brilliant

I find repeating a short steep section of a climb, in quick succession very efficient.

great tips awesome

3:19 look how massive his bike is

I like the way you're suggesting training methodology that contradicts Sufferfest, one of your biggest advertisers .....

The sound of Hank's final laugh reminds me of Matt!

Great frase “3.3, 6%” Cheers from NYC

not all of us take training trips to spain… i was expecting something like tips for how to train for big hills when you don't live near them. all the climbs around here are measured in seconds :D some of these things can be done in flat areas, but they're not quite the same

Great vid!

Global Cycling Network What model of Pinarello are u using ?

This is a very good video. My problem is figuring out intervals. Thirty seconds followed by 2 minutes isn't easy to keep track of when you are out on a ride facing varying terrain. Of course they are much easier to do on an indoor trainer.

For all those rides living in flattish areas , I remember hearing a statement from 6 times TDF kom Lucien Van Impe to that in his early years of training the biggest hill near where he lived was like 600 meters long and his coach at the time use to make he ride it 20 times ,

#8000Watt immer großes Blatt for those German viewers 6:08

Now watching master cycling ❤

One thing I found was do different intervals on a climb similar to the ones you will be racing on or sportive or whatever.Seems obvious but there’s no point in training on 15 percent climbs if your going to be racing on 5 percenters.😁Listen to Dunne,he’s current.☘️

Basically, for me works out of the saddle all the time, without pushing, because I can reduce the lactic acid behind my knees as I stretch in every pedal stroke

@Dagger 33 Same.

In Switzerland you got no choice than getting better at climbing.... Just did 160k with 2600m+ . Do you think this is too much for training? On average I ride at 85 % of ftp. Would it be more beneficial to make shorter rides?

How would you change gears on a hilly mountain road that changes gradient without damaging your drivetrain

mostly i found that the more i climbed the better , by mixing steep climbs and small climbs going from standing and sitting ,

You will have to stand up at some point... Try me. I refuse 😂

Where was this shot? Stunning view! 😎

why does conor have the old pinnarelo?

Where is this filmed? Beautiful setting

My favourite part of any hill is downing down the other side

Using the bridges across the amsterdam rhine canal with 15 liters of water in bottles in my saddle bags.

Love hills. Thought out of the saddle was to be avoided if possible as more energy is consumed. No?

Can I do cross chaining on climb? Like increasing my torque by Big Chain ring in front and big chain ring at the rear?

What’s the best drill for climbing 1km of 15-20% steep hill.

I just put any weight that I possibly can put on me/my bike (extra bottle filled with water, 2 big multi tools, extra inner tuber, all the bags that the bike can carry without looking too weird, baggy clothing). More weight=more effort=more gains.

What groupset they used for claim?

3:15 Jan Ullrich wants to know your location.

How can I train myself for climbing when I live in a flat area?

What is the tire size

If there are no climbs around use head wind as a substitute ;)

I climb when my weight loss plateaus. Climbing fat is no fun, but when my regular rides stop producing weight loss in spite of my diet work, I don't starve, I climb. Everything goes into shock, so I don't over do it. Weight loss is immediate for me, making climbing easier. When I happily return to the flats, all of my numbers improve, I lose still more weight, and then I start eating like a pig...sigh...