Hip Flexors and Adductors

Hip flexors and adductors are a couple of important muscles for climbing, and for cycling in general. I like doing mountain climbers, as they seem to target my adductors more than any other exercise I've tried. These are great to keep you in shape during the off season.

Click on the embedded link to see a great demonstration of how to do these right.

Ya Gotta Climb

Here's the brutal truth - if you want to climb better, you have to climb. Special exercises will help address some weaknesses, but there is just no substitute for climbing. Look for excuses to add some hills into your daily routine. If you don't have a lot of hills nearby, consider going up and down a single hill multiple times. It's really the only way that your body will build the muscles, aerobic capacity and lactic tolerance that you're going to need.