Legs or cardio weakness. How to tell?

[bing181]

Newish to riding, OK on the flats, but not getting up hills all that well. Not overweight (probably the reverse actually, I'm pretty skinny), but am getting dropped on any decent rise .. though seem to pull some of that back on really long climbs.

How can I tell if the limiting factor for me is my leg strength/power or my cardio system? I've been doing my 2 x 20's around LT, and my 6 x 3's around 90% of MHR and I've seen benefits from that in cruising speed and endurance. But the hills, the hills.

Thanks in advance.

 

[vio765]

well, if you are lightweight and are getting dropped on climbs, that tells me that you just need to put in some climbing time. i think what you are doing in terms of training are good, but add some climbing work in there and dont neglect the aerobic stuff either

 

[Aussie Steve]

I am not a natural climber, but I found that on a reasonably short climb...I can accelerate very quickly using my anaerobic system i.e. my breathing doesn't become laboured until about 20 seconds after the start of the effort...on my regular commute, there's 3 nice hills where I really give it a HOIK and hammer up them...if I do that 6 times in a week, I find I get faster each time.

You could always do a Lance Armstrong and climb at high cadence, like 95-100 rpm, drive the pedals from your glutes (buttocks) by pointing toes downwards (be careful not to hit toes on ground !)
I used to climb with exaggerated ankle rotation, trying to make the calves work harder...driving toes downwards seems more efficient.

 

[bing181]

Thanks guys .. just more hills then. Of course, need to find some, pretty flat where I am - which is probably half the problem. I almost never get any climbing in, and when I do - curtains.