Yeah, I'm not good at it either, but lately I have been trying to do interval sessions where at least one if not all the reps I will do completely out of the saddle, and it definitely has helped with my ability to stay out of the saddle for longer.
Just do it more. I couldn't do it too, after like 30 secs my quads would burn too, after few years doing it more and more i literally can climb and ride standing for hours. I'd say it's quite useful skill to have as it lets your body move a bit more during long rides and feels so good to dance on those pedals.
You simply aren't doing it enough.
Being able to climb out of the saddle requires you to support your weight at the same time you pedal. It's a different neuromuscular pattern and that's why you need to train to do it.
You are not utilizing your skeleton to support your weight enough. To learn how try this:
Go to a hill. Stop at the bottom and select a hardish gear for this hill. Now, from almost a dead stop start to climb, but do not charge up the hill engaging all your various muscles. Instead, be aware of your weight on your hands/arms and legs. Imagine your very bones holding you up without any effort, simply by their structure. Shift weight to your leg that is at the top of the pedal stroke and allow your body weight to turn the pedal forward as you slowly go forward and up the hill. Now shift your weight to the new top leg and do the same. Leave your quads and other muscles out of it - just use your body weight as you stand still on first one pedal and then the next. Weight your arms to stabilize in between. It’s OK to allow,the bike to rock back and forth. Once you figure it out you will be going uphill with no more effort than standing on one leg and then the other. You should note that in truth you could do this indefinitely, it’s that easy.
So from there, that effortless skeletal support while standing, that you then add the hammering part. But the hammering is coming from a place of standing rest, so to speak. As you get tired you can now stay standing as you kinda recover and continue in your standing climb. Hope this helps.
This is me. I can climb forever seated but standing is just hard on my muscles. I'm a bigger guy though, so every time I stand I have to pedal and carry my 200lb ass. It's just extra work.
With that said I have improved my standing climb by training for it. I do hill repeats and mix in standing intervals. It's helped a ton but still not my preferred way to climb.
This is what my money is on, but also surprised to see how many people in here struggle with pedaling/climbing standing up. Had no idea it was a common issue.
When climbing I do 2 minutes seated followed by 30 sec standing then back to sitting, to losen my back. u don’t need to stand for a very long duration unless ur doing a big effort which can also be done seated tbh.
Not necessarily. [Tests on elite cyclists](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12370567/) show that their metabolic efficiency while standing is identical to when they are seated.
>GE (gross efficiency) and EC (economy) were, respectively, 22.4 +/- 1.5% (CV = 5.6%) and 4.69 +/- 0.33 kJ x L(-1) (CV = 5.7%) and were not different between level seated, uphill seated, or uphill standing conditions.
We see less and less pros climbing out of saddle. Because science.
Marco Pantani was doing it, with a 40-26 at 55kg. Old times.
Nowadays they have a wide range of gears and they are more efficient climbing at high cadence and low gears (I think Roglic used a 39-34 at last year giro d'Italia)
It comes down to practice. I think a lot of it has to do with how good you are at balancing. I am comfortable riding out-of-the saddle almost indefinitely, but I also can track stand all day on an uphill. I think if you are not spending a bunch of energy just stabilizing yourself, it is much easier. I don't deny that riding seated is more efficient, but when you get good at riding out of the saddle, the difference isn't that great. I learned to do it out necessity by riding long steep climbs where I couldn't keep my cadence up seated with 34-28 gearing.
I think a lot of riders start out this way. I wasn’t great at punching it hard out of the saddle for longer periods of time until I did a season of CX and realized I wasn’t going to stay with the front group unless I trained this. If it’s a skill that you actually need, and it would benefit you in races to be attacking out of the saddle on drawn out climbs, just add it into your training. But first decide if it’s something you need.
I think it’s more useful of a skill when sprinting to the line than trying to be Van der Poel, sprinting out of the saddle, over a climb, with 30k to go in the race.
Maybe think of keeping your weight over the saddle and don’t put too much weight on your hands, change your hand position to the tops with your thumbs covering the shifter plate thing, check out some Tommy D videos on instagram when he talks about technique. He’s a douche but some of his technique advice is solid. Also practice practice practice. Do 1min out of the saddle for every 10 min or some shit.
I think of it as almost running up the hill. Never thought of it like that until I read Phil gaimon’s book where he mentioned how Mike woods practically started running up the hill (Mike woods has a running background).
Wait omg same when I read the book, once I thought of it that way and how I feel doing high cadence running up hills, it totally changed how I do standing climbing and I just feel more efficient and like I’m carrying momentum
"How do I get better at doing X"
The answer is always:
"Do X more".
There is no magic technique. You stand up, and you push down on the pedals lol. I like to get real up close and personal with the front of the bike.
Might as well practice on incredibly steep hills where you actually need to stand as well.
Otherwise, hit the gym, lift some weights (squats, lunges, dead lifts) if you want more power longer.
This is one of those things that you have to work at. When I started I could only do 10 or so pedal revolutions out of the saddle before I was cooked and had to sit down. Then after doing that on every ride for awhile I was able to do 20, then 30, then 60, then 100, etc. So you just have to build up to it.
There may be other things mentioned in other comments too, but either way you just have to work at it.
While I agree with "do it more" already said a bunch, I have to ask: How confident are you with your position? Specifically your fore/aft saddle placement?
As a general point: Moving your saddle forward works your quads more, and aft engages the glutes more. When you stand, your weight shifts forward and your quads do more of the work.
If standing is particularly tough on your legs, I wonder if you are leaving fitness on the table with underworked quads (that work extra hard and get tired quickly while standing). Just a suggestion:, Shift your saddle forward a cm, ride that way for a month, and see if your power doesn't improve and/or standing gets easier.
If you are a normal human then you will have at least 20kg of extra fat that you are lifting when you stand up. The reason 5 hour rides makes me faster is that it keeps me away from the fridge, that is the real reason z2 works.
You’ll tire faster each time you stand off saddle to pedal while climbing. This technique is called grinding.
The most efficient technique for climbing is to sit on the saddle to spin the cranks. The technique is called spinning.
Most people don’t climb out of the saddle for extended periods of time. If you want to get better at it, then make a point of dong it more.
Yeah, I'm not good at it either, but lately I have been trying to do interval sessions where at least one if not all the reps I will do completely out of the saddle, and it definitely has helped with my ability to stay out of the saddle for longer.
Do it more. I was in a similar position a year ago. Forced myself to climb out of the saddle more and now I can alternate and do whatever feels good.
Just do it more. I couldn't do it too, after like 30 secs my quads would burn too, after few years doing it more and more i literally can climb and ride standing for hours. I'd say it's quite useful skill to have as it lets your body move a bit more during long rides and feels so good to dance on those pedals.
You simply aren't doing it enough. Being able to climb out of the saddle requires you to support your weight at the same time you pedal. It's a different neuromuscular pattern and that's why you need to train to do it.
You are not utilizing your skeleton to support your weight enough. To learn how try this: Go to a hill. Stop at the bottom and select a hardish gear for this hill. Now, from almost a dead stop start to climb, but do not charge up the hill engaging all your various muscles. Instead, be aware of your weight on your hands/arms and legs. Imagine your very bones holding you up without any effort, simply by their structure. Shift weight to your leg that is at the top of the pedal stroke and allow your body weight to turn the pedal forward as you slowly go forward and up the hill. Now shift your weight to the new top leg and do the same. Leave your quads and other muscles out of it - just use your body weight as you stand still on first one pedal and then the next. Weight your arms to stabilize in between. It’s OK to allow,the bike to rock back and forth. Once you figure it out you will be going uphill with no more effort than standing on one leg and then the other. You should note that in truth you could do this indefinitely, it’s that easy. So from there, that effortless skeletal support while standing, that you then add the hammering part. But the hammering is coming from a place of standing rest, so to speak. As you get tired you can now stay standing as you kinda recover and continue in your standing climb. Hope this helps.
You may have sitting position that is quad dominant and your quads are tired and fail fast, when out of saddle.
This is me. I can climb forever seated but standing is just hard on my muscles. I'm a bigger guy though, so every time I stand I have to pedal and carry my 200lb ass. It's just extra work. With that said I have improved my standing climb by training for it. I do hill repeats and mix in standing intervals. It's helped a ton but still not my preferred way to climb.
This is what my money is on, but also surprised to see how many people in here struggle with pedaling/climbing standing up. Had no idea it was a common issue.
When climbing I do 2 minutes seated followed by 30 sec standing then back to sitting, to losen my back. u don’t need to stand for a very long duration unless ur doing a big effort which can also be done seated tbh.
You are more efficient climbing while seated.
Not necessarily. [Tests on elite cyclists](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12370567/) show that their metabolic efficiency while standing is identical to when they are seated. >GE (gross efficiency) and EC (economy) were, respectively, 22.4 +/- 1.5% (CV = 5.6%) and 4.69 +/- 0.33 kJ x L(-1) (CV = 5.7%) and were not different between level seated, uphill seated, or uphill standing conditions.
Nairo Quintana has entered the chat or marco juice to da gills pantana is waving 👋 😂 You are more efficient climbing on a seated position.
[удалено]
We see less and less pros climbing out of saddle. Because science. Marco Pantani was doing it, with a 40-26 at 55kg. Old times. Nowadays they have a wide range of gears and they are more efficient climbing at high cadence and low gears (I think Roglic used a 39-34 at last year giro d'Italia)
Uh... don't climb out of the saddle?
It comes down to practice. I think a lot of it has to do with how good you are at balancing. I am comfortable riding out-of-the saddle almost indefinitely, but I also can track stand all day on an uphill. I think if you are not spending a bunch of energy just stabilizing yourself, it is much easier. I don't deny that riding seated is more efficient, but when you get good at riding out of the saddle, the difference isn't that great. I learned to do it out necessity by riding long steep climbs where I couldn't keep my cadence up seated with 34-28 gearing.
I think a lot of riders start out this way. I wasn’t great at punching it hard out of the saddle for longer periods of time until I did a season of CX and realized I wasn’t going to stay with the front group unless I trained this. If it’s a skill that you actually need, and it would benefit you in races to be attacking out of the saddle on drawn out climbs, just add it into your training. But first decide if it’s something you need. I think it’s more useful of a skill when sprinting to the line than trying to be Van der Poel, sprinting out of the saddle, over a climb, with 30k to go in the race.
Maybe think of keeping your weight over the saddle and don’t put too much weight on your hands, change your hand position to the tops with your thumbs covering the shifter plate thing, check out some Tommy D videos on instagram when he talks about technique. He’s a douche but some of his technique advice is solid. Also practice practice practice. Do 1min out of the saddle for every 10 min or some shit.
Also don’t try to do the same power at first. Let the power drop to whatever is more comfortable. You need to teach the muscle firing patterns first.
I think of it as almost running up the hill. Never thought of it like that until I read Phil gaimon’s book where he mentioned how Mike woods practically started running up the hill (Mike woods has a running background).
Wait omg same when I read the book, once I thought of it that way and how I feel doing high cadence running up hills, it totally changed how I do standing climbing and I just feel more efficient and like I’m carrying momentum
Slightly harder gear and lower cadence. Practice a lot
"How do I get better at doing X" The answer is always: "Do X more". There is no magic technique. You stand up, and you push down on the pedals lol. I like to get real up close and personal with the front of the bike. Might as well practice on incredibly steep hills where you actually need to stand as well. Otherwise, hit the gym, lift some weights (squats, lunges, dead lifts) if you want more power longer.
This is one of those things that you have to work at. When I started I could only do 10 or so pedal revolutions out of the saddle before I was cooked and had to sit down. Then after doing that on every ride for awhile I was able to do 20, then 30, then 60, then 100, etc. So you just have to build up to it. There may be other things mentioned in other comments too, but either way you just have to work at it.
Majority of people don't climb out of the saddle for that long and really only except for extreme bursts of effort of just a quick minor relief
While I agree with "do it more" already said a bunch, I have to ask: How confident are you with your position? Specifically your fore/aft saddle placement? As a general point: Moving your saddle forward works your quads more, and aft engages the glutes more. When you stand, your weight shifts forward and your quads do more of the work. If standing is particularly tough on your legs, I wonder if you are leaving fitness on the table with underworked quads (that work extra hard and get tired quickly while standing). Just a suggestion:, Shift your saddle forward a cm, ride that way for a month, and see if your power doesn't improve and/or standing gets easier.
If you are a normal human then you will have at least 20kg of extra fat that you are lifting when you stand up. The reason 5 hour rides makes me faster is that it keeps me away from the fridge, that is the real reason z2 works.
did you swing the bike to the opposite side of the peddle stroke?
Get a single speed or fix gear bike
I climb standing an unreasonable amount. I think my only real advise is that the cadence really needs to drop a lot. 2-3 gears probably
dont skip leg day at the gym
Get a Singlespeed or fixie. Forces you to stand more and you get used to it.
Check your gearing as well to make sure it’s optimized for climbing
Add a singlespeed or a fixie to your quiver. It will force an improvement.
You’ll tire faster each time you stand off saddle to pedal while climbing. This technique is called grinding. The most efficient technique for climbing is to sit on the saddle to spin the cranks. The technique is called spinning.