This really works. I take my 16kg steel winter bike on my home parcours, - 35 km with 9 short but steep climbs, some fully out-of-saddle, some seated, all in a more or less heavy gear and sometimes wearing a 8/12kg weight gilet. Here in Switzerland you do not have 5 km without some kind of a climb. After this using a 7kg carbon bike, you fly up any hill.
I been doing these for years. I found in addition to making your brute strength grow, it also severely aids anyone who os physiologically a sprinter or on the heavy side of an all around rider. One of the hardest things for a sprinter to do is get to the sprint with enough gas to sprint. The huge bonus I didn't hear you mention is when you recruit muscle systems in this way you are overloading them, this not only increases neural-muscle activation and the shear quantities of fibers, but increases the muscle fibers themselves ability to metabolize fuel at differing rates efficiency and with minimal byproduct. I have a hill very similar to this and I use it both for repeats but also to work on my sprint, if you utilize your same strategy but on the 4th decent you rip it off the bottom as if you get a lead out you can really build on explosive top end high rpm power in a lactic loaded and fatigue state. I.e. end of race
This is great. In high school track training we’d run / sprint short and long hills just the same way. If you didn’t want to puke your heart out of your chest you weren’t hitting it hard enough! Key is to not stop pushing until the top even if you over-gas the start. Can’t wait for my new bike to try some of these!!
Thank you for sharing, I'm newer to road cycling, been power lifting for 4-5 years and wanted a new challenge. This is super helpful for training thanks.
Thank you very much! I just start cycling again after 4 years of absence in June 2020. Then I found this video and start training on ln July 2020. By August 2020, or just a month after I start this training method, I was surprised by the result! On my usual segment that took 50 minutes to 60 minutes, now my PR is at 43 minutes! and yesterday I was at 40 minutes! I'm very happy with the result and always share this video with my friend that started cycling not so long ago.
great content mate I'm 59 and just started cycling only doing 40k every day, my 1st goal is to be able to Cruz at 26k's for the whole 40ks done now its 28 with your sprints added....
hey cam, great vid. I have been riding straight blocks since the early 80's when I raced. i'm now 64 and still in a 12-14-15-17 block and 39/52 rings, and I'm a climber. the reason I can still conquer in the hills is because of the 38 years of this gearing, and i'm talking grades of 2% to 22%. They have forced me to stay strong. very similar to what your video is about. I also hammer or what I like to call 'Pantani' the last bit of the climb.
G'day, Cam. Slowly getting through all of your uploads! Been on the road bike since July 2019, i've dropped a few kgs and i'm getting faster and fitter every week. Thanks for sharing this one- plenty of hills round our way (Byron), i'm going to go and get stuck into a few hill repeats after watching this. Cheers for the inspiration and your down to earth approach. Hope the Sunny Coast is treating you well. All the best. Leroy.
I tried this yesterday, I am aiming for that once a week. This time I focused on one hill like yours although it was just 55m gain/1km section, which I did 11 times for 600m in 1hr and 10 minutes or so (I was aiming for 60 minutes) Keep working at it and report back. Keep working on the technique. I know my cadence fluctuated much more, although I tried to keep it low as possible.
I love this...I'm so happy I found your channel. I really needed to hear this thanks coach Cam I'm going to give this a go over the next several weeks and will report back. Please keep this type of content coming. Cheers.
This video was great. I've been training base recently with your last video in mind - specifically making every pedal stroke count along with being focused as opposed to attacking hills, coasting down, then attacking a headwind, then easy riding, etc. Great stuff, mate!
Love this video .. saved straight to my favourites ... effectively cleverly structured interval/weight style training on the bike! Brilliant. Suddenly my steep long driveway has a completely new purpose ;)
Legend! I have just started to add hill repeats into my training structure. Using Zwift for 3/4 x 1hr TT Tune up workouts in the week focusing on Anaerobic, VO2 and Aerobic but now added 1 hour hill sprint loops, big gear low cadence starts with sprints to finish. endurance/tempo rides at the weekends 2-4 hours worth as and when possible. Lost 4 stone in 2 years Love Cycling!!! Love your vids!!! Keep em comin Cam.
CJ W Lol. I have clips but never used them before and plan to put them on this week even though everyone tells me that I’m going to fall, I told them that I wouldn’t! Lol
Cam more of this content! Those HIT power sessions are exactly how Belgian and Dutch Elites train. Most over bridges but in big gears slower RPM . I lived and raced there for almost 5 yrs.
This type of training is helping me. I have a 7-8 deg hill in my neighborhood that takes me about 1:30 to climb. Currently doing 10 passes. I try to increase my reps ever time I train this segment. I will start to include dashing at the last 50m on a few of them. Also, I don't have a road bike, it's a MTB 32 lbs with knobby maxxis DHR's, not a good rolling tire.
Cam - Love it, love it, love it. yes more of this training stuff. Reminds me of Yarra St at Kew Blvd and advice from a SKCC friend - once at the round about & going through it, get out of the saddle and sprint. Agree with you, killer work outs
Cam I really enjoy your videos. Great information on so many different facets of the sport. I'm in my mid sixties and live on the east coast, north of Boston. I ride between 400-500 km a week. I spent the bulk of my professional career coaching elite athletes in the sport of collegiate ice hockey. There is a lot of crossover between skating and cycling, similar focus on developing explosive power in addition to a high level of aerobic fitness. I do find that my riding does suffer at times from over training. It's easy to do, especially when you're retired and have the time to put in 20 hour weeks on the bike. I love listening to how others approach the sport, training tips and of course bike reviews. Love your site.
Hey Brian, thanks for sharing. Funny, I have two members of the Uplevel Road Cycling Course I work with. One in his fifties and the other in his sixties. They both battle with my desire to bring down their volume. I wouldn't be pushing it if they just wanted to ride for fun and be social. But they want to improve. I would think 12-14 hours MAX for a rider at your age. 2-3 HIT sessions per week and the rest of your training should be aerobic, low intensity. You would see a MASSIVE uptick if you implemented something like that. Just ensure every third week is a little easier. Good luck. Cam
@@CamNicholls I have no doubt you're advice is spot on. I will have to check out your Cycling Course. I'm sure I'd really enjoy improving my baseline knowledge in many critical areas. Like any coach, I'm a bit of a sponge! It's interesting to see how ones 'biking' experience/preferences evolve over time. I know you've referenced that in several of your videos with your own situation. For much of my late 50's into my early 60's I transitioned away from road riding to riding my mountain bike, probably averaging about 100 to 140 miles a week. Much of that was a combination of road and relatively tame trails where you could carry a fair bit of speed. It's a Pivot Les, kept me in shape and I liked the upright riding position. Meanwhile I slowly pared down my road bike 'stable' to the point where I left myself with a cross bike as my only non mountain bike option. Then I found myself slowly pulled back into enjoying being on the road, carrying a bit more speed and covering more distance. I'm strong enough to hold my own in our group rides with a handful of younger friends even with that cross bike and my 35mm heavy tires. But my mileage started trending up the past couple of years to the point where 40-50 mile rides, 6 or 7 days a week have become part of my routine. And now I'm seeing plateauing, fatigue and as a former coach I realize I'm not training intelligently. My goal at this point isn't really so much to be 'racing' as it is to compete with myself, see how much faster I can get and just enjoy the awesome feeling of being fit & healthy. That's actually how I stumbled onto your site. I'm back looking for a good all around carbon road bike that I can use for fast rides and the BMC was one of several I'm considering. You do a great job with your bike reviews; incredibly thorough and always straightforward which I love. It's easy to get lost in the technicals of evaluating different bikes. But I love how you keep your rating system, very simple with criteria that speak to me, specifically comfort, speed, handling and stiffness. Any rider who spends hours on their bike(s) can relate to those four critical areas of performance. Thanks for taking the time to respond. You obviously love what you do.
Fastest way to get faster for crits is to do some Zwift racing against people in your watts per kilo in a flat Zwift race. Do a race every day that you are recovered and don’t over do it. Great video Cam your editing is top notch. Along with Jesper Verkulij my favorite cycling you tube bloggers.
1500 meters of elevation today I am crumbling 😫 but in all seriousness, you get a taste for climbing the more you go. Good tips, even though unconsciously I've been doing this and as a matter of experience, my legs and arms are stronger thanks to this.
Awesome advice. Great content mate. Coincidentally i just finished base phase and started a month or 2 of pure strength so yup, this is great to know im on track
Its the monsoon here in India and so riding outdoors has reduced significantly. I took this opportunity to do some heavy resistance low cadence workouts and it has improved my power on the bike.
Thanks mate. Simple techniques and I really need to build my strength. I like how you are very clear that we need to build up not go too hard at the start with these sessions. I have now subscribed as well.
Very true. We were doing these in the early 80's here in Adelaide under Charlie Walsh's guidance. Climb was Norton Summit, approx 7km, average gradient of 5.5% peaking at 8%, seated the whole way up. Strength training and also to perfect position on the bike.
@@davidsolari3369 I think there's a case to be made for the hill not being so steep that you really struggle to get the crank past top dead centre. On a steep hill the bike obviously slows down plenty between pedal strokes, but if it doesn't coast at all you're really winching yourself up. Mind you, Obree did that, and I suppose he was getting the "next" leg past top dead centre by "scraping the mud" off the shoe at the bottom. I climbed the Campsie hills north of Glasgow seated on a 52×13 when I was young and stupid. That again was just way too long an effort. Massive torque, not that much power, low heart rate: I'd taken it too far.
Interesting approach. Riding low cadence and pushing the power out with repeats....without realizing I have been riding generally with lower cadence over the past few years. While high cadence riding is on the up and up, sustaining high cadence requires immense cardio and aerobic capabilities. As I approach my 50's (bugger.....) , I came to terms with my age and decided that I was no longer going to push high cadence riding. For others that are reading this, add some cross fit and lift training (lot of squats and lunges and dynamic jumps) to your non-ride days, and you will start to see your legs get stronger and all muscles starting to fire quickly. This has helped me ride stronger while keeping heart rates lower. I am riding better than ten, heck, 20 years ago. (BTW, nice Bar tape, Supacaz Galaxy...recently changed over all my bar tapes to this one and its the best personally)
Awesome insights mate, thanks for sharing on the thread. You also have a keen eye re bar tape...ps - I have your email. Will respond wth the details over the weekend 👍 Cam
Did this work out tonight. 9x320wx2min out on a local hill w/ 5.5% grade. Surprised I could get through it. Hopefully this will help move the needle in the right direction
Great advice Cam. Me and a mate do Gyndier Dr. repeats every Thursday while the rest of the bunch head out to Boreen Point. For some reason the second repeat is always the easiest. Definitely makes you a stronger rider. Keep up the good work. Cheers Peter 😊😊
Great vid! I returned to cycling about ten months ago after a 35 year hiatus...I was weak :( So, I found a course with a long steep grade and would pedal up the grade, and ride down and do this two or three times till I got shakey. Then I would ride a couple miles around and repeat the process of climbing and descending...it really hurt at first, but now it is a pleasure! :) I grew up riding in a very hilly mountainous area so this training was purely intuitive to me. Subbed to your channel now :thumbup:
Hi, I have just started watching your you-tube training sessions and they are great at explaining clearly training tech...... Thank you "The Cannonball" - UK Yorkshire.
this is HIIT with some sprints, super useful, been doing these once to twice a week on a trainer, ftp upped 100W in my first year of cycling, although that's beginner gain, 120W to 240W for a 64kg guy made me surprised everyone in my riding group.
Thanks Cam, great video. I implemented your last advice and now ride with a focus on steady power, already noticing improvement. I remember accidentally doing hill repeats and noticing a strength boost while racing, I'll have to build it into the program properly. Cheers.
Fantastic video. I’m just starting to have a go at hills - always avoided them. So this is a really helpful training vlog that I believe will help me a lot. Thanks.
Cam Nicholls it’s hard work but getting there very slowly but tips like this will get me up that curve a little bit faster. Cheers. Love the channel. Easy watching, informative and not always too serious.
My wife is a former national team rower. These all out repeats are a staple of rowing training. 4-6x 4mins with rest between is a classic rowing session. But 1.2 or 3 min repeats are common as well. Never understood why so much of bike training is done at threshold. The whole 80% of training at 2mmol of lactic acid or lower has escaped bike training it seems. No sure why. Great vid.
I've been cycling for two months already and I kinda regret that I focused less on my legs when I've been doing gym before. I should give your advice a try.
...... and as well as an important supplement training at home. Pull-ups and burpees with push-ups. For good cycling power strong arms and back/core are also very useful,- not only strong legs and mind.
Interesting I just stumbled upon this video, stoked actually, pretty much have a very similar hill in Adelaide, which i did only a couple of runs up yesterday, first section starts out at an average of 7.5%, it flattens out and then the second section kicks up to 18% up the top, whole climb is about 4-5 minutes depending how hard you push and about 1km in length. Normally I’d try to push up there real quick and be on the floor gasping, but as you said I just cruised didn’t push and kept an eye on my breathing and felt a lot easier than past tries. Your Video has got me keen to do more repeats there! Feels like my climbing has been going nowhere, I’ll have to report back and see if this helps. Cheers.
I believe "not attacking the hill, but let it come to you" is a good way of training - it let to work longer with steady effort. Having power meter helps a lot - before I got one, I was mostly riding too hard where I shouldn't and too easy where I should/could go harder.
This is really good information. About a month ago I started doing low cadence, high resistance work on a spin bike during my lunch break, watching a specific GCN training video (which they oddly removed a few days ago.) There's a similar one on the Giau with Simon, though the repeats are 4 minutes, which is long. However, I think it's working. If this hill repeat session was translated into a spin session, what amound of rest would you recommend between reps? And would you recommend against twice a week?
Thanks Chris. I feel for a 2 minute heavy gear effort you’d want 2 mins minimum or 3 mins max for your recovery. Depends on your level of fitness. For your other effort session during the week just don’t make them heavy gear. I reckon 3 effort sessions a week max with 1 heavy gear focused. That’s my opinion anyway. Cam
@@CamNicholls Thanks Cam. One final thing ... are you able to say which aspects of performance most benefited from this kind of training ... hills, or speed on flat, or both?
Hi Cam. been doing these repeats for a few weeks now and they seem to be working. Just curious as to what big gear you do your repeats in? Obviously as you are riding 1x and I'm riding 2x however I've started off in small ring but adding an extra cog to the load each week. Cheers.
ok I have found an appropriate hill - but so far no pancake place that can anyhow keep up with yours - any ideas if the hill sessions will also improve my cycling without the pancakes as enhancer for muscular recovery??? but kiddin' aside this is a great inspiration. I'll definitely work with that. ...and try to find the best possible replacement for the pancakes :)
Hey Saliem, I would be focused on just riding your bike for the first 1-2 months. Don't worry about any of this hill repeat stuff. Just zone 1 and 2, with a consistent pedal stroke. 3 rides a week. Start with 1 hour each ride, them the next week, 1.5 hours each ride, then the next week, 1.5 hours each ride with the third ride that week being 2 hours. Build up. Cam
Would this work for MTBing? Say pushing hard gear on climbs and recovering, cruising with higher cadence on flats over say 15mile. Also, how does pedaling standing up affect overall strength for cycling. Does it at least engage different muscle groups? Pedaling while standing up works really well for me but only on super short punchy climbs where I am trying to maintain cadence without upshift.
Excellent video..! Exactly what I'm looking for. Thank you :) As a beginner though, it seems I need to get myself a power meter to take full advantage of your teachings. Do you have any suggestions on that topic? Greetings from Vancouver, Canada
Hi Alana, thanks for the kind words. I use Quarq, I find it to be the most reliable at a reasonable price. As a side note, if you got value out of this video and are interested in purchasing power I have an online course which includes a sequence of 12 step by step videos that teach a structured approach to training with power. You also get access to a cost rate of a quarq power meter through SRAM. I invite 10 students in each month and I currently have a few spots left, for Jan. We also have an intro phone call over Zoom. Details are here if there’s interest: www.roadcyclingacademy.com/p/uplevel-road-cycling Cheers, Cam
Nice one Sam. I just had a channel supporter email me. He's been doing these for 3 weeks now and just won B grade on the weekend. After trying to win for 18 months! Cam
HI Cam, love your videos! May I ask what software you use to place data overlays? Thank you! More power to your channel!
Bikerdude!!! Hi, idol! Ride strong 💪
I am also curious about that.
up
its Garmin verb
This really works. I take my 16kg steel winter bike on my home parcours, - 35 km with 9 short but steep climbs, some fully out-of-saddle, some seated, all in a more or less heavy gear and sometimes wearing a 8/12kg weight gilet. Here in Switzerland you do not have 5 km without some kind of a climb. After this using a 7kg carbon bike, you fly up any hill.
I been doing these for years. I found in addition to making your brute strength grow, it also severely aids anyone who os physiologically a sprinter or on the heavy side of an all around rider. One of the hardest things for a sprinter to do is get to the sprint with enough gas to sprint. The huge bonus I didn't hear you mention is when you recruit muscle systems in this way you are overloading them, this not only increases neural-muscle activation and the shear quantities of fibers, but increases the muscle fibers themselves ability to metabolize fuel at differing rates efficiency and with minimal byproduct. I have a hill very similar to this and I use it both for repeats but also to work on my sprint, if you utilize your same strategy but on the 4th decent you rip it off the bottom as if you get a lead out you can really build on explosive top end high rpm power in a lactic loaded and fatigue state. I.e. end of race
This is great. In high school track training we’d run / sprint short and long hills just the same way. If you didn’t want to puke your heart out of your chest you weren’t hitting it hard enough! Key is to not stop pushing until the top even if you over-gas the start. Can’t wait for my new bike to try some of these!!
Thank you for sharing, I'm newer to road cycling, been power lifting for 4-5 years and wanted a new challenge. This is super helpful for training thanks.
Thank you very much!
I just start cycling again after 4 years of absence in June 2020. Then I found this video and start training on ln July 2020. By August 2020, or just a month after I start this training method, I was surprised by the result!
On my usual segment that took 50 minutes to 60 minutes, now my PR is at 43 minutes! and yesterday I was at 40 minutes!
I'm very happy with the result and always share this video with my friend that started cycling not so long ago.
Love this content. Just the kind of thing I'm looking for.
Great to hear Chris, thanks for sharing. Cam
great content mate I'm 59 and just started cycling only doing 40k every day, my 1st goal is to be able to Cruz at 26k's for the whole 40ks done now its 28 with your sprints added....
Nice one mate, thanks for sharing and good luck with the training.
Well done for a 59 year old!
Thanks mate , implemented this in my training since March , tipping the 4 w/kg right now. Coming from 3,3 in March
Awesome 👏
This definitely works. I’m doing this also in winter while cross country skiing and it improved my VO2max.
hey cam, great vid. I have been riding straight blocks since the early 80's when I raced. i'm now 64 and still in a 12-14-15-17 block and 39/52 rings, and I'm a climber. the reason I can still conquer in the hills is because of the 38 years of this gearing, and i'm talking grades of 2% to 22%. They have forced me to stay strong. very similar to what your video is about. I also hammer or what I like to call 'Pantani' the last bit of the climb.
That is absolutely awesome! Thanks for sharing on this thread. Cam
The best bike channel I’ve seen. No fancy, arty farty edits just great content. Keep up the good work.👍🏼
Very kind words Nick. Appreciate the support. Many thanks, Cam
G'day, Cam. Slowly getting through all of your uploads! Been on the road bike since July 2019, i've dropped a few kgs and i'm getting faster and fitter every week. Thanks for sharing this one- plenty of hills round our way (Byron), i'm going to go and get stuck into a few hill repeats after watching this. Cheers for the inspiration and your down to earth approach. Hope the Sunny Coast is treating you well. All the best. Leroy.
I tried this yesterday, I am aiming for that once a week. This time I focused on one hill like yours although it was just 55m gain/1km section, which I did 11 times for 600m in 1hr and 10 minutes or so (I was aiming for 60 minutes) Keep working at it and report back. Keep working on the technique. I know my cadence fluctuated much more, although I tried to keep it low as possible.
I love this...I'm so happy I found your channel. I really needed to hear this thanks coach Cam I'm going to give this a go over the next several weeks and will report back. Please keep this type of content coming. Cheers.
Awesome Jim, I look forward to heading about your progress and thanks for the kind words 👍 Cam
This video was great. I've been training base recently with your last video in mind - specifically making every pedal stroke count along with being focused as opposed to attacking hills, coasting down, then attacking a headwind, then easy riding, etc. Great stuff, mate!
Nice one! Thanks for sharing this. Good luck with the training. Keep me posted on your improvements! Cam
Love this video .. saved straight to my favourites ... effectively cleverly structured interval/weight style training on the bike! Brilliant. Suddenly my steep long driveway has a completely new purpose ;)
haha! I want your driveway! Thanks for sharing Kevin. Cam
Starting to add hill repeats in my training for conditioning against cramping on our local short steep climbs. Thanks for the content!
Awesome Barry, thanks for sharing. Good luck with the training. Cam
just want to let you know that you are the best Cam...just love your tips..thanks and cheers from Montreal Canada
Thank you for the kind words Pierre! Cam
Legend! I have just started to add hill repeats into my training structure. Using Zwift for 3/4 x 1hr TT Tune up workouts in the week focusing on Anaerobic, VO2 and Aerobic but now added 1 hour hill sprint loops, big gear low cadence starts with sprints to finish. endurance/tempo rides at the weekends 2-4 hours worth as and when possible. Lost 4 stone in 2 years Love Cycling!!! Love your vids!!! Keep em comin Cam.
That is absolutely awesome all round. Thanks for sharing. Cam
Cheers Cam, interested what's your next training vid. I like the addition of a mini sprint at the end. Squeeze that last effort.
Lovingthe training videos Cam. Very clear and intuitive content. Keep them coming 👍👍👍
Thank you for sharing that David, much appreciated. Cam
Thanks for sharing! I just got my first road bike a week ago (Giant Contend 1), and trying to get all the tips I can!
I get mr contend 1 on thursday. Bit nervouse of semi compact. Going to miss my granny gears
CJ W Lol. I have clips but never used them before and plan to put them on this week even though everyone tells me that I’m going to fall, I told them that I wouldn’t! Lol
Thank you for giving me a better understanding of how to use lactic acid.......great video!!
Cam!
I freakin love this video. More of these are required on tap mate. Cheers from Portland, Oregon.
Cam more of this content! Those HIT power sessions are exactly how Belgian and Dutch Elites train. Most over bridges but in big gears slower RPM . I lived and raced there for almost 5 yrs.
Very cool, thanks for sharing David,
This type of training is helping me. I have a 7-8 deg hill in my neighborhood that takes me about 1:30 to climb. Currently doing 10 passes. I try to increase my reps ever time I train this segment. I will start to include dashing at the last 50m on a few of them. Also, I don't have a road bike, it's a MTB 32 lbs with knobby maxxis DHR's, not a good rolling tire.
Nice one, thanks for sharing 👍
Awesome... I'm mainly a runner.. guess these principles apply to cycling as well as running.. Thanks for the clear explanation..
Great video!! Just found you and subscribed. As a new cyclist, it's great to get some help.
Awesome to hear. Thanks for supporting the channel and more of this to come. Cam
Excellent video Cam. As always! Will definitely be adding sessions like this to my training! Awesome dude. Keep them coming!
Thank you Ethan. Enjoy the big ring! Cam
Cam - Love it, love it, love it. yes more of this training stuff. Reminds me of Yarra St at Kew Blvd and advice from a SKCC friend - once at the round about & going through it, get out of the saddle and sprint. Agree with you, killer work outs
Cheers Clifford, much appreciated 👍 Cam
Cam I really enjoy your videos. Great information on so many different facets of the sport. I'm in my mid sixties and live on the east coast, north of Boston. I ride between 400-500 km a week. I spent the bulk of my professional career coaching elite athletes in the sport of collegiate ice hockey. There is a lot of crossover between skating and cycling, similar focus on developing explosive power in addition to a high level of aerobic fitness. I do find that my riding does suffer at times from over training. It's easy to do, especially when you're retired and have the time to put in 20 hour weeks on the bike. I love listening to how others approach the sport, training tips and of course bike reviews. Love your site.
Hey Brian, thanks for sharing. Funny, I have two members of the Uplevel Road Cycling Course I work with. One in his fifties and the other in his sixties. They both battle with my desire to bring down their volume. I wouldn't be pushing it if they just wanted to ride for fun and be social. But they want to improve. I would think 12-14 hours MAX for a rider at your age. 2-3 HIT sessions per week and the rest of your training should be aerobic, low intensity. You would see a MASSIVE uptick if you implemented something like that. Just ensure every third week is a little easier. Good luck. Cam
@@CamNicholls I have no doubt you're advice is spot on. I will have to check out your Cycling Course. I'm sure I'd really enjoy improving my baseline knowledge in many critical areas. Like any coach, I'm a bit of a sponge! It's interesting to see how ones 'biking' experience/preferences evolve over time. I know you've referenced that in several of your videos with your own situation. For much of my late 50's into my early 60's I transitioned away from road riding to riding my mountain bike, probably averaging about 100 to 140 miles a week. Much of that was a combination of road and relatively tame trails where you could carry a fair bit of speed. It's a Pivot Les, kept me in shape and I liked the upright riding position. Meanwhile I slowly pared down my road bike 'stable' to the point where I left myself with a cross bike as my only non mountain bike option. Then I found myself slowly pulled back into enjoying being on the road, carrying a bit more speed and covering more distance. I'm strong enough to hold my own in our group rides with a handful of younger friends even with that cross bike and my 35mm heavy tires. But my mileage started trending up the past couple of years to the point where 40-50 mile rides, 6 or 7 days a week have become part of my routine. And now I'm seeing plateauing, fatigue and as a former coach I realize I'm not training intelligently. My goal at this point isn't really so much to be 'racing' as it is to compete with myself, see how much faster I can get and just enjoy the awesome feeling of being fit & healthy. That's actually how I stumbled onto your site. I'm back looking for a good all around carbon road bike that I can use for fast rides and the BMC was one of several I'm considering. You do a great job with your bike reviews; incredibly thorough and always straightforward which I love. It's easy to get lost in the technicals of evaluating different bikes. But I love how you keep your rating system, very simple with criteria that speak to me, specifically comfort, speed, handling and stiffness. Any rider who spends hours on their bike(s) can relate to those four critical areas of performance. Thanks for taking the time to respond. You obviously love what you do.
Fastest way to get faster for crits is to do some Zwift racing against people in your watts per kilo in a flat Zwift race. Do a race every day that you are recovered and don’t over do it. Great video Cam your editing is top notch. Along with Jesper Verkulij my favorite cycling you tube bloggers.
Thank you for sharing that mate. Very kind words to be put next to that man. Cheers, Cam
1500 meters of elevation today I am crumbling 😫 but in all seriousness, you get a taste for climbing the more you go. Good tips, even though unconsciously I've been doing this and as a matter of experience, my legs and arms are stronger thanks to this.
Nice one Sedna. Thanks for sharing. Cam
Awesome advice. Great content mate. Coincidentally i just finished base phase and started a month or 2 of pure strength so yup, this is great to know im on track
Its the monsoon here in India and so riding outdoors has reduced significantly. I took this opportunity to do some heavy resistance low cadence workouts and it has improved my power on the bike.
Great to hear. thanks for sharing Jatin. Cam
Thanks mate. Simple techniques and I really need to build my strength. I like how you are very clear that we need to build up not go too hard at the start with these sessions.
I have now subscribed as well.
Thank you Jason and much appreciated re your channel support. Cam
Very informative post. Makes sense. The explanation and footage are outstanding. Yes to more like these
Thank you sir, much appreciated. Cam
Mate I bloody love these!! Thanks heaps for these vids 👍🏼
Cheers Clifton, much appreciated. Cam
Graeme Obree road up hills seated in a big gear, grinding it out. As he said, doing his strength training on the bike.
Very true. We were doing these in the early 80's here in Adelaide under Charlie Walsh's guidance. Climb was Norton Summit, approx 7km, average gradient of 5.5% peaking at 8%, seated the whole way up. Strength training and also to perfect position on the bike.
@@davidsolari3369 I think there's a case to be made for the hill not being so steep that you really struggle to get the crank past top dead centre. On a steep hill the bike obviously slows down plenty between pedal strokes, but if it doesn't coast at all you're really winching yourself up. Mind you, Obree did that, and I suppose he was getting the "next" leg past top dead centre by "scraping the mud" off the shoe at the bottom. I climbed the Campsie hills north of Glasgow seated on a 52×13 when I was young and stupid. That again was just way too long an effort. Massive torque, not that much power, low heart rate: I'd taken it too far.
Interesting approach. Riding low cadence and pushing the power out with repeats....without realizing I have been riding generally with lower cadence over the past few years. While high cadence riding is on the up and up, sustaining high cadence requires immense cardio and aerobic capabilities. As I approach my 50's (bugger.....) , I came to terms with my age and decided that I was no longer going to push high cadence riding. For others that are reading this, add some cross fit and lift training (lot of squats and lunges and dynamic jumps) to your non-ride days, and you will start to see your legs get stronger and all muscles starting to fire quickly. This has helped me ride stronger while keeping heart rates lower. I am riding better than ten, heck, 20 years ago. (BTW, nice Bar tape, Supacaz Galaxy...recently changed over all my bar tapes to this one and its the best personally)
Awesome insights mate, thanks for sharing on the thread. You also have a keen eye re bar tape...ps - I have your email. Will respond wth the details over the weekend 👍 Cam
Great video👍👍 the hills are becoming a lot more user friendly, cheers. Keep them coming 👌
Fantastic I'm new to cycling all I've been doing so far is riding but now want start proper training so these type videos will be great help
Awesome to hear Ian, thanks for sharing. Cam
Did this work out tonight. 9x320wx2min out on a local hill w/ 5.5% grade. Surprised I could get through it. Hopefully this will help move the needle in the right direction
Great advice Cam. Me and a mate do Gyndier Dr. repeats every Thursday while the rest of the bunch head out to Boreen Point. For some reason the second repeat is always the easiest. Definitely makes you a stronger rider. Keep up the good work.
Cheers Peter 😊😊
A great hill for some repeat action! Cheers Peter. Cam
You are sooooo right!! I do these kind of training sessions also. Nice work!
Great vid! I returned to cycling about ten months ago after a 35 year hiatus...I was weak :(
So, I found a course with a long steep grade and would pedal up the grade, and ride down and do this two or three times till I got shakey. Then I would ride a couple miles around and repeat the process of climbing and descending...it really hurt at first, but now it is a pleasure! :) I grew up riding in a very hilly mountainous area so this training was purely intuitive to me. Subbed to your channel now :thumbup:
Great to hear. Thanks for sharing and also supporting the channel. Cheers, Cam
Hi Cam, I took your pointers and I went from climbing a hill in the small ring. Now I’m staying in the big ring and hitting some high gears
Good stuff Paul
@@CamNicholls I definitely got my legs used to the lactic acid. I’m able to descend downhill recover and hit the hill again
Always done hill repeats. Although tend do every 3rd rep out of the saddle for the duration and vary the gears.
Great video Cam. I will certainly add this into my cycling. Keep them coming👍🇦🇺
Nice one mate, let me how you get along. Cam
Will do 🍻
Cheers dude. Nice clear advice. I think it's just what I was looking for.
Really love your channel Cam
Informative,down to earth and entertaining too
Phil (HongKong)
Cheers Phil, thanks for sharing 👍
Hi, I have just started watching your you-tube training sessions and they are great at explaining clearly training tech...... Thank you "The Cannonball" - UK Yorkshire.
Cheers Andy, appreciate that! Cam
this is HIIT with some sprints, super useful, been doing these once to twice a week on a trainer, ftp upped 100W in my first year of cycling, although that's beginner gain, 120W to 240W for a 64kg guy made me surprised everyone in my riding group.
That’s very interesting, thanks for sharing on this thread 👍 Cam
Thanks Cam, great video. I implemented your last advice and now ride with a focus on steady power, already noticing improvement. I remember accidentally doing hill repeats and noticing a strength boost while racing, I'll have to build it into the program properly. Cheers.
Thanks for sharing this John, awesome to hear. Let me know how you get on. Cam
One of your best videos yet Cam 👌
Thank you Gareth, greatly appreciated. Cheers, Cam
Fantastic video. I’m just starting to have a go at hills - always avoided them. So this is a really helpful training vlog that I believe will help me a lot. Thanks.
Nice one Nigel. Good luck 👍
Cam Nicholls it’s hard work but getting there very slowly but tips like this will get me up that curve a little bit faster. Cheers. Love the channel. Easy watching, informative and not always too serious.
My wife is a former national team rower. These all out repeats are a staple of rowing training. 4-6x 4mins with rest between is a classic rowing session. But 1.2 or 3 min repeats are common as well. Never understood why so much of bike training is done at threshold. The whole 80% of training at 2mmol of lactic acid or lower has escaped bike training it seems. No sure why. Great vid.
Thanks for sharing this, much appreciated. I was a school boy rower myself. Man that sport HURTS! More than any other. Cam
Great stuff Cam, i'll give this a go in the next week in the meantime ive got a set programme to complete Mon to Thursday.
Nice one Mark. Enjoy. Cam
I've been cycling for two months already and I kinda regret that I focused less on my legs when I've been doing gym before. I should give your advice a try.
Dude this is great stuff! Thanks for putting the content out there!
Great video..full of goodness!! Keep the quality videos coming 👌♨
thank you Trevour 👍 Cam
I'll try this out once the weather becomes better here in Canada
Nice one Noir. You can also give it a go on the indoor trainer if you've got one. Cam
Cam,
I am a ameture cyclist. Love your videos. Keep them coming.
Thank you for sharing mate. Looks like more to come. Cam
...... and as well as an important supplement training at home. Pull-ups and burpees with push-ups. For good cycling power strong arms and back/core are also very useful,- not only strong legs and mind.
Cool Video!
I want to buy my first racebike next year and researching now a lot.
Your videos are always good for information.
Great stuff, thanks for sharing mate. Cam
Interesting I just stumbled upon this video, stoked actually, pretty much have a very similar hill in Adelaide, which i did only a couple of runs up yesterday, first section starts out at an average of 7.5%, it flattens out and then the second section kicks up to 18% up the top, whole climb is about 4-5 minutes depending how hard you push and about 1km in length. Normally I’d try to push up there real quick and be on the floor gasping, but as you said I just cruised didn’t push and kept an eye on my breathing and felt a lot easier than past tries. Your Video has got me keen to do more repeats there! Feels like my climbing has been going nowhere, I’ll have to report back and see if this helps. Cheers.
Absolutely Joel, get the big gear going. 60 cadence. You’ll get 💪. Cam
Cool I'm going to try this really soon !
I am going to give it a try!
my fuel: non alcoholic beer/malt beverage - cold and shaken, so the fizzyness is out.
Great stuff. I’m going to try this. Thanks for sharing!
Good luck with it
Love the channel mate
Great content
Keep up the good work
Thank you Brant, much appreciated. Cam
Cracking vlog! Can’t wait to get stuck into these!
Thank Chris, much appreciated. Enjoy! Cam
I believe "not attacking the hill, but let it come to you" is a good way of training - it let to work longer with steady effort. Having power meter helps a lot - before I got one, I was mostly riding too hard where I shouldn't and too easy where I should/could go harder.
Marcin Wojtaszczyk thanks for sharing Marcin. Cam 👍
Thanks. I've been looking for something to help me form getting dropped!
No worries Steve, good luck. Do this once a week for 2 months and you will notice some big changes!
Just caught this vid today obviously subscribed ! Keep up the awesome content !
That pancake at the end look amazing!
haha, they are amazing Chris. Had one of the weekend that has just gone too! Thanks for supporting the channel. Cam
Great content right to the point. Keep it up and please bring more content like this out. Cheers. 🥞
Thanks Jonathan, appreciate the comment. Cheers, Cam
Great stuff mate. Try Eungella Drive at Black Mountain and Gentle Annie at Kin Kin for the same workout.
I like the sound of that, thanks for sharing Peter. Cheers, Cam
Awesome video. Thank you for the information. Its truly useful for me that's just starting. What kind of computer do you have?
Well done from the UK.
I hate you... I know what hill I need to use for this workout and I hate you for that!! I love your stuff and keep the stuff flowing!
Love hate goes well at times!
Cracking vid mate. Super underestimated session
Thank you Mick, much appreciated mate 👍 Cam
Love the results of low cadence sessions in the build phase of training. I just do less of them but on a longer hill
Nice one, thanks for sharing on this thread James. Cam
Great tip! Gonna start this weekend! Got a perfect hill!
Nice one Saleem. I like the sound of this perfect hill 😍 Cam
This is really good information. About a month ago I started doing low cadence, high resistance work on a spin bike during my lunch break, watching a specific GCN training video (which they oddly removed a few days ago.) There's a similar one on the Giau with Simon, though the repeats are 4 minutes, which is long. However, I think it's working. If this hill repeat session was translated into a spin session, what amound of rest would you recommend between reps? And would you recommend against twice a week?
Thanks Chris. I feel for a 2 minute heavy gear effort you’d want 2 mins minimum or 3 mins max for your recovery. Depends on your level of fitness. For your other effort session during the week just don’t make them heavy gear. I reckon 3 effort sessions a week max with 1 heavy gear focused. That’s my opinion anyway. Cam
@@CamNicholls Thanks Cam. One final thing ... are you able to say which aspects of performance most benefited from this kind of training ... hills, or speed on flat, or both?
Thank you Sir, Great vid consistency is the key
I like your cycling content. I love it💖. Keep it up. God bless always. Ride safe
very enlightening .. thanks for this content
You Had Me at Snickers Pancake !
haha! They're so good! Cam
I love your videos. A fan from Rio de Janeiro Brazil
Thank you Lilou, appreciate the channel support. Cam
Hi Cam. been doing these repeats for a few weeks now and they seem to be working. Just curious as to what big gear you do your repeats in? Obviously as you are riding 1x and I'm riding 2x however I've started off in small ring but adding an extra cog to the load each week. Cheers.
thanks for the awesome content and work you put into your videos bro
Cheers Oschoa, appreciate that 👍 Cam
ok I have found an appropriate hill - but so far no pancake place that can anyhow keep up with yours - any ideas if the hill sessions will also improve my cycling without the pancakes as enhancer for muscular recovery??? but kiddin' aside this is a great inspiration. I'll definitely work with that. ...and try to find the best possible replacement for the pancakes :)
Hey mate I am 50 years old and just got back into cycling. Overweight and my legs are still very weak. Any advice? Really love your videos. Saliem
Hey Saliem, I would be focused on just riding your bike for the first 1-2 months. Don't worry about any of this hill repeat stuff. Just zone 1 and 2, with a consistent pedal stroke. 3 rides a week. Start with 1 hour each ride, them the next week, 1.5 hours each ride, then the next week, 1.5 hours each ride with the third ride that week being 2 hours. Build up. Cam
Would this work for MTBing? Say pushing hard gear on climbs and recovering, cruising with higher cadence on flats over say 15mile. Also, how does pedaling standing up affect overall strength for cycling. Does it at least engage different muscle groups? Pedaling while standing up works really well for me but only on super short punchy climbs where I am trying to maintain cadence without upshift.
Excellent video..! Exactly what I'm looking for. Thank you :) As a beginner though, it seems I need to get myself a power meter to take full advantage of your teachings. Do you have any suggestions on that topic? Greetings from Vancouver, Canada
Hi Alana, thanks for the kind words. I use Quarq, I find it to be the most reliable at a reasonable price. As a side note, if you got value out of this video and are interested in purchasing power I have an online course which includes a sequence of 12 step by step videos that teach a structured approach to training with power. You also get access to a cost rate of a quarq power meter through SRAM. I invite 10 students in each month and I currently have a few spots left, for Jan. We also have an intro phone call over Zoom. Details are here if there’s interest: www.roadcyclingacademy.com/p/uplevel-road-cycling Cheers, Cam
I’m gonna try this , cheers mate
Nice one Sam. I just had a channel supporter email me. He's been doing these for 3 weeks now and just won B grade on the weekend. After trying to win for 18 months! Cam
Cam Nicholls wow. Hope this will bump me up from coming 5th/6th to 2nd and 3rd on my local crit
Your information given on this video is awesome!!!
Thank you David.
Nice video...just subscribed hoping to see more of these videos. Thanks.
Awesome, welcome to the channel and I appreciate your support. Cheers, Cam
Ha, New Earth Cafe, we went there on our Oz trip Xmas 2016 ...... great food!
Well played fo sussing it out. It's my favourite post cafe stop Vaughan. Cheers, Cam