Weighted Hill Climbs: a bike trick to preserve your knees

Hello,

I’m sharing a practical trick to preserve your knees when doing Muscular Endurance work such as Weighted Hill Climbs.

The method proposed in TFtNA reduces knee injury probability by dropping weight at the top of the climb (either water or rocks usually) and walking down with a light pack as a consequence.

This trick goes one step beyond by allowing to use a mountain bike on the way down. The idea is to carry your mountain bike on your pack on the way up and use it downhill once on top.

To carry your bike one needs only a pair of adjustable hiking poles and slings. Put the poles inside the pack so as to form a “X” with pole picks heading up outside on each side. This way you can use a simple sling to hang your bike on your backpack. If needed adjust weight by putting more rocks/water inside the pack. See photo to have a better idea.

Of course, with a light MB weighing > ~10kg you should be at a point in your progression of ME where it makes sense !

I’m using this trick for a couple of sessions now and it combines fun and knee preservation, all of which are great morale boosters for your training 🙂