I just got into cycling outdoors last summer, with more consistently this past summer. I was gifted a NordicTrack GX 4.7 recumbant exercise bike this fall and have been using some of the preset workouts in it with distance and increasing the resistances ( I believe it maxes out at 22). I would like to use it over the upcoming winter season to continue to build on my cycling fitness, specifically hill climbing. I found that hills were my nemesis this past summer and I want to improve for next season. I do not have the partnered iFit app and just plan to use the built in workouts and features. I am wondering if there is a particular preset or workout that I should use to work on my climbing ability. I hope this makes sense. I understand that going out on my road bike on the hills is the best, however, that is not feasbile for me over the winter so I am hoping to achieve my goal with my stationary exercise bike. TIA for your assistance.
Training indoors
- Thread starter Bri L
- Start date
Indoor training for climbing is just 1/3 of it.
The other factors are bike fit and technique.
Probably not the best thing to exercise on a recumbent trainer for your road bike. But far better than nothing. This can help raise your FTP to make climbs more comfortable.
Technique and bike fitting comes together. Different technique may require different styles of bike fitting. If you like to stand on the pedals often for example, raising the handlebar height would help reduce the effort on the technique.
If you like climbing seated all the way, tilting the saddle nose down, moving it forward, and raising it a bit will help reduced the perceived effort and improve comfort on climbs. Consequently, it should improve your speed on climbs. However, this setting could make riding on the flats less comfortable.
Then comes the pedaling technique. Many riders subconsciously change their pedaling technique on climbs and your bike fit can either work for or against this.
Unfortunately, bike fit + technique can only fully addressed in outdoor rides on your road bike. You can get significant gains from these alone even if you don't do any adjustments to your training. Of course if your improved bike fit and technique makes you faster and your climbs easier, it can provide good motivation to push harder on your training.
The other factors are bike fit and technique.
Probably not the best thing to exercise on a recumbent trainer for your road bike. But far better than nothing. This can help raise your FTP to make climbs more comfortable.
Technique and bike fitting comes together. Different technique may require different styles of bike fitting. If you like to stand on the pedals often for example, raising the handlebar height would help reduce the effort on the technique.
If you like climbing seated all the way, tilting the saddle nose down, moving it forward, and raising it a bit will help reduced the perceived effort and improve comfort on climbs. Consequently, it should improve your speed on climbs. However, this setting could make riding on the flats less comfortable.
Then comes the pedaling technique. Many riders subconsciously change their pedaling technique on climbs and your bike fit can either work for or against this.
Unfortunately, bike fit + technique can only fully addressed in outdoor rides on your road bike. You can get significant gains from these alone even if you don't do any adjustments to your training. Of course if your improved bike fit and technique makes you faster and your climbs easier, it can provide good motivation to push harder on your training.
Welcome to the world of cycling! It's great that you're using the NordicTrack GX 4.7 recumbent exercise bike to continue building your fitness over the winter season.
To work on your hill climbing ability, you can use a combination of the preset workouts and resistance levels on your exercise bike. One preset workout you could try is the "hill climb" workout, which typically involves intervals of high resistance at a lower pace simulating climbing a hill. You can also try using the manual mode and increasing the resistance to the maximum level (22) for short intervals of time, simulating a steep climb.
Another approach you could try is incorporating interval training into your workouts. This would involve alternating between high resistance and low resistance for specific time intervals. For example, you could do 30 seconds at a high resistance level simulating a steep climb and then 30 seconds at a lower resistance level simulating a flat or downhill section.
Additionally, you can try to use the built-in features of the bike to set different resistance levels for different segments of your ride and simulate a course with hills.
It's important to note that even though using a stationary exercise bike is not the same as going out on the road, it can be an effective way to work on your hill climbing ability. It's also important to keep in mind that you should also consider your overall fitness level, and gradually increase resistance levels as you become more comfortable.
Hope this helps, and good luck with your training!
That's awesome you're into cycling. For building hill skills on your NordicTrack, try cranking up the resistance during the preset workouts. Look for ones that mimic hill climbs or intervals – that'll help with the nemesis hills next summer. Keep grinding
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