There's a few different things you can try to find a comfortable balance with changing your weight distribution ever so slightly to change which major muscles are being used.

The most important thing to remember is to find your balance over the bottom bracket. There's a ton of different angles you can manipulate to find what's comfortable for you while out of the saddle. Here are a few of my favorites:

For somewhat short and somewhat steep climbs: I like to be in a pretty easy gear and spin fast (rather than grind up it). I get out of the saddle and stand more upright with my upper body, hands on the hoods. I shift my hips forward away from the saddle and try and get my knees close to the handlebars as I'm pedalling. The biggest thing to think about while doing this is "I'm running up this hill" as in literally feels like running. It does take a bit of energy out of you but it totally saves your legs from doing all the work because you're using your whole body. Even though you'll be out of breath, it's must easier to recover from high heart rate than dead legs. Focus on keeping some of your weight back just a little to make sure you still have weight on the back wheel. As you're pedalling, focus more on the pedal stroke from 3 o'clock to 9 o'clock (and no dead spots!).

For other climbs that you just want to get out of the saddle for a minute or so to stretch: I've found this position from doing a spin class at my gym once a week as something fun to throw into my training schedule and a nice change. For everyone, there is a sweet spot where if you find the perfect center of balance - the right angle at your ankles, at your hips, with your back, and where your weight is distributed - you can ride in this position all day. Hands on the hoods, drop your hips just a teeny bit and rotate them backwards a touch (this will make a big difference on your angles). When you find it you won't be using any muscles at all, you'll have a little bit of pressure on your hands, and it feels like you're not doing any work. (For those of you who use an elliptical or similar machine - you know that sweet spot you can find where your body just goes and it feels like automatic pilot? Same thing!) It's really cool to feel. But the flip side to it is to practice riding out of the saddle to find this center of balance and even then, it's kind of hard to do on the bike on the road because you have so many variables. If you practice this either on the trainer or on a spin bike - everything stays the same so you can really focus on the *feel*. Make sense?

For steep sections of a climb where you stay in the saddle to push it: The biggest thing I focus on is trying to pedal in a circle larger than the one of your crank arms, i.e. pull in every direction. It feels weird at first and it's a little more inefficient but once you get it down pat, it makes a big difference. It's also better to hold the handlebar somewhat near the stem and rotate your hips backwards a little in the saddle. This recruits the hamstrings, glutes, and back rather than just quads. Another thing you can focus on is sliding back in the saddle a bit and try and push your foot straight through from 9 o'clock to 3 o'clock. I drop my heels a little to do this. You'll feel the front 1/2 of the bottom of your foot pressing against the bottom of the shoe when you do this. Do not keep your foot level and drive your toes in to the front of the shoe.

For steep sections where you have to get out of the saddle because you either ran out of gears or cadence: This is when it's painful for you and there's no other choice than to stand up. Do whever you can to find the most power. I sometimes bend down a little with my back (vs. being upright), pick my hips up a little, and rotate my hips backwards a bit. I feel I can generate the most power from this position. I also find it better to shift my weight back and pull up on the hoods to keep my moving.


With everything - THE KEY IS FINDING RHYTHM AND BALANCE.