What workout best combines with outside training to improve climbing?

Hi,

What are the best workouts to combine with my outside training to improve my climbing. The weather is too good for indoor training, and I don’t have a power meter, so the plans are no option for me at this moment. I want to improve my climbing for cols of 15+ KM at +7% gradient. I want to train to be able to enjoy the scenery, at a good pass, not to become KOM :smiley:
Thanks for your advice,
Johan

I’d consider doing Sweet Spot Base 1+2 and then Sustained Power Build.

If you want individual workouts then maybe you could cherry pick some from SPB but how effective these workouts are will depend on how good a base you already have and how consistent your overall training is.

My base is good :slight_smile:

I’m not sure I fully understand your question. You’re looking for workouts to do outdoors, without a power meter, that will make you better at long climbs?

Do you have a heart rate monitor, and do you know your maximum (cycling) heart rate?

What length of uninterrupted intervals can you do outdoors where you live?

agree sweat spot work… basically for those types of climbs your going to be at 80-90% of FTP for an hour or so… i did SSB2 prior to a visit to Spain in March and it worked a treat, I still especially like those workouts that put short spikes in them like Carillon or Deerhorn as that gives you an opportunity to simulate hairpins, raise up out of the saddle etc. you can cherry pick which ones you fancy and sprinkle them into your week around road rides… rather than follow a full 6 wk plan… start with workouts with 5min blocks building up to 20min blocks ?

@martinheadon I am looking for indoor trainings to combine with my outdoor training. Indoor training when I only have 1-2 hrs time at hand.

I ride 4-5 days out of 7.

Thanks

I’d do hill repeats on long hills. Do you have an HRM? Do you know your FTHR?

If yes to both questions, hit the hill at an RPE of 7 (out of 10) and climb. Monitor your HR. Once you get to about 2-3 bpm below your FTHR hold it there for 1 or 2 minutes longer (presuming you don’t go to or above your FTHR). Then head down the hill and repeat. Let your your HR gets down into your lower endurance zone (Z2) before hitting the hill again.
[note: this workout will mimic a sweet spot effort with power on an indoor trainer].

Someone already said this, but sweet spot base

Do long sweet spot intervals. A 15km climb at 7% is just a very long sweet spot ride - you need muscular endurance and the ability to work in sweet spot for the entire time

So…sweet spot base is a solid recommendation

It’s still very difficult to be specific, because I don’t know what outdoor training you’re doing, how long those rides are, and how intense.

Bearing that in mind, I would base your training around Sustained Power Build.

https://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/plans/158-sustained-power-build-mid-volume

The 2 important things are (1) to raise your FTP so you can climb faster, and (2) to increase muscle endurance so you can do long intervals without fatiguing.

I would do at least 2 of the workouts on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday indoors. You can do a decent version of Wednesday and Sunday outdoors, even if you don’t do the exact intervals, they’re basically endurance and tempo. And maybe you could do one of Thursday or Saturday outdoors, if you have a long steady climb where you can do the intervals at the right power.

Thanks