Out of Breath, on the up hills.

[notwal]

Currently, run out of breath, pull up, catch breath then off again, usually a few times on a big hill, but on a small hill, once usually.

Thanks in Advance

i used to have this problem too but then i discovered that riding more slowly cures that a treat

That's true. You can manage short hills at a good speed. Sustained climbs are something else. You have to be able to judge your anaerobic threshold and the only way you can do that is by going into oxygen debt as you are, and blowing up. Then next time you go a little slower. I have found a heart rate monitor really handy for marking the AT.

I've been back into cycling for seven months now after many years of almost zero aerobic work. My max heart rate is considerably lower than when I last cycled. I've only very recently managed to negotiate a local climb that I used to do on my ear back in the day. I got myself a heart rate monitor and just started watching that and found that if I didn't let my heart get much over 160 I could keep going until my legs gave up.

[foo on patrol]

Do some deep breathing at the start of the climbs too!

[gtfpv cycler]

sometimes i change up gears to hill climb , and stand rather than sit and go as hard as i can for as long as i can , this makes shorter effort over distance , if the hill is long i still do this , and as i'm slowing , i change down and either sit and pedal then stand and go again . you get over hills much faster this way , and spend less time out of breath . try that one mate.
when i do my 12.5 km sprint , the hills are where i make ground , the flats are always at the same speed , as i get stronger and lighter , the hill clims get faster . am i out of breath hell yeah , but still pedal on , and rest off when going down the hill . remember once you go up a hill , you normally go down. even a lower gear and a stand pedal will have you not far off high gear with relative ease also .

[damhooligan]

How hard are you pushing yourself up these hills. If I attempt the climb to achieve the best time I can, I can be huffing pretty hard towards the end of the climb. If I aim to just climb the hill, I can spin on a comfortable cadence and get over the hill without gasping for air and can engage in some conversation.

Jon

I am thinking the same thing.

Try going slower, see if that makes a difference.

[triangle]

How hard are you pushing yourself up these hills. If I attempt the climb to achieve the best time I can, I can be huffing pretty hard towards the end of the climb. If I aim to just climb the hill, I can spin on a comfortable cadence and get over the hill without gasping for air and can engage in some conversation.

Jon

I am thinking the same thing.

Try going slower, see if that makes a difference.

This is what I have just learnt after committing myself to getting up hills given I live in a very hilly area. Ride at a sustainable pace, not your fastest one. It will take a few efforts to figure out your sustainable place but the way i do it is aim to stay at between 10 and 5 beats per minute below my lactate threshold heart rate. When I switched to that strategy, riding at a pace and in a gear that didn't push me right up to my threshold, I started to be able to complete multiple hill repeats while still having energy to spare. Takes discipline (and a heart rate monitor, in my case) but it works and I am getting faster at the same heart rate the more I practice.

[cf73]

I am relatively new to cycling (bought my bike a year ago) but used to struggle with the hills. The only way that I was able to improve was to ride them more. I also log each ride so I know that on a particular ride if I have gone better/worse by looking at my average speed. But one really good piece of advice I read was about preparing for the hills as you are approaching them, for example, about 1km from the start of the climb try and rest the legs as much as you can ie freewheel or not put too much strain on your legs. Also when on the climb try and break it into sections.
I found it worked for me, but still want to get better.

[ejayt]

I'm having the same problem over here. After a year off the bike and before that not in the best form, I've realised I'm in terrible shape. I haven't been out for a good ride in about 1-2 months at the moment as I rolled my ankle but it's almost back in good form and riding last week gave it no problems. Hills are my weakness for sure, endurance also but that seems to disappear when I'm riding with someone else so I figure it's just boredom.

Are there any exercises I can do at home that will build up my leg strength when I can't get out on the bike? I quit the gym a couple of weeks ago because of my injury plus I'd like to focus my free time on the bike as much as possible rather than inside a gym. Obviously my cardio won't improve but I feel like my legs aren't as strong as they used to be.