Climbing out of the saddle

[leah]

I don't know why I have such a tough time climbing out of the saddle. Can anyone provide some tips as to what I might be doing wrong? When I come out of the saddle, it makes my thighs burn like no tomorrow and I can barely sustain it for more than a few pedal strokes. It doesn't really seem to help me out with climbing like I think it is supposed to.

I feel like I should be using my hamstrings and glutes more and be giving my quads a break. Is that right? Should I be hovering lower down over the saddle?

Thanks for any tips you can offer!

[maillotpois]

Be sure you have enough resistance on the pedals (i.e., are in a hard enough gear). Your cadence will likely drop a little when you stand. It takes practice and building strength to climb out of the saddle. Be patient with it. When I started riding, I felt very uneasy out of the saddle. Now it is a welcome break during a long climb, or a way to power through rollers.

You'll get there.

[Owlie]

I haven't built up the strength yet to do it. It's far easier for me to sit and spin, unless I need a little extra "oomph" up a short, steep incline.

[BodhiTree]

Grant Petersen gives clear instructions for pedalling while standing in his book "Just Ride." http://www.amazon.com/Just-Ride-Radically-Practical-Riding/dp/0761155589/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1337310830&sr=8-1

It's quite a good book overall.

[ny biker]

I rarely stand up to climb. Only sometimes on very short steep inclines.

[Crankin]

I've been riding for 11 years and I never stand while climbing. At first, I actually couldn't get up out of the saddle. I can do that now, but if I am on a steep hill, when I stand, my speed decreases so much and it hurts my legs so badly, it's not worth it. I put it in the lowest gear and up I go. Basically, I can climb just about anything (up to 20%). I don't think I am particularly weak after 30 years of exercising, but if I stood on some of the steep climbs I've done, say in the Berkshires, my legs would hurt so badly, I might have to stop and walk.
I do stand to stretch, or to go up a little ride once in awhile. But, I see people like my DH, who can stand and accelerate. However, he doesn't do this as much as he used to, and now spins up climbs much as I do (although faster).

[OakLeaf]

Should I be hovering lower down over the saddle?

All I know is my own experience, and my bikes over the years aren't necessarily a perfect fit, but I'm much farther forward when I'm standing - pretty much directly over the bottom bracket. It's one of the reasons I don't like a bento box on my top tube - because my knees hit it when I climb.

My experience is that sitting takes more muscle endurance but standing takes more cardio. So standing is good for the short steep stuff, or to break it up during long climbs, or to sprint.

In my body it feels just like standing up out of a chair. My hips come forward as my torso straightens.

+1 that you need to be in a higher gear for standing, because of your body weight. If I stand in the middle of a climb, I'll shift up at least one gear, often two. Maintaining a high cadence while standing taxes both cardio and muscle, and it's not something most people can sustain very long at all. And +1 that an elliptical machine simulates the feeling pretty well, to me.

[shootingstar]

I've forgotten how to climb out of the saddle when cycling. I've been so accustomed cycling up hills @ 12-17% grades in low gear while seated..

(I have never seen my partner climb out of his bike when mounting mountain passes and far steeper hills with double amount of pannier weight plus a bike trailer in tow. I don't he ever will- not at his age. He remains seated and patiently grinds upward.)

It actually is inspiring to ride with a partner like this: there is lots of hope for those who remain seated in the saddle. You just have to understand how to use your gears at the right time, keep the right cadence and be patient with self.

[zoom-zoom]

I have a friend who is a total badass and NEVER ever climbs out of the saddle...she is a total beast (she also never rides with a cadence of faster than maybe 80, while anything <80 is painful for me). I like getting out of the saddle here and there to let my body weight do more of the work and make use of different muscles. It's not bad to never ride out of the saddle, if that works for you.

[Crankin]

Yep, I have had male riders ask me on group rides, "how I trained myself" to spin so fast going up a hill.
I always laugh and say that I don't train... it's what's most natural for me and I developed my technique over years of cycling.

[Catrin]

I don't stand when climbing either, just shift to an easier gear and keep on keeping on :) I will stand to rest my legs sometimes when I am coasting on the road, but that is really the extent of it.

[Marquise]

My experience is that this is another thing that to get better at you have to do more of it. Took me a while before I was comfortable even trying to stand and I was lucky to have an experienced cyclist (my husband) give me advice on my position on the bike as I (slowly) progressed. I think you should be centered between the saddle and the bars so you're supporting some of your weight on the bars and taking some of the pressure off your thighs. (Not really different from when you're seated.) But expect there may be days when your thighs burn like mad and, eventually at least, days when you can really power up a hill. And there may also be days when one hill seems impossible but the next one seems relatively easy.

[bikegrrl]

Thanks! I came on here specifically about this question. I just can't stand and worried this would hinder me ever taking tough hills

[Catrin]

Thanks! I came on here specifically about this question. I just can't stand and worried this would hinder me ever taking tough hills

This doesn't stop me, I just gear down and keep going. It does use more energy to stand, or so I've been told. For full disclosure I DO have a mountain bike rear cassette and crank so that does give me an advantage - this isn't my mountain bike.

[jessmarimba]

I stand on my commuter on one or two really short steep hills. Mostly because it's a choice of standing or shifting and I don't think of shifting before the pressure would be too rough. I can't seem to stand and pedal as well on my mountain bike.

[lph]

Just to add another perspective - I love standing to climb and will stand at the drop of a hat. My legs burn a lot more if I sit all the time, it feels as if I really need that change in position. I've read too that standing uses more energy, but to me it really doesn't feel that way. I think people just are built differently, with a preference to the one or the other. But when I stand, I really stand, punching out each pedal stroke, no hovering, and try to straighten my legs completely every now and then to stretch out the kinks.

[zoom-zoom]

Just to add another perspective - I love standing to climb and will stand at the drop of a hat. My legs burn a lot more if I sit all the time, it feels as if I really need that change in position. I've read too that standing uses more energy, but to me it really doesn't feel that way. I think people just are built differently, with a preference to the one or the other. But when I stand, I really stand, punching out each pedal stroke, no hovering, and try to straighten my legs completely every now and then to stretch out the kinks.

This is kind of my take, too...plus standing gets me up the hill faster. My asthma tends to kick in the longer it takes me to crest a hill.

[Blueberry]

I'm OK to stand some while riding outside, though I don't love it. I find it harder since I've switched to bar end shifters (though I otherwise love them, and won't go back).

On the trainer inside, though :eek::eek: I cannot do the standing sets on Spinervals (I posted here a while ago seeking advice). Just can't do it. Especially the low resistance ones.

Elliptical is my cross training form of cardio, so I don't think it's that I don't have the right muscles....

[leah]

I watch other cyclists climb out the saddle and they seem to be sort of gracefully "jogging" the bike side to side. When I try to do that, I feel like my weight is distributed properly but I just sort of end up jerking the handlebars back and forth and it feels so awkward. I wish I could figure out what they are doing exactly - it's hard to imitate.

[Blueberry]

I watch other cyclists climb out the saddle and they seem to be sort of gracefully "jogging" the bike side to side. When I try to do that, I feel like my weight is distributed properly but I just sort of end up jerking the handlebars back and forth and it feels so awkward. I wish I could figure out what they are doing exactly - it's hard to imitate.

That kinda sounds like your upper body is too tight. You have to let the bike move under you to be able to climb out of the saddle on the road. I think that's part of the reason I can't do it on the trainer - I can't let the bike rock (I don't have a rocking trainer).

[Crankin]

I can't stand on the trainer, either, Blueberry. If I do, it has to be in the hardest gear, and then it kills my knees. While I find it takes much more energy and slows me down on the road, I can stand. I also see people looking so natural when they stand; not me.
I don't like the elliptical for this reason. When the resistance is hard enough, it hurts my knees.

[Jiffer]

Climbing out of the saddle isn't for everyone. Your body type has a lot to do with it. I'm 5'9" and, while I'm relatively thin, my height makes me weigh more than many women. I am not a great climber at all and have, therefore, done a LOT of reading on the subject.

I have learned that for the "heavier" rider, it's best to usually sit on a climb, particularly a long one. Once you are getting close to the top, you might stand to get the rest of the way up and over the hill quicker (if you are going for speed).

The more I have ridden, the more I have worked on standing and building those muscles. I do often stand to power up short climbs. Or when on a really long climb, I'll stand for a short period to use different muscles and rest the overworked ones. (And my butt!)

When I stand, it's not my legs that give me the most grief. It's my breathing. Standing works my cardio more than sitting, so this is another thing that gets worked and strengthened a little at a time as I do stand.

I haven't been able to do real training or big rides in a long time due to health, but I recall a time a year or two ago when I was coming back from a long ride and there was about a 2% incline and I decided to stand between one signal to the next, but then I kept going . . . and going . . . and LOVED it! After all my training and making myself stand on occasion, I was seeing the payoff.

When you train yourself to be able to do both, it can come in handy for various reasons. However, strictly speaking to climbing, you have to figure out what works for you. If you want to train to stand, do it in baby steps. Find short spurts (usually a climb for me) to do it. And don't try to spin too hard. Use a big gear and try to keep a nice easy rhythm, not worrying about speed (at least in the beginning).

[Munch]

I encountered my very first hill today. It was massive and I wasn't expecting it! I went to the lowest gear and climbed maybe half of it sitting, then I had to climb out of the saddle for the remainder of it. The top of a hill has never been so sweet! It was a hard climb seeing as it was my first, and I don't think I'll be attempting it again until I've trained on smaller hills first. My left knee is really hurting and I think it's due to the massive climb. I've been riding for over a week with a two day rest and haven't had any knee pain other than this. I definitely pushed it too hard and probably should have just turned around and rode down the hill, but I didn't want to give up!

[Jiffer]

YAY!!!! You conquered that hill!!! :D You must be proud of yourself. Even though you felt maybe you should have turned around. ;)

But you don't know until you try. Now you know you should do shorter hills and build up to it and, when you try it again, you'll hopefully see improvement.

Your knee pain could be associated with your bike fit. If your seat is too low or high, it can cause pain in the knee. One gives you a pain behind the knee and one gives pain in front of the knee and I can't remember which is which. And it doesn't take much. A quarter inch makes a big difference.

Also, a friend of mine who used to grind up hills in her big gear started to develop knee pain. You went to your smallest gear, though, and stood for part of it, so it may not be that. It may simply be a matter of getting used to climbing. And it may also be a matter of efficient pedaling. Assuming you are clipped in and can, therefore, get the benefit of a full rotation. If you are only pushing down on the pedal, that's going to put more pressure on your knees than if you also pulled up, and also pushed forward across the front of the pedal and also swiped back across the bottom. It takes time and work to develop good pedaling technique. I still have to remind myself consciously.

Some day you might look back at that hill and laugh at how hard it was the first time. Maybe not! But maybe! It kind of depends on just how long and steep it is. I know there's a hill in our club ride that isn't super long or steep, but kind of a lot for a beginner, particularly if you want to stay with the group, who for the most part, sails up and over it. I knew I had made big progress when I was not falling to the back of the group, and even staying with the front of the group on that climb.

My husband recounted a story from when he was a new rider. He rode with a friend and he remembers the day he got up and over a "hill" and realized he had stayed in his big ring. What makes the story so comical is that hill is one of the easiest and shortest hills around here. I pretty much hate hills, but not that one. There's even a slight downgrade right before it to help you build speed before it. The other thing that makes it comical is that he eventually turned into a hill climbing FREAK OF NATURE! He's extremely strong and fast at climbing and has done tons of endurance rides with stupid amounts of climbing . . . and is always in the top percentage of riders.

His love of climbing kind of pushed me to climb more than I ever thought I would. I mean, who WANTS to climb 4,000 feet in 20 miles? (If you don't know how much that is . . . it's a LOT.) And that's just a training ride I've done several times. He convinced me to do a century with 8500 feet of climbing. And then the next year? I did it AGAIN!!!!! :eek:

Why do we do these things to ourselves? Partially to see what we can really achieve. And then to try to do it better than before. It's part of what drives me to get out and ride my bike.

Okay, this has turned into a lot of rambling words. I guess I'm just trying to inspire you. Keep going and you may be surprised how that hill becomes easier with time.

Okay one more story to inspire you. I can't resist. ;) I remember doing a club ride one time, which involves a lot of climbing (not 4,000 feet. More like 1000 in about 10 miles, before turning around). I was by far the slowest. Everyone was passing me and I was alone. Then I hear voices coming up behind me and two riders, a guy and a girl, pass me like I'm nothing . . . and they're carrying on a conversation while I'm huffing and puffing.

Most of the riders were guys, and I kind of expected them to all be stronger. But when this woman passed me so easily, my first thought was, "I hate her." But then I thought, "No! I don't hate her. I want to BE her! And I'm GOING to be her!" So I decided to use her as my inspiration to someday do that ride as fast as she did that day.

Over the next couple of years my speed improved a lot. I don't really know what her speed was that day, but I'm pretty sure I achieved that goal. I BECAME HER!!! :D

Okay, I'm done now.

[smittykitty]

I'm inspired! Thanks.

[Munch]

Thanks Jiffer, that's definitely inspiring. I have raised my seat since I first started riding, but perhaps it could go up a bit higher. I have been battling a knee injury so I think I just over did it that day. I felt good the next day, so I'm not worried. Haven't gotten to be on my bike since. Was busy yesterday and today and today it's a little chilly. Might try to get out there though.

Update* Did get out for a quick ride, but boy was it chilly and windy. I'll remember to wear something to warm my ears next time it's this chilly.