i can only really get out twice a week on the bike at the moment but need to get fitter, and i also do a lot of rock climbing which i want to continue with.

So, is it better to do a week of 2 bike rides, then week of 2 climbing sessions then week of 2 bike etc, or do one session of each per week, or will it make bugger all difference which i choose?!

Can’t see it making much difference bit I’d ride and climb once a week. If you could sneak out for a hard 40 min run once a week as well it would help a lot.

ed34.

The easiest way to get “fit” is to take pleasure in whatever sport you are doing. If I was trying to choose whether to climb or bike I’d try and go turn about unless the weather was terrible, then indoor climb until it’s nicer out.

I’ve noticed the biggest factor in me getting out is “social”. Having a group of people to go and ride or climb with makes it fun, competitive and you’ll do it every week without fail if they become good mates.

That said, best way to get your fitness up is to insert a few intervals in your riding. Once you’ve been cruising along for the first 20 mins and are nicely warmed up give a few 80% power efforts for 2-3 minutes. This is a lot easier if you’ve got a hilly ride. Intervals will boost your heart and lung ability. But as it started out with, if it’s fun, you’ll do it more.

Hope that is useful?!

you’re not a pro, in 2 sessions a week it’s not worth worrying about optimisation, there’s no point

do what you enjoy, and go hard

more

For the biggest fitness benifit isn’t the idea to go untill your form drops then rest and recover.

e.g.
Session consists of warmup/interval/rest/interval/rest/interval/cool down
Repeat the session with however many rest days are needed between sessions.
Repeat for as many sessions as you can untill you can’t do the session any more (about 3 weeks)
Rest for a while untill you can do another block of training (about a week).

In which case you’d be best off cycling as much as possible for 3 weeks then taking a week off and going climbing.

That’s what I try and do with swimming, just use it in my recovery weeks for somethign else to do that isn’t riding bikes. Bloomin expensive seeing as the gym costs £75/month for that privelage though!

I climb and ride. Last year I concentrated on training for climbing and rode my bike for fun, this year I’m trying to get fitter and faster on the bike (Academic year, starting from September).

If you’re going to do both on the same day then tailor both sessions to get the most out of both – I found that I could not go hard on the bike at lunchtime and then do any kind of worthwhile endurance or stamina climbing training in the evening (or even the next day) so I calmed it down on the riding to make the most of my climbing time, and fitted rides around when I could train stamina/endurance/power at the wall or go cragging.

This year I’m going harder and/or longer on the bike outings and have switched to just bouldering to keep the climbing ticking over – even if I’ve been out blamming it for 40 minutes to an hour at lunchtime I find that I can still have a decent session on 3-4 move powerful boulder problems in the evening.

There’s a useful side-effect in that losing a couple of kilos from increased biking makes climbing noticeably easier, but I don’t think this is going to be sustainable as the year goes on and I’m expecting to drop a few climbing grades on routes.

If you are going to do two sports at once then I don’t think you can do three week blocks of cycling and one week climbing and expect to maintain your current climbing level. My experience is that one good session a week is required just to maintain a level, and two or more is required to make any gains for climbing. Obviously this could be different for you depending on your base level and your individual limiters.

Reading your OP again if you really are limited to 2 sessions a week of training then I don’t think you can expect to make decent gains in both sports. If you do a 2 week cycle of 3 bike and 1 climbing sessions then I should think you’ll get fitter on the bike, and keep up the climbing.

If you haven’t already read it, then Dave McLeods “9 out of 10 Climbers” book is very good at making you think about how to organise training around life. Get that and a fingerboard for Christmas, start riding your bike more, and you should be sorted.

ride to the wall?

a muddy 6 mile trail run several times a week – thats what I do this time of year, mud doesn’t seem so bad when running..

Surely just doing what you can, when you can is the answer. I’ll be doing an urban loop tonight, mostly on bike paths and gravel tracks. It’s not my favourite ride but it’s a good 25 mile leg spinner and fits into my life very easily this time of year. I’ll still get out for my regular Friday night trail ride and will almost definitely do a ride that involves a lot of mud come the weekend. Good times!

I have come to the conclusion now “fitness” is very skill-specific. Basically, if you want to be good at riding your bike then ride your bike, if you want to be good at climbing then climb. If you want to be good at both then you need to do both. I don’t really think trying to “improve general fitness” serves much purpose.

Of course there is some cross-over between similar disciplines but I wouldn’t say cycling and climbing are very similar at all.

you’re not a pro, in 2 sessions a week it’s not worth worrying about optimisation, there’s no point

do what you enjoy, and go hard

more

I liked that “more” link. Basically as some others have summerised, its just says ride as hard as you can to improve.

Yeah it’s great isn’t. I think it’s also saying: face up, most of us don’t ride/whatever enough for applying science to training to be worthwhile. Just go do it.

Just go do it

Which brings us nicely, full circle.

You’re gonna ride, as much as you REALLY want to. So just enjoy it rather than hoping to receive that for which you do not work / ride enough.

Ride for the luv. Everything else is bonus.
🙂

ed34.

The easiest way to get “fit” is to take pleasure in whatever sport you are doing. If I was trying to choose whether to climb or bike I’d try and go turn about unless the weather was terrible, then indoor climb until it’s nicer out.

This

Also ride like you mean it – which is easier if you are not following a schedule but doing it for kicks. I got fitter through just wanting to ride more. Why do a 4 hour loop when you can do a bit more an make it 5 hours including those other two decents that you like.

ps I’ve definitely noticed that the more knacked I feel when I get home from a ride, the better I feel the next day.

matt you are NOT riding hard enough!

Reading your first post carefully

Either 1 bike then 1 climb per week

or 2 climbs in a week the 2 bike rides in a week

def the first

but ideally you’ll do more biking. Very roughly strength is easier to increase with one session per week than aerobic fitness. Depending on your climbing level/ experience then your developing skills as much as fitness so agin once a week can lead to gains

But I think a second burst of aerobic activity (or even third) will really help. Short road ride, run burst on turbo trainer even a brisk walk to work, shop, wall pub will help

you’re right, if I can walk the next day it wasn’t hard enough

pub will help

++!

Bang in a rowing, running or kettlebell session.

From experience KBs are the most cycle specific in terms of benefits, constant squatting, sustained heavy breathing, and core usage.

For outnout aerobic improvements, it has to be jogging with rowing coming in between the two.