Professional cyclists have the benefit of personal coaches to tailor their exercise programs to their needs and race schedules. However, most riders below the elite level, whether they race or are just serious about riding recreationally, don't have the benefit of a highly trained coach. That's where the Trainright series of exercise programs from Carmichael Training Systems comes in.

Leading the Trainright: Climbing session is the highly regarded elite cycling coach Chris Carmichael, who is the founder of Carmichael Training Systems and the personal coach for Lance Armstrong and other professional riders. Carmichael points out that Armstrong and his other riders use the CTS programs in their race preparation. (In case you miss the connection, we get clips from Armstrong's races – complete with Phil Liggett's commentary – during some of the longer exercise sets.) The overall atmosphere of the group of riders participating in the Trainright: Climbing program is decidedly serious: they mean business.

The program in Trainright: Climbing is oriented toward serious competitive cyclists, either racers or hardcore recreational riders. As the title indicates, this program is focused on improving your hill climbing skills, emphasizing leg strength and the ability to do steady efforts at a low cadence. The workout itself runs a shade under 60 minutes and looks like this:

Warm-up, including 2x30 seconds sprints (5 minutes)

Low-cadence (50-55 rpm) pedaling intervals (2x5 minutes)

Climbing simulation, at 80-85 rpm (10 minutes)

Climbing simulation, switching between low-cadence (60-65 rpm) and high-cadence (90-95 rpm) pedaling (10 minutes)

Cool down (5 minutes)

The workout in Trainright: Climbing is an excellent one: it is highly focused and very well thought out. One thing to keep in mind here is that in order to get the most out of this workout, you need to be highly self-motivated. Coach Chris Carmichael does a great job of explaining the "whys and hows" of the workout, but he doesn't provide a constant motivational "push." The workout itself is not particularly varied, with only two different kinds of exercises, and with the exercise sets being fairly long; if you're not focused on your goals and willing to push yourself during the workout, it's easy to slack off and not get the most out of it.

If you find it hard to keep yourself motivated when you're on the trainer, or if you're more a recreational rather than competitive rider, you'll probably be better off with Spinervals: The Uphill Grind, which is aimed more at "ordinary" recreational riders. On the other hand, if you do have the motivation, this workout is all the more effective for your training goals because it is so focused.

One of the interesting aspects of Trainright: Climbing is the importance that Carmichael puts on cadence. While he doesn't specify the gear ratios for the different exercise sets, he does specify the exact cadence that you should be pedaling, which is very useful. Most serious riders will have a cadence feature on their cycle computer, and the Trainright program assumes that viewers will have one on their bikes; if you don't have a cadence pickup, you can try to gauge your pedaling by comparing it to the other riders, although the varied camera angles make this a little difficult. The tempo of the background music usually offers a cue for cadence as well, although not consistently. During the higher-cadence sets, the tempo matches the desired cadence very well, but during the lower-cadence sets, the music tends to have a too-fast beat at times and a just-right beat at others.

The program also assumes that you have previously determined your "target heart rate" through a field test: you'll use the data on your maximum heart rate from your ride in a formula that's supplied on-screen to figure out what are the target upper and lower limits of your heart rate. You'll make use of this information during the program, as Carmichael instructs viewers to maintain their target heart rate during the second exercise set, in order to get the maximum benefit out of the program.

The DVD

Video

Trainright: Climbing is presented in a 1.33:1 aspect ratio, and looks quite satisfactory. The image looks clean and attractive, with a reasonable level of detail. The various graphics that appear on-screen from time to time (indicating the suggested intensity or cadence, or the time remaining in the exercise set) are clear and easy to read., though perhaps a little on the small side for viewers with smaller television sets.

Audio

The soundtrack for the program is quite satisfactory; Carmichael's voice is clear and easy to understand, and the music in the background is balanced correctly so that it never overwhelms Carmichael when he's speaking.

Extras

There are no separate special features here, though really there ought to be: the main program opens with a generic introduction to CTS and then an explanation of how to do the field test to determine your target heart rate. Both of these should have been put as separate special features, because otherwise viewers have to skip through them every time they want to do the exercise program.

The chapters could also have been done better. The workout itself is divided into only two chapters: the workout and the cool-down period. It would have been much more useful to have the separate exercise sets broken down into separate chapters to facilitate easy navigation and individual "tailoring" of the program.

Final thoughts

For serious competitive cyclists, Trainright: Climbing offers a very solid training program to improve hill climbing ability. The workout doesn't have a lot of "bells and whistles" and requires that the viewer bring a healthy dose of self-motivation to the session, but the payoff is that this is a well designed training program, and coach Chris Carmichael does an excellent job of explaining why and how these exercises will benefit you. It's a good choice as part of the winter (or bad-weather) training for a serious bicycle rider.