Seated Climbing Turbo Drill: Build Cycling Strength for Hilly Courses

Session Overview

This 60-minute indoor session develops the sustained climbing strength you need for hilly triathlon bike courses. Using a seated, heavy-gear climbing simulation on your turbo trainer, you will build the muscular endurance and torque to hold power on extended ascents without burning your legs for the run. Ideal preparation for events like IRONMAN 70.3 Bolton or any race with significant elevation gain.

What You’ll Need

• Turbo trainer or smart trainer
• Road or triathlon bike
• Water and electrolytes (you will sweat heavily at low cadence)
• Fan for cooling
• Optional: heart rate monitor or power meter

Warm-Up (12 minutes)

Begin with 8 minutes of easy spinning at 85-95rpm in a small gear, RPE 2-3. Then complete 4 minutes of progressive build: spend 1 minute each at RPE 4, 5, 6, and 7, keeping cadence at 90rpm. Finish the warm-up with 2 x 30-second single-leg pedalling drills (30s each leg) at easy resistance to prime your neuromuscular recruitment before the main set.

Main Set

The main set consists of seated climbing blocks: a heavy gear, low cadence (55-65rpm), sustained effort that simulates holding power on a long climb. Keep your upper body relaxed and your core braced throughout — no rocking or pulling on the bars.

• 3 x 8 minutes at sweet spot (88-93% FTP or RPE 7-8), cadence 58-65rpm, 4 minutes easy spin recovery between each
• The final 2 minutes of each 8-minute block: push to 95% FTP or RPE 8.5 — this teaches you to accelerate on the false flat above a climb
• Total main set: approximately 36 minutes of work and recovery

Cool-Down (8 minutes)

Reduce resistance to the lightest gear and spin easily at 90-100rpm for 8 minutes, RPE 1-2. Focus on letting your legs flush out the lactate from the heavy gear work. Spend the final 3 minutes doing off-bike hip flexor and quad stretches, as seated climbing creates significant tightness in both areas.

Coaching Notes

• Keep cadence strictly within the 58-65rpm target — higher cadence defeats the purpose of muscular endurance training. Use your gearing to control this, not your effort level.
• If you do not have a power meter, use RPE and heart rate. Sweet spot should feel hard but controlled — you should be able to speak a short sentence but not hold a conversation.
• Easier variation: reduce blocks to 6 minutes and add a fifth minute of recovery. Harder variation: extend blocks to 10 minutes or add a fourth block.
• Do this session no more than once per week — low-cadence work is demanding on the knees. Ensure you complete it on properly fitted equipment to avoid injury.