How to train for hill climbing competition

[Tadhg]

I was wondering what type of training I will need to do it will be coming up in 2 months it’s 2km long at average of 8%

[jdman]

Lots of VO2max work it’s a 5-10min effort so I’d be doing 2xVO2 per week - 1 of 3min efforts like variations of Spencer and 1 of really high power one minute reps like Bashful or Bird - that’s 2x1 hour session - add in as much zone 2 as you have time for.

[Jolyzara]

Find a hill. Ride up it. Repeat.

[ojtCycling]

There are a couple of threads already on the subject which might interest you…

Hill Climb Time Trials

Hello, I am coming to the end of a short Hill Climb Time Trial season in the UK. I am new to this event and am looking for guidance. Training for these (typically) 2-5 minute events has been discussed by Chad in a recent podcast with some useful insights… but I wanted to know what everybody else thought. These time trail climbs are typically on climbs with steep gradients with averages often around 15% and sections up to 20. Any thoughts on outdoor or indoor sessions to hone fitness and skil…

UK hill climbs in plan builder

Am hoping to do a half-decent season of hill climbs here in the UK: my main aim is to qualify for nationals and then beat a pal of mine that trains with the Sufferfest. In 2018 I mostly freestyled a plan, with a block of criterium racing in August, which i picked the short power and crit plans for, followed by lots of VO2max work in September. However that was before planbuilder. With plan builder, am I best referring to this event as a TT, or something else? Some have suggested something out …

I too am starting to look ahead to Hill Climbing season with a series of events targets in October. I have been thinking about picking up this plan referenced in one of the threads above: https://www.backpedal.cc/product-page/hill-climb-season-training-plan

But plan or not plan, its pretty clear this is going to be VO2Max focused work to be in the best possible shape for the event…