What makes a great climber

Much of climbing technique is centered around the idea that a sufficiently skilled climber can transfer the power of her legs across her center of mass with sufficient body tension enabled by a strong core. Many climbers do not have huge biceps, instead relying on their legs and core to keep them on the wall whenever possible. As anyone who has pursued any sport or physical activity seriously knows, pushing your limits hurts.

For climbers, this pain comes in the form of burning muscles, or pump, after a period of sustained climbing without rest as well as raw fingertips from hours of grasping at tiny handholds on the rock.

As with any athlete, mental toughness is paramount for climbers who aim to push their way through the upper grades. Beyond the mental toughness required to keep going when the going gets tough, climbers also need another form of mental discipline. Although many climbers will climb with ropes or soft pads below them to prevent serious injury or death, a fear of falling is still natural for almost any climber. In order to arrive at the peak of the sport, climbers must be able to shut down this fear in an instant so that it does not affect their climbing.

This is because genetics, something we have no control over, plays a large role in determining the limit of what is possible for you as an athlete. This is no different for climbers. The elite climber is a unique breed. This is what makes a world-class climber. Simply divide your weight in pounds by your height in inches. The ideal ratio is 2. This provides a good benchmark for most riders to determine how efficient they can be as a climber, and where they might be able to improve.

As you begin to propel your body uphill you begin to apply more force to the pedals. This application of force engages fast twitch muscle fibers and in turn begins to produce lactic acid at a higher rate. This causes the all too familiar burning sensation in your legs as you climb. Your number one weapon against this response is to keep your cadence high and remain seated.

This tactic causes muscles to contract faster and lessens the buildup of lactic acid. Your body is also consuming oxygen at a faster rate. This means that you have to adjust your effort accordingly to be able to supply your body the necessary oxygen for the duration of the climb. So keep your cadence high, remain seated, and remain aerobic for the best approach to your big climbs. Understanding the key components as well as the science behind climbing are critical to understand before you apply the correct principles to your training.

One of the key components to increasing your ability overall as a cyclist is to perform threshold work. This often is prescribed in two different forms- sweet spot training and anaerobic intervals. Sweet spot intervals are the perfect way to increase your threshold without accumulating excess training stress. These intervals are performed at 80 to 90 percent of your established threshold and usually last anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes.

Secondly, anaerobic intervals are performed above your threshold and usually last for 10 seconds to 1 minute. These can provide the top end power when the climbing gets steep and you have to get out of the saddle. By implementing these two types of training you can prepare your body for both long steady state climbs, as well as shorter more intense efforts. Strength training for endurance athletes is about building a stronger, more well-rounded athlete.

Focus on exercises that have multiple hinge points. For example, bicep curls have one hinge point and squats have three. Explosive exercises and functional movements help to develop smaller connective muscles, fast twitch muscles, and tissues that aid in injury prevention. Regardless of the type of strength work you do, H.

Workouts such as repeats done for 8 to 12 minutes at a 4 to 6 percent grade done at threshold are a great place to start.

Another key session is maximum effort repeats above your threshold for one to three minutes. Integrate hill work or simulations into your routine one to two times per week during the build period of your training cycle.

However, when the gradient goes to 8 percent or greater, he loses a whopping 39 percent of his power! Reminder: This is a pro racer and he loses a tremendous amount of his power or ability to climb when the road is really steep! The next factor that determines success in climbing is your anaerobic ability—that is the ability to attack or accelerate hard for 30 seconds to two minutes and then recover quickly. Many riders are excellent at long, sustained and steady climbing efforts, but cannot respond to repeated accelerations or attacks.

If two riders are equal with their power-to-weight ratios, but one rider has a stronger anaerobic ability, he or she will be able to create a gap on the pure steady-state rider. Think about it this way: Both riders are riding at watts up a climb, have the same bodyweight, but Andy Anaerobic can do a one-minute effort at watts and then recover back to watts without blowing up, whereas Steve Steadystate can only exceed his FTP by 10 watts, to watts, for the same minute without blowing up.

Andy Anaerobic attacks and in the one minute he effectively puts a to second gap on Steve Steadystate and then maintains that gap all the way to the finish line. This is a key factor in determining a great climber from a good climber.

Do this workout on a regular basis to improve your ability to ride right at your FTP and do attacks or bursts above it and recover more quickly. I am a great climber. I crush other riders when I climb. Not only did he become a pro but he also became one of the best climbers in the U. Continue these bursts for the entire 20 minutes. Repeat these cadence bursts every two minutes for the entire 20 minutes.

If 20 minutes is too long for you when you start doing these workouts, shorten the interval to 10 minutes and then increase it to 12, 15 and 18 minutes until you can do the full 20 minutes. Hunter Allen. What makes a great climber?