How to get stronger at cycling uphill – Best ROUVY workouts to improve your hill climbing
For plenty of triathletes, hills are the arch nemesis. Leg-sapping, pace-dropping blasts of pain that slow down your split coming into T2 and leave you with the world’s heaviest quads as you head out onto the run. But if you can master the inclines and get strong at cycling uphill, you’ll find you can make up a significant number of places in a triathlon – and still have plenty of firepower left in your legs for the run.
So how can you get better at cycling uphill? While riding hilly routes more often is perhaps the most obvious answer. You can also focus on ticking off specific workouts that will turbo charge your aerobic fitness and build strength in your legs. Giving you everything you need to eat hills for breakfast, with room left for lunch.
We take a look at some of the best workouts on ROUVY to help you build strength, boost your bike fitness and master the hills. Elevation gain? Bring it on!
ROUVY workouts to get stronger at cycling uphill
A large part of improving your climbing is going to come down to improving your VO2 max so you can hold a higher power to crest the hill, and recover faster afterwards so the effort doesn’t tank the rest of your ride. These workouts on ROUVY will help to improve your strength and power, and help you to get better at clearing lactate efficiently so you can recover quickly between efforts.
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ROUVY hill climbing workouts under 60 minutes
Limited on how much time you’ve got to ride? These workouts will be ticked off in under an hour, making them easy to fit into a lunch break, or before the morning rush if you’re an early bird!
Strength builder: Torque Enhancer – Climber’s Plan
TRI247 DIFFICULTY SCORE
4/10
This workout features low cadence repeats at a comfortably-uncomfortable zone 3 effort. Pushing the power without spinning your legs will help you to build muscular strength and power for those sections of a climb when you’ve run out of gears and keeping the pedals turning really starts to feel like a grind. Incorporate the ROUVY Torque Enhancer workout into your routine and after a while you’ll notice once you’re back out in the real world it starts to get easier to keep your legs turning when the gradient starts to bite.
Technique: Standing-Sitting
[Image: ROUVY]
TRI247 DIFFICULTY SCORE
3/10
For newer riders, a key part of getting better at climbing on the bike is being able to get out of the saddle without going overboard and exerting way too much energy. On longer climbs, staying seated for the entire ascent can put pressure on your lower back. Being able to get out of the saddle allows you to recruit slightly different muscles, and use your bodyweight to help you put force through the pedals. The ‘Standing-Sitting’ workout on ROUVY will help you to practice maintaining a consistent effort whether you’re out of the saddle or not.
Power: Covering Attacks
TRI247 DIFFICULTY SCORE
5/10
This short but spicy workout is good for developing your higher end power, and improving your capacity to clear lactate and recover quickly between efforts. It’s useful for taking on rolling courses with short, sharp climbs. Or longer climbs with multiple steep kickers along the way. The workout features 3 x (7 x 30s Zone 5, 30s Zone 2). 30s of effort might not sound too bad, but the burn will start to build up as the reps go on.
TURBO CHARGE YOUR TRAINING WITH ROUVY WORKOUTS
60 minute workouts to improve your uphill cycling
Got a little more time to burn? These workouts are around an hour long, and will soon have you discovering your inner mountain goat – ready to tackle the climbs.
VO2 Max: Iron Forge
TRI247 DIFFICULTY SCORE
6/10
SUITABLE FOR
Intermediate
Working on your VO2 max can be tough, but doing so will give you a huge boost in cycling fitness that will enable you to ride faster up the climbs without getting exhausted. The Iron Forge workout on ROUVY features 6 x 3 minute efforts @ Zone 5 intensity. The efforts themselves will feel tough, but the longer rest periods in between give you enough recovery to go all in.
Power up: Ardennes Classic Prep
[Image: ROUVY]
TRI247 DIFFICULTY SCORE
7/10
SUITABLE FOR
Intermediate
The Ardennes Classic Prep workout on ROUVY will develop your ability to put in a final kick of power to surge up and over the top of a climb. This can be particularly useful to get around fellow competitors during a race and give yourself a clean run at the descent. After a 15 minute warm up, your main set reps will consist of 4 minutes at Zone 4 power followed immediately by 1 minute at Zone 5, with 5 minutes recovery between each of the four repetitions.
Mental toughness: Mountain Time Trial
TRI247 DIFFICULTY SCORE
6/10
SUITABLE FOR
Intermediate
Climbing well is just as much of a mental game as it is a physical game. The Mountain Time Trial workout on ROUVY will help you to build some of that mental toughness, because this is a workout where the intensity just keeps ramping up as you get deeper into the effort. Grit your teeth and trust that you can make it all the way to the end. This workout will help you to develop the strength, fitness and resilience to give it you all on the climbs.
>60 minute ROUVY workouts
Get bang for your buck during your longer training rides. These 60 minute + workouts on ROUVY will help you to build strength and power, while also working on your endurance. Helping you to become a stronger, faster rider whether you’re hitting the hills or tearing it up on the flats.
Strong and steady: Hilly Endurance
TRI247 DIFFICULTY SCORE
4/10
ROUVY’s Hilly Endurance workout should feel fairly manageable for most riders, as long as you’ve got a solid base of endurance and you can ride comfortably for 90 minutes or more. You’ll stick to Z2 effort during this workout, mixing it up with top end Z2 and lower end to simulate a long, hilly ride. This workout will help you to build aerobic endurance and practice sticking to a steady effort – key for pacing yourself on longer climbs.
Power and cadence: Power Development | Build Your Power by Giant
TRI247 DIFFICULTY SCORE
6/10
The mix of Z3/Z4 efforts in this workout, alongside the medium-low cadence is perfect for developing your ability to metabolise lactate and recover between climbs on long, rolling rides. Totally 34 minutes of effort within a 1hr 15 minute ride, this workout includes enough intensity to help raise your FTP, without causing too much lingering fatigue. Ideal for a mid-week medium-long ride or a shorter weekend ride over the off season.
Fire up your FTP: 45/15 Lidl Trek
[Image: ROUVY]
TRI247 DIFFICULTY SCORE
8/10
45s efforts might not sound too bad, but when you’re working hard and you only get 15s rest in between each blast of power the burn soon sets in. This Lidl Trek workout on ROUVY is going to feel tough. But it’ll do wonders for raising your FTP and boosting your VO2 max – which in turn will give the strength and the fitness to blast up the climbs with ease.
Resist the temptation to skip the warm up here, you’re going to need it to get your muscles firing for the main effort. We’d recommend doing this work out on a day where you’re feeling relatively fresh and energised so you can really give it your all.
TURBO CHARGE YOUR TRAINING WITH ROUVY WORKOUTS
Looking for more indoor cycling advice? Check out our ROUVY section where you’ll find tips for getting started, route recommendations and other useful insights to help you level up your indoor training.
