Best way to increase watts and be a strava KOM Beast

allez

so according to strava im averaging 310/320w over my climbs, which probably means nothing because im not even sure how accurate that really is!

Anyway im wondering can anyone suggest a suitable training plan or plan of action to get my average speed up over the climbs. Ive heard of interval training but to be honest i havent got much of a notion about it or how to implement it into my training rides.

as a rough starting point my current stats on a local climb are as follows-

elev diff- 101 m
dis- 2.4km
average gradient- 4%
average speed- 21.1 km/h
Best time 6:45
weight and height- 75kg- 1.75m

how can i go about trying to improve this? im not trying to be smart in case anyone is wondering i do genuinely want to improve my cycling and performance. so what the best way to do this? i could probably shift a few pounds id say, that's my first port of call!

any help appreciated

Briando

Buy a new bike!

allez

Briando wrote: »

Buy a new bike!

haha or a car cough cough, get the oul heart monitor on while driving up the climb, no one will know! I have a lovely bike thank you

Zyzz

Shaving my legs is what led me to become a KOM beast

Lumen

If you want to go faster over short climbs, do VO2Max intervals. Or hill repeats, which amounts to much the same thing but with less control over interval and recovery length.

There are a gazillion web pages on VO2Max intervals, but they typically involve several repeats of 3-5 minutes as hard as you can with 2-4 minutes recovery in between.

CramCycle

Beetroot, lots of beetroot.

Beasty

Let's get one thing straight here - there's only one "Strava KOM Beast"

allez

CramCycle wrote: »

Beetroot, lots of beetroot.

I've heard coconut water is worth nine beetroots and beyonce drinks a litre an hour six days a week?

colm_gti

Start racing, it's great training for being competitive on strava

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Lose weight, do some BG work oh and stick a dinner plate on up the front.

Inquitus

http://www.windfinder.com/

allez

Cristian Few Maroon wrote: »

Lose weight, do some BG work oh and stick a dinner plate on up the front.

You calling me fat lol Im a loose 32 inch waist haha what does bg stand for?

doozerie

allez wrote: »

I've heard coconut water is worth nine beetroots and beyonce drinks a litre an hour six days a week?

Yeah but check on Strava and you won't find Beyonce in the top 25 of any segments, despite all that coconut water. There is a moral in there. Somewhere.

Beasty

doozerie wrote: »

Yeah but check on Strava and you won't find Beyonce in the top 25 of any segments, despite all that coconut water. There is a moral in there. Somewhere.

Have you got a link to her profile? - I'd like to check out some of her "stats"...

IM0

Lumen wrote: »

If you want to go faster over short climbs, do VO2Max intervals. Or hill repeats, which amounts to much the same thing but with less control over interval and recovery length.

There are a gazillion web pages on VO2Max intervals, but they typically involve several repeats of 3-5 minutes as hard as you can with 2-4 minutes recovery in between.

yes OP lumen hs it covered, thats what I suggest too

it gonna hurt A LOT! but its the best way to improve for what you want

manwithaplan

IM0 wrote: »

yes OP lumen hs it covered, thats what I suggest too

it gonna hurt A LOT! but its the best way to improve for what you want

Typically, you would get a good base with lots of steady miles along with a couple of months of longish threshold intervals before you hit the V02 Max intervals. It's nice to have a good high cruising speed to accelerate off. That's what makes a true beast*.

*Well that and beetroot

Seaneh

Beasty wrote: »

Let's get one thing straight here - there's only one "Strava KOM Beast"

Yeah, the hoor.

IM0

manwithaplan wrote: »

Typically, you would get a good base with lots of steady miles along with a couple of months of longish threshold intervals before you hit the V02 Max intervals. It's nice to have a good high cruising speed to accelerate off. That's what makes a true beast*.

*Well that and beetroot

very true. about the beetroot I mean

Brian?

Find a big hill. Climb it a lot

joker77

allez wrote: »

You calling me fat lol Im a loose 32 inch waist haha what does bg stand for?

You're 75kgs, @ 1.75m?

Not fat.

But for a climber? Heavy

Lose 10kgs. You'll go a lot faster up those hills.

IM0

Brian? wrote: »

Find a big hill. Climb it a lot

and imagine you are being chased up it by a dog with big teeth and hasnt eaten in days

Surveyor11

IM0 wrote: »

and imagine you are being chased up it by a dog with big teeth and hasnt eaten in days

Ha that happened to me on Rugged Lane the other evening, wasn't hanging around to see when the dog had eaten last, but got PR unsurprisingly. So dogs and hill repeats seem to be the secret formula.

Beasty

IM0 wrote: »

and imagine you are being chased up it by a dog with big teeth and hasnt eaten in days

Unfortunately in my imagination I'm being chased by Beyonce, which seems to have slowed me down a bit ...

allez

Beasty wrote: »

Unfortunately in my imagination I'm being chased by Beyonce, which seems to have slowed me down a bit ...

Ok so to summarise what i need to do is hire beyonce as my director sportif, sadly were not mates in Facebook, loose ten kg, purchase a beetroot plantation, ask my mate to release his Doberman on me and then start pushing my vo2 max.

Going to do some careful research into vo2 max intervals.

One day I hope to achieve a shiny 2d gold cup saying 1st after a ride.

maloner

I joined a club before Christmas and doing hill training with the other club racers is really helping I think. These hill spins have involved short sharp climbs (a few around the scalp - pucks castle, quarry road and others). They take maybe 5 mins and I find myself pushing harder in the group than I ever would on my own. The incentive not to be completely left behind is a strong one.

mp31

CramCycle wrote: »

Beetroot, lots of beetroot.

Cooked or raw?

ryan_sherlock

Until you have ridden for a few years, it mostly goes down to riding hills, lots (it is what I did).

I'm 74kg, 186cm - if heavy, you just have to produce a lot of power.

Climbing lots is what you need to do, sometimes easy, sometimes hard, sometimes (rarely) hard enough to make you dizzy

On food, and getting lighter, these are a few straight forward guidelines I give to folks I coach.

- Try to eat only foods that have 1 ingredient... i.e. the food itself
- If more than one ingredient, your granny must know what all those ingredients are
- Try to avoid foods that have extra sugar
- Avoid anything that is marketed as "Low Fat"
- Avoid artificial sweetners
- Avoid vegetable oils (other than olive oil)
- Eat fresh - eat lots of veg
- Fruit is natures candy - eat around training, not elsewhere
- Eat oily fish
- No takeaways - too easy to overeat and take on toxins etc.

Just a few things there.

deandean

joker77 wrote: »

You're 75kgs, @ 1.75m?

Not fat.

But for a climber? Heavy

Lose 10kgs. You'll go a lot faster up those hills.

Nope!
Put on 10kg and keep the same pace. That'll burn more watts for you.

colm_gti

deandean wrote: »

Nope!
Put on 10kg and keep the same pace. That'll burn more watts for you.

Wrong!

It'll burn more calories, but it'll take more watts to get up the hill at the same speed than if you were 10kg lighter...

NeedMoreGears

ryan_sherlock wrote: »

.....
I'm 74kg, 186cm .....

I'm 74kg, 166cm so it's clear what I need to do - grow another 8 inches or so.

Craig06

I'm 73kg and 189cm and I'm getting quicker going up the hills everyday. I'm not particularly fast or very fit at the moment but I find short sharp climbs help me and vary standing and sitting down while climbing to change up the pace.

BofaDeezNuhtz

mp31 wrote: »

Cooked or raw?

Ya need to have advanced to be a level 32 mason to find that secret

allez

i should say i don't struggle up the climbs i do around dublin and wicklow and i go out of my way every spin to do as much climbing as possible, im almost always comfortably peddling along and the only time i find myself huffing and puffing is during a dreaded head wind!

i tend to feel more comfortable out of the saddle i find, but im starting to find sitting up and spinning a higher gear with a greater cadence is more effective.

definitely on the agenda is to work on interval training and working on intense outputs and fast recovery. one day soon hopefully il steal ryans local KOM's haha

PS had some beetroot pie and beetroot smoothie for dinner.

Hmmzis

allez wrote: »

... one day soon hopefully il steal ryans local KOM's haha ...

How about this one?

http://app.strava.com/segments/631102

Looks like a good start :cool:

CramCycle

Beasty wrote: »

Unfortunately in my imagination I'm being chased by Beyonce, which seems to have slowed me down a bit ...

The fear of what my wife would do to me if I let Beyonce catch me means that I go faster in this scenario.

mp31 wrote: »

Cooked or raw?

Either/Or

carltonleon

CramCycle wrote: »

The fear of what my wife would do to me if I let Beyonce catch me means that I go faster in this scenario.

Surely it would be worth it though !!!!!

Beasty

Seems to me she's got a pretty nice "drafting profile" ...

manwithaplan

Beasty wrote: »

Seems to me she's got a pretty nice "drafting profile" ...

Not for you. Unless of course they produce the "Massey Ferguson Beyoncé" some time soon.

Zorba

Get yourself a big heavy pile of sh!te mountain bike, and optional extra is a bag on your back with a few kilos in it and go training up hills as much as possible.

After a few weeks hop on your racer and go hunting koms, you should see a drastic improvement in your watts/times

allez

so had a fun oul spin after work today, bout 55km, actually felt pretty crap and tired. i put strava on to record my distance cause the speedo wasn't charged. luckily my iphone was charged and i managed to compile a Beyonce and Destiny's Child mixtape with some Jay Z thrown in for good measure so needless to say i was pumped. I've also been carbo loading on fresh beetroot, organic of course

Devastated to get home to find my highest rating on any segment was fifth and mr sherlock was first with an average speed 3km/h faster than me. i just want to ride le tour

hardCopy

allez wrote: »

Ok so to summarise what i need to do is hire beyonce as my director sportif, sadly were not mates in Facebook, loose ten kg, purchase a beetroot plantation, ask my mate to release his Doberman on me and then start pushing my vo2 max.

Going to do some careful research into vo2 max intervals.

One day I hope to achieve a shiny 2d gold cup saying 1st after a ride.

Anybody else imagining Beyonce sitting on the back of a team car spraying beetroot juice out of a super-soaker?

ryan_sherlock

allez wrote: »

Devastated to get home to find my highest rating on any segment was fifth and mr sherlock was first with an average speed 3km/h faster than me. i just want to ride le tour

Which one?

allez

Beserkly fox climb

allez

Ok so in all seriousness again, started doing interval training on the turbo and using my heart strap to get better.

Just wondering how often and what duration should i be doing interval sessions to make a meaningful difference?

denbatt

I have been commuting to work the last month. Direct it is around 14.5k each way but I have been mixing it up and taking in some shortish sharp climbs just to keep it interesting. I am usually carrying a 2kg backpack sometimes 3kg. I am 180cm and 75kg. I have definitely noticed an improvement in my strength and stand up climbing indurence. I have bagged 9 kom's in the last month varying from short sharp climbs to flat out sprints. Op, just get out cycling and push your limits for a fue minutes every spin. Good luck.

transylman

http://cyclingtips.com.au/2010/04/biggest-bang-for-your-buck-in-time-trial-equipment/

allez

Quick Update since this was up a while ago and i'd like to thank everyone for the assistance on the way. I'd like to think ive also made some serious improvements.

Basically started interval training and doing those horrible efforts to increase my lactate threshold which has worked quiet well. I can zip up climbs for a lot longer than before without burning up and grinding to a halt although i still have a long way to go. There was points i went too hard, reached the summit felt dizzy and had to stop.

Ive lost a few pounds too which has definitely helped although im still struggling to maintain that ultra healthy diet i so desperately strive for.

At the moment i'd like to get rid of those final few pounds to get to my optimum weight. As well as cycling about 6 hours a week how much and what should i be eating to still keep up performance but shed some of that fat. ?

Seaneh

Just a wee post re: icreasing your lactate treshold to climb longer without burning up.

The production of lactate is caused by the breakdown of sugar in your muscles at a high rate during high intensity exercise. The production of lactate actually signals the muscles to produce more NAD+ which actually allows high intensity exercise to continue. So Lactate is GOOD.

What gives you that "burning" sensation during high intensity exercise is called acidosis and is a general lowering of the pH inside the muscle. It seems that the burning feeling is caused by a build up of Hydrogen ions (H+). The exact reason for fatigue is unknown!