Originally Posted by
DiabloScott
The idea that reducing your effort a little bit is a "rest" kind of makes me laugh. On a long climb of course there is benefit to changing up your position, stretching, standing, unweighting the saddle, using different muscles, etc... but it's not rest.
Exactly. Using different muscles and at a lower cadence helps the tired muscles a bit, but there is no free lunch. In order to use your weight to push on the pedals, you first have to lift your weight.