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-Radi...7310830&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).

[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.

[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.