Climbing is where cycling gets honest. On the flat you can sit in a wheel, draft off someone bigger, hide in the group. The road tilts up and none of that matters any more. The group stretches. Gaps open. The only thing that determines where you finish is how many watts you produce divided by how much you weigh. That number — watts per kilogram — is the entire sport of climbing compressed into a single fraction.
But most amateur riders are trying to change the wrong half of that number. They are counting calories when they should be counting intervals. They are obsessing over the scales when the real gains are sitting on the turbo waiting to be collected. And even the ones who are training well are often training for the wrong systems, pacing the first third of every climb too hard, and riding gears that force them to grind when they should be spinning.
This is the complete guide. It covers the training, the tactics, the gearing, the weight management, and the mental approach. For the specific tactical fixes — pacing tricks, cadence detail, seated versus standing — I have written dedicated posts on each of those, and I will link to them throughout. This post is about putting the full picture together so you understand not just what to do on the climb but how to arrive at the bottom of it ready to ride well.
The W/kg equation
Watts per kilogram. Your functional threshold power divided by your body weight. It is the number that predicts climbing performance more accurately than any other single metric in cycling.
The calculation takes ten seconds. If your FTP is 250 watts and you weigh 75 kg, your W/kg is 3.33. If your FTP is 280 watts and you weigh 70 kg, your W/kg is 4.0. Same rider could exist at either end of that range depending on whether they trained properly and managed their weight sensibly.
The numbers sit at different levels across amateur cycling. These are 20-minute sustained figures, not peak power.
- 3.0-3.5 W/kg — gets you up most sportive climbs comfortably, you will not be last up the mountain, you will enjoy the day
- 3.5-4.0 W/kg — competitive on hilly amateur races, you can stay with strong groups on most climbs, you are doing well
- 4.0-4.5 W/kg — the front of amateur racing, winning hilly races at regional level, you are a proper climber
- 4.5+ W/kg — elite amateur territory, competitive at national masters level, not many people sustain this
You can check where you sit right now with the W/kg calculator. And you can model what a given W/kg produces on specific gradients with the Climbing Time Estimator. The numbers do not lie, but they also do not have to stay where they are.
Watts versus kilograms: why power comes first
Most riders get the arithmetic backwards.
A 75 kg rider with a 250-watt FTP sits at 3.33 W/kg. They want to reach 3.67 W/kg. Two ways to get there: increase FTP to 275 watts at the same weight, or lose 7 kg while holding 250 watts. One of those is realistic in a single training block. The other is a six-month body composition project with genuine health risks if done wrong.
The numbers make this obvious. A 10-watt FTP increase at 75 kg moves your W/kg from 3.33 to 3.47. To achieve the same W/kg improvement through weight loss alone, you would need to drop approximately 1.5 kg — while maintaining every watt of your current power. Ten watts of FTP is achievable in 6-8 weeks of structured training for most amateur riders who have not been training properly. Losing 1.5 kg of pure body fat without touching muscle or power requires weeks of careful deficit management.
The maths always favours power gains for riders who are not already lean and well-trained. The exception is the rider who is clearly carrying excess body fat and whose FTP is already near their genetic ceiling. That rider exists, but they are rarer than the internet would have you believe. Most of the people reading this have 20 to 40 watts of untapped FTP gains sitting in front of them, available through better training structure.
The other reason power comes first is even more encouraging. When you gain fitness, you often lose a small amount of weight as a byproduct — better body composition follows better training without you needing to restrict food. The rider who trains properly, fuels properly, and recovers properly often arrives at a better W/kg from both directions simultaneously.
When I had Dan Lorang on the podcast, one of the things he said that stuck with me was how even at the professional level, the training always comes before the weight management. Get the engine running properly. Then, if there is body composition work to do, do it from a position of fitness, not from a position of restriction.
Training sessions that build climbing fitness
Four types of session contribute directly to how fast you go uphill. Each targets a different physiological system, and you need all four — not just the one that hurts the most.
Sweet spot intervals (88-93 per cent of FTP)
This is the session that builds the muscular endurance to sustain power for 20 minutes, 40 minutes, an hour. The intensity sits just below threshold — hard enough to produce a strong training stimulus, manageable enough that you can accumulate meaningful volume without destroying yourself.
The typical format: 2 x 20 minutes at 88-93 per cent of FTP with 5 minutes recovery between efforts. Or 3 x 15 minutes. Or a single 30-minute effort if you have the discipline to hold the zone. The key is sustained time at that intensity. Broken short efforts do not produce the same adaptation.
Sweet spot builds the aerobic engine that sits underneath everything else. The rider who skips this work and goes straight to threshold intervals is building a house without a foundation. When John Wakefield prescribes training for the Bora-Hansgrohe riders, the aerobic base work always comes first.
Threshold intervals (95-100 per cent of FTP)
Threshold is the intensity that determines your climbing ceiling. Your FTP is, roughly, the power you can sustain for about an hour. On a 20-minute climb, you are working at or near threshold. On a 40-minute climb, you are working just below it. Raising your threshold raises the power you can hold on every climb.
The typical format: 2 x 15 minutes at 95-100 per cent of FTP with 5-8 minutes recovery. Or 3 x 10 minutes. Or the classic 2 x 20 that Joe Friel has been prescribing for decades. These should feel controlled but demanding. If you cannot hold the power for the prescribed duration, the target is set too high.
Hill repeats and VO2max work (106-120 per cent of FTP)
This is where you build the capacity to respond to surges on climbs — the moment someone attacks, the gradient kicks up, or you need to close a gap. VO2max intervals train the ceiling of your aerobic system and the ability to clear lactate when you briefly exceed threshold.
The typical format: 5 x 4 minutes at 106-120 per cent of FTP with 4 minutes recovery. Or 6 x 3 minutes. If you have access to a hill that takes 3-5 minutes to climb, repeated hill efforts at hard-but-sustainable intensity are the most specific climbing training you can do. If you live somewhere flat, these work just as well on a turbo or on flat roads — the physiological demand is the same regardless of gradient.
Endurance volume (the base underneath)
Something important gets lost in the interval conversation. The coaches behind the best climbers in the world — Professor Seiler, Dan Lorang, Tim Kerrison — all agree on one point. The aerobic base built through sustained Zone 2 riding is the foundation that makes all the other sessions work. Without it, the intervals produce diminishing returns.
Zone 2 rides are the long, properly easy sessions — 60-75 per cent of FTP, conversational pace, 2-4 hours depending on your schedule. They build mitochondrial density, fat oxidation, cardiac output. They are not exciting. They do not feel like training. But the rider who consistently logs quality endurance volume progresses faster than the rider who does hard sessions every day and skips the easy work.
The amateur mistake is riding these too hard. If you are breathing hard on an easy ride, it is not easy. Professor Seiler's research showed that professional endurance athletes spend approximately 80 per cent of their training time at intensities so low that recreational riders could keep up with them. That is not laziness. That is how adaptation works.
Structuring a climbing-focused training block
If you have a climbing event — a sportive, a gran fondo, a hilly race — 6-8 weeks of climbing-focused training is enough to make a measurable difference. The structure does not need to be complicated.
Weeks 1-2: Base and assessment. Establish your current FTP (test it or use recent training data). Build in 3-4 endurance rides per week. Add 2 sweet spot sessions. Get the foundation solid.
Weeks 3-5: Build phase. Replace one sweet spot session with a threshold session. Keep one sweet spot session. Add one VO2max or hill repeat session per week. You are now running three quality sessions per week with endurance riding filling the remaining days. This is the core of the climbing block — the weeks where the fitness gains accumulate fastest.
Week 6: Overload. Increase the duration or number of intervals slightly. Add an extra endurance ride if your schedule allows. This is the hardest week by design. You should feel tired.
Weeks 7-8: Taper and sharpen. Reduce volume by 30-40 per cent. Keep intensity the same but do fewer reps. One threshold session, one short VO2max session, shorter endurance rides. Arrive at the event fresh with the fitness you built in weeks 3-6.
The principle behind this structure is progressive overload followed by recovery. You cannot build fitness and express fitness simultaneously. The training block builds it. The taper lets you express it.
One thing I want to be clear about. This is a framework, not a prescription. Your specific sessions, volumes, and recovery needs depend on your current fitness, your available hours, your age, your stress load outside of cycling. If you want the specific session library with full interval prescriptions, the training sessions guide goes into that detail.
Pacing on climbs
I have written a dedicated post on pacing strategy for long climbs, but the core principle deserves space here because it is the single fastest tactical improvement most riders can make.
The first-third rule
Pace the first third of any climb at 5 per cent below your target power. That is it. That is the rule that changes everything.
The reason is physiological. At the bottom of a climb, your body is transitioning from a lower intensity to a higher one. The oxygen delivery system needs 2-3 minutes to fully upregulate. If you start at or above target power during that transition, you accumulate an oxygen debt that compounds across the entire climb. The energy system analogy is simple: you are writing cheques at the bottom that your body cannot cash at the top.
The rider who starts a 20-minute climb at 10 per cent above target power for the first 5 minutes, then holds target for the middle, then fades by 15 per cent in the final third produces a lower average power than the rider who starts 5 per cent below target, settles into target by minute 7, and holds steady to the top. Same fitness. Same legs. Different execution. Different result.
Negative splitting
The best amateur climbers negative split their efforts — they ride the second half of the climb faster than the first. Not dramatically faster. A few watts. But the psychological effect is enormous. You are accelerating when others are fading. You are passing people instead of being passed. And the numbers confirm that a slight negative split produces the highest average power across the full climb.
Reading your body
Power meters give you a number. That number is essential. But it is not the whole picture on a climb. Learn to cross-reference the number with your breathing rate, your perceived effort, and the sensations in your legs. If the power says 280 but your breathing says you are at maximum, believe the breathing. If the power says 240 but your legs feel fresh and your breathing is controlled, you have room to push.
The riders who pace climbs best are the ones who have practised this calibration in training. Ride climbs at specific power targets in training. Note how each target feels at the bottom, middle, and top. Build the internal database that lets you pace by feel when conditions change — wind, heat, fatigue from earlier in the ride.
Cadence and body position
The 75-85 rpm range
I have covered cadence for climbing in its own post, but the summary is this. Between 75 and 85 rpm, the load is distributed most efficiently between your cardiovascular system and your muscular system. Below 70 rpm, the force per pedal stroke increases to a point where localised muscular fatigue accumulates faster than your cardiovascular system can support. Above 90 rpm, the cardiovascular demand rises disproportionately while the muscular contribution drops.
Neither extreme is wrong in short bursts. A 30-second out-of-the-saddle acceleration at 65 rpm is fine. A minute of high-cadence spinning at 95 rpm to change the load pattern on a long climb is fine. But as your default sustained climbing cadence, 75-85 rpm is where the physiology says you should sit. Experiment within that range in training to find where you personally feel most efficient.
Seated versus standing
The full breakdown is in the seated versus standing climbing guide, but the practical summary for this post: seated is more efficient for sustained efforts, standing recruits different muscles and provides relief. Most strong climbers alternate — 3-5 minutes seated, 15-30 seconds standing to reset, back to seated. The transition itself is a skill worth practising.
Standing works best on steep gradients where seated cadence drops uncomfortably low, on short punchy rises where you need a burst of power, and as a deliberate change of muscle recruitment on long climbs. Pure standing for more than 2-3 minutes costs significantly more energy than seated climbing at the same power.
Hand position
Hoods with elbows slightly bent. That is the default climbing position and there is a reason nearly every professional climber sits there. It opens the chest for breathing, provides enough stability to steer on steep gradients, and keeps the upper body relaxed. Drops restrict diaphragm movement. Tops work for very steep gradients at low speed but offer less control. The bar position should let your shoulders drop and your chest open — if you are hunched over on a climb, you are restricting your own oxygen intake.
Gearing: no shame in easy gears
Gearing still carries unnecessary stigma. Riders grinding up climbs at 55 rpm in their lowest gear, refusing to fit a wider cassette because they think easy gears are somehow less serious. The pros have moved past this. So should you.
Compact versus sub-compact
A standard compact crankset runs 50/34 tooth chainrings. Paired with an 11-32 cassette, your lowest gear is 34/32 — a gear ratio of 1.06. That gets you up gradients of 10-12 per cent at a reasonable cadence. Paired with an 11-34 cassette, your lowest gear drops to 34/34 — a 1:1 ratio that handles 15 per cent without grinding.
For riders who regularly face 15 per cent or steeper, a sub-compact crankset (48/31) paired with an 11-34 cassette gives you a 31/34 bottom gear. That is a ratio of 0.91, which means you can spin up 18 per cent gradients without your cadence dropping below 70 rpm. There is no performance penalty for using this gearing. None. The rider spinning 80 rpm in an easy gear at 250 watts produces the same speed as the rider grinding 60 rpm in a harder gear at 250 watts. The difference is that the spinner finishes the climb with functional legs. The grinder does not.
The cassette swap
If you are not ready to change cranksets, swapping your cassette is the cheapest and most effective gearing change you can make. Moving from an 11-28 to an 11-32 or 11-34 costs you one or two closer ratios in the middle of the cassette — ratios you will never miss on a climb — and gives you a meaningful bailout gear for steep gradients.
Modern derailleurs handle 34-tooth cassettes without issue. If your rear derailleur is from the last 5-6 years, it almost certainly has the cage length for a 34-tooth sprocket. Check your specific model, but the answer is usually yes.
The gearing test
Try this on your next hilly ride. Find a climb you normally ride at 65-70 rpm in your lowest gear. Now imagine you had a gear two teeth larger on the cassette. You would be at 75-80 rpm for the same power. Your cadence would sit in the efficient range. Your legs would fatigue less. Your cardiovascular system would share the load properly. The only thing stopping you is a cassette that costs less than a pair of tyres.
Weight management: the safe approach
I am not going to give you a diet plan. What I am going to give you is the framework for thinking about weight and climbing performance that keeps you healthy, keeps you fast, and does not wreck your relationship with food.
Fuel for the work
The most common mistake I see in the cycling community — the one that actually worries me — is riders restricting food to lose weight while training hard. Under-fuelling during training does not make you leaner. It makes you slower, it compromises your immune function, it disrupts your hormones, and it tanks your recovery. You cannot build the fitness that makes you a better climber if you are not eating enough to support the training that builds that fitness.
The principle is simple. Eat around your training. Fuel your rides properly — during the ride and in the recovery window after. If there is a caloric deficit to create, create it on rest days, away from training, through slightly smaller portions rather than skipped meals. The body composition change you are looking for is a slow, steady process measured in months, not weeks.
Body composition over scale weight
The scales are a terrible metric for climbing performance. They do not distinguish between muscle, fat, water, glycogen, and the food sitting in your gut from last night's dinner. A rider who weighs 75 kg with 10 per cent body fat is a fundamentally different athlete from a rider who weighs 75 kg with 20 per cent body fat — same number on the scales, completely different W/kg potential.
What matters is the ratio of lean mass to fat mass. Lean mass produces watts. Fat mass does not. The goal is to protect and build the lean mass — through proper training and adequate protein — while reducing fat mass gradually through a modest caloric deficit on non-training days. Losing 1 kg of muscle while trying to lose 3 kg of fat makes you lighter but slower. The W/kg goes down, not up, because the watts dropped faster than the kilograms.
The RED-S warning
Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport is real, it is common in cycling, and it affects men and women across all levels. The symptoms include persistent fatigue, recurring illness, loss of motivation, disrupted sleep, declining performance despite consistent training, and in women, menstrual irregularities. In men, low testosterone, low libido, and mood disturbances.
If you are training hard, restricting food, losing weight, and your performance is going backwards instead of forwards — stop. That is your body telling you the energy deficit is too large. The performance cost of RED-S far outweighs any W/kg benefit from the weight loss. If this sounds like your situation, talk to a sports dietitian. Not a generic nutritionist. A sports-specific one who understands the demands of endurance cycling.
The realistic timeline
Safe, sustainable body composition improvement happens at 0.5-1 per cent of body weight per week. For a 80 kg rider, that is 0.4-0.8 kg per week. Over 8 weeks, that is 3-6 kg. Combined with the FTP gains from a structured training block in the same period, the W/kg improvement can be substantial — without any of the health risks of aggressive dieting.
The riders who arrive at a climbing event lean, strong, and well-fuelled did the work across months. The riders who crash-dieted for 3 weeks arrive at the same event lighter but weaker, under-fuelled, and under-recovered. The scales say they are lighter. The results say they are slower.
The mental side
Everything above this section is physical preparation. This section is about the 30 per cent of climbing that happens between your ears. And I am not being dramatic when I say it is 30 per cent. The number of riders I have spoken to — through the podcast, through the community, through coaching conversations — who have all the physical tools but lose climbs in their head is enormous.
Decide at the bottom
The riders who stay on the wheel are the ones who decided at the bottom of the climb that they would. Not the ones who wait to see how they feel at minute 5. Not the ones who keep their options open. The ones who commit.
This is not motivational waffle. It is a psychological mechanism. When you commit to staying on the wheel at the bottom, your brain processes the discomfort differently. The suffering becomes expected rather than alarming. You do not waste energy asking yourself whether you can hold on because you already decided you would. The decision removes the negotiation, and the negotiation is what costs you.
Process cues
When the climb hurts — and it will hurt — you need something to focus on that is not the pain. Process cues are short, specific phrases that redirect your attention to the mechanics of what you are doing rather than the sensation of how it feels.
Three that work. "Smooth circles" — focuses on pedal stroke efficiency. "Relax hands" — releases the upper body tension that creeps in on hard efforts. "Breathe out" — forces a full exhale which naturally deepens the inhale.
The cue does not need to be clever. It needs to be practised. Use it in training. Use it in threshold intervals. Use it on the turbo when the effort gets hard. Build the association so that when you deploy it on a climb, it has weight behind it.
Reframing the suffering
One observation about climbing that separates the riders who get better from the ones who do not. The suffering is not a problem to be solved. It is the point. Every rider on that climb is suffering. The ones at the front are suffering just as much as the ones at the back — they are simply producing more power while doing it.
When you reframe the discomfort as a signal that you are working hard rather than a signal that something is wrong, you remove the fear. The fear is what makes you sit up. The fear is what makes you soft-pedal when you have 5 minutes left. The fear is what convinces you that you cannot hold this pace when your legs and lungs are telling you that you can.
The cyclists I admire most — the ones who climb well relative to their physical ability — all share one trait. They are comfortable being uncomfortable. Not because they are tougher than everyone else. Because they have practised it. They have done the threshold intervals, the VO2max efforts, the long rides where they were tired and kept going. They built the mental infrastructure through repetition, not through willpower.
Putting it all together
Climbing faster is not about one thing. It is about getting the training right, arriving at the climb with the right gearing, pacing the first third properly, holding the right cadence, fuelling well enough that your body has the energy to do the work, and committing mentally to staying in the effort when it hurts.
None of that is complicated. All of it is fixable. The five fixable reasons post covers the tactical side. The pacing strategy guide covers pacing in full detail. The cadence post covers cadence. The seated versus standing guide covers position. This post is the bridge that connects all of them to the training and preparation that makes the tactics possible.
The good news is that most amateur riders have significant room to improve. If you have never followed a structured training plan, 6-8 weeks of focused work can shift your FTP by 10-20 watts. If you have never paced a climb properly, the first-third rule will show immediate results. If you are grinding in a gear that is too hard, a cassette swap fixes the cadence problem this week. And if you have always let the mental game beat you on climbs, the commitment to decide at the bottom changes the experience from the very first ride.
If you want to dig into any of this with other riders who are working on the same problems, the Roadman Cycling community on Skool is where a lot of these conversations happen. Training questions, climbing sessions, pacing strategies, gear choices — all of it, with riders who are serious about getting better. You are not done yet. The climbs are waiting.