I think I gained some lean muscle, and some fat. I’ll definitely try to keep the muscle and loss the fat.
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This was a big discussion on a couple different threads and people (myself included) got into some heated arguments.
But it goes to show that you CAN overfuel. And if you aren’t overfueling on the bike, you are eating too much off of it. I know you know all this but I am just recapping.
As someone else mentioned, measure what you want to improve. I wear a garmin watch which tracks my daily calorie burn and track my calories coming in. In doing so, I was able to get stronger AND lose fat/weight. No doubt you can do this as well, you just have to measure it. Continue fueling the work, but no reason to overdo it when you are actively trying to lose weight.
Good luck! I think you are in a good position and you have a “good problem” to have. As a matter of fact, next season I am going to try to gain a little bit of weight with a caloric surplus and see if I can add a bit of muscle to these legs. Then cut the fat again before race season starts. Kind of the situation you have now.
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I have a Whoop that tracks those things. And I’m going to start tracking the calories I’m burning on the bike and make sure I’m not exceeding that in what I take in during the ride and immediately after (at least not greatly). This fall I plan to add more endurance workouts to up my volume a bit, but not the intensity (I seem to not be able to handle any more intensity).
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lol
I know I’m an outlier here and I agree the trainer is a great tool that helps you get stronger and faster. But there’s a reason that elite athletes train outside.
The body needs to adapt to changes in weather, terrain, wind resistance. You need to practice skills of climbing, descending, riding in a pack. There’s a place for the trainer. But the OP asked why he is struggling on the hills. Is it that controversial to think it might be that it might be that he isn’t riding any hills?
I’m with you, and further, take the trainer out of Erg and use Zwift or whatever in sim mode. Then do your TR workouts and if it was me, get a lot more from indoor training. But others may have a different experience.
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Controversial? No.
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Premature and narrow to state it as a direct “If this, then that.” solution as you did? Yes, IMO.
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Additionally, we have limited info here to really make any claims on the inside vs outside info. He specifically mentions indoor during the winter, but doesn’t give much info about the more recent months. It would be good to know the actual distribution rather than guess in either direction.
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Finally, he mentions being faster on the flats and downs, just slower on the ups. Would the trainer work kill climbing prowess while leaving flat & down work alone to improve as he did? Maybe, but I am not so sure.
I agree it might be a factor, but the info shared in the OP and subsequent posts show some real issues beyond training inside (weight gain as a strong element) as likely reasons for these results as well.
Like so many things, there is likely a mix of factors at play here. Pointing to one single aspect as the pure culprit is probably incomplete IMO.
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I was kinda surprised to be faster on the downhills this year. I thought it take a while to get my bike handling skills back after 6 months on the trainer, but within a few rides they were back.
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Precisely my point. I agree that pure trainer work may lead to problems for some riders. But for you, me and others with a certain level of experience, we may need just a few rides to get our skills back in shape.
Perhaps my intent was lost in trying to communicate through internet but never intended to come across as this is the ONLY factor. I mean the obvious one is the 10 pound weight gain but biology is complicated. Sleep, life stress, diet, hydration, training consistency, etc. could all be in play here. Or it could just be it’s hot outside. But for me, if I stop riding hills or am stuck on the trainer ONE factor (not only, though a big one) is that I am not riding hills. But that’s me.
First off, can you clarify what types of clings you are talking about? Are these really long climbs (10+ minutes) or shorter? Are they relatively constant grade or pretty variable? Are they really technical (roots, rocks)?
Second, are you staying seated or standing on these climbs?
One thing I haven’t seen mentioned is different muscle groups and energy systems. Basically, when you train by riding the trails you use as a benchmark, you get very good at said benchmark. So your training for hills would match the hills that you are riding. Same with how you ride the trail.
When you are on the trainer you are riding according to whatever selected workout. You might have made big gains in longer power but regressed on short term power.
And you’re probably only doing seated work on the trainer. So you might have weak hip flexors and other muscles that you tend to recruit only on climbs /sprints. Remember that your muscles need a strong core to push against to deliver the power.
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The climbs in the area are pretty variable. The biggest climb I do around here is 1 mile long with average of 4% grade. I do most of it in the saddle, and I came out of saddle on the streeper sections.
I think you correct about weak hip flexors. I’m been thinking about doing yoga exercises to strengthen my core and hip flexors.
And I think it would be good to get better at my out of saddle climbing.
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I get that, but considering the trainer aspect was the only thing you mentioned (and firmly so), it’s hard to know that you were considering anything else at that time. It read to me like scape goating and ignoring the details already shared since none were mentioned.
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The rest of your latest reply appropriately covers a wider range of factors, and gives some wiggle room towards the more complex nature here.
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As ever, I feel that questions are likely the best starting point for discussions like this. As huges84 myself & others have done, we asked questions to dig deeper for details that might shed light on the real factors at play here.
It really doesn’t take much to strengthen them, but you do have to do the right exercises. It might not feel like you worked them hard in the moment, but you will feel it the next day.
Hip flexors, abs and obliques are muscles to target that don’t get worked on the trainer, but do get worked on the trail.
You also might want to compare seat height on the trainer vs your MTB to make sure they’re similar. Different height will emphasize different muscles.
The bike on the trainer was set up a bit differently than the one I ride on the trails. About a month ago I made changes to the bike on the trainer so the relationship between the pedals, seat, and grips were both the same.
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Just put a couple 2x4s under your front wheel to simulate climbing on the trainer. /s
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That’s remind that the bike’s front tire on the trainer is low on air, so its 1.5" lower that it should be.
All good stuff to recognize and address. Drastically different bike fit (mentioned & corrected already) and orientation (just mentioned) may not be deal breakers on their own, but combined with many of the there factors, are a pieces of the puzzle.
Closing the gap between inside and outside use via bike setup, cooling, fueling, body position, etc. is worthwhile within reason. Great questions and observations headed in a good direction here 
And I also added an addition high volume fan this spring.
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As an adder to this, I keep meaning to do a video… but prior to getting my E-Flex, I used a spare junk wheel & tire with foam stuffed into one section of the tire. I ditched the tube entirely and used the foam as a way to have a maintenance-free wheel for use with my trainer bike.
It’s still in use on my wife’s setup with the Neo. So both of the trainer setups in my area just need the normal chain attention at far less common interval vs tire pressure maintenance. I know that won’t be an option for everyone, but for those that have a more dedicated setup, or if you can have a spare junk wheel at the ready, this airless wheel/tire setup is handy for trainer use.