One of my weakest areas is hills whether on the bike or running. I have absolutley no leg strength. Does anyone have any recommendations on how I can build up my legs when I’m on the trainer. Normally I just get settled in on a gear and ride steady at about 90 rpms. Should I change to a higher gear occasionally and let the rpms drop down or maybe keep the rpms at 90 and just down shift once my heart rate gets to certain point. Normally when I’m on the trainer I keep my heart rate at 135-140 which is very managable. I have not done anything to find out what my true max heart rate is I just use the old standard 220-age which puts me at 190. Any advice or input would be greatly appreciated.
Try doing some power intervals… 5 min. on, 5 min. off. Shift to the biggest gear you have (53/52-11/12) and crank away at no lower than 50 RPMs. Don’t worry about HR… it shouldn’t be that high. After 5 min. shift out of the big cookie and down a couple gears, spin at 90-100, resting. If your knees get sore, try grinding away at a higher RPM, although don’t let your HR get to high.
I did the Carmichael “Climbing” video workout for the first time last night. My legs hurt this morning so I assume he is on the right track. Here it is the work out from the tape:
5 min warm up
2 x 5 minute “muscle tension” intervals w/ a 5 min easy spin in between. Shift up to a really big gear and grind away at 50-55 rpm for 5 minutes. Don’t worry about your heart rate.
Do a 5 min very easy spin 90-95 rpm
2 x 10 “climbing” intervals w/ 5 min easy spin in between.
The first is a straight 10 minutes at 60-65 rpm keeping your heart rate near but not above your lactate threshold.
5 min easy spin
For the second 10 minute interval, change your cadence every minute alternating between 65 for one minute then 95 rpms for the next minute. Keep your heart rate the same (near but not above your lactate threshold) throughout the interval.