Qwertyportne

When I first began cycling, I couldn't stand very long without my quads giving up. But I watched other riders and noticed more than a few stand up when a hill gets steep. Same thing watching the Tour de France. And one of my friends told me the best way to increase your fitness is to stand up on the last third of a hill. I've been doing that for two years. Then the other day a guy said you have more power sitting than standing. Huh? I always have more power on a hill when I stand up. Anybody have any feedback on this issue?

dabac

HTupolev

Standing can make it easier to produce high torque, so it's commonly done when someone is on a steep hill and has bottomed out their gearing. Most people also put out peak sprint power while standing. Furthermore, standing occasionally can be nice to stretch out and shift posture; I usually get a bit of stiffness in my lower back if I do a mountainous ascent without moving around at all on the bike.

As far as "having more power sitting", this is usually true in the sense that most people can do higher average power over lengthy intervals if they spend most of their time seated. The thing about standing is that the upper body has to do a lot of stabilization work that doesn't contribution to pedaling, which uses extra energy and oxygen.

79pmooney

Whether you have more power sitting or standing depends on you, your body and your training. And power isn't the only significant thing when you are climbing. Climbing is often done at a lever that cannot be sustained (especially if you are racing or "racing" So you are dipping intro reserves for which you will pay later. Now we have several reserves we can dip into, Energy reserves, muscle fiber reserves, anaerobic reserves. High power sitting is efficient and a good use of long term energy reserves but it will take its toll on the primary cycling muscles. So later in the race when you need the big gear, you may not have ability to turn it. Climbing out of the saddle uses significantly different muscles. It is done at greater cost energy-wise (and oxygen-wise; your breathing will amp up considerably), but a good part of the energy is from your anaerobic reserves. You may well find that you have more "in the tank" when you reach for that big gear later.

This is a completely non-scientific explanation. I have zero medical/physiology training but i have been riding a long time, used to race and thrived on hills. (My fellow 3,4s did not like seeing me when the road went up. With enough hills, I could finish with the 1,2s.) I loved hard hills and could climb all day out of the saddle. (Geared my bike with a 42-19 low for most of my races so I had little choice.) The sit and spin at a million RPM styles made famous by Lance Armstrong and Chris Froome didn't work for me. Granted, when I raced, those gear didn't exist on racing bikes, but even if they had, I would have been doing my best in much higher gears and standing.

We are all different and standing vs sitting will be likewise very different. But developing a good standing style and enough strength and training to do it will be a huge tool to improve both your climbing and your whole ride on hilly days. Plus, that time standing is wonderful for stretching out the body and oxygenating the parts of your body that get ignored as you sit. (Again - very non-scientific but try it. You'll see.)

Biggest tip to good out of the saddle climbing - mindset. Think of it as a dance; a full body, full bike dance. (The two of you are partners and when the dance is done right, everything moves and the bike goes exactly straight up the hill. I don't have one single style to my dance. It varies with where I am in the hill, how tired I am, how hard I have to go vs both the hill and the gear I chose. Sometimes I rock the bike a lot, Sometimes I keep it nearly still. Likewise my body. But I do pride myself in leaving tire tracks that are virtually straight whatever my dance style is.

Ben

fietsbob

Both, Alternate between the 2.

livedarklions

This is one of those things that I don't really have to think about. There's actually so many variables involved including the steepness of the hill, whether you had a running start on the hill and how tired I am that I just sort of go with whatever feels right at the time. Sometimes it's obvious I have to stand - a steep hill right after a red light for example - -- but often it feels like I am "letting my legs decide" , which really means I am working it out subconsciously. I just sort of find myself either sitting or standing and just go with it. Usually works out well.

BTW, best practice I have found off the bike for good standing technique is an elliptical machine with resistance.

Qwertyportne

Thanks for the feedback, everyone. Good tips. Reminds me of what I learned when I was a runner: some things are automatic, more about your body than your brain. But I got faster at all distances, 5K to 50K, by focusing on what was and wasn't good form. Now I'm learning what is and isn't good form as a cyclist, when sitting or standing -- what 79pmooney called the dance. When I first starting cycling, my more experienced friends would yell at me, "Stop running on your pedals, Billy. Spin!" And of course I did. Thanks for the tips guys.

burnthesheep

Sitting is more efficient, but standing gets you around switchbacks quicker and gives your butt a rest. Also mixes up the muscles just a tad for a little "micro rest" before back to seated.

Kovkov

Theycallmegio

It probably depends largely on the individual. Standing/grinding a heavy gear at lower cadence works for someone with a strong musculature. If you have the power to push a heavy gear do so. I ride with friends that are bigger/stronger than me but I can smoke them going up a hill by spinning at a high cadence while they grind - my cardio is stronger than their physical strength.

If my stronger friends were to sit and try to outspin me, I'd put a lot more distance between us much quicker BC my cardio is stronger than theirs. Use what you have developed, ideally you should be able to take advantage of both methods of riding, but everyone's strengths are going to differ.

livedarklions

Worst advice ever.

Slightspeed

I'm not much of a stander. I find it takes more energy and I don't go any faster. Even when I was racing a 100 years ago, I didn't do much standing on hills. Old habits are hard to break, I guess. I do spin lower gears, but still feel glued to the saddle. Do what works for you.

woodcraft

Now someone has said to either stay seated or push the bike,

so do you have more power when pushing?

livedarklions

Exactly on the "do what works" thing--there's so many variables involved that overall it's probably a wash which method is best over all circumstances. One of the variables is obviously the physical characteristics of the rider, so I could see how one method may just be easier for you. For me, endurance is best served by varying it up somewhat, and I can do both just as easily.

livedarklions

He actually said "dismount and push", pretty sure you don't generate much power that way. Frankly, it's ridiculous advice--standing works as well or better as sitting for many riders in different situations, and there's no reason you shouldn't do it if it works for you.

cyclintom

If you have a very large gear or you're trying to use a large gear standing is counterproductive. Sitting and spinning a lower gear and spinning circles is more efficient.

Cl904

cyclintom

I misspoke there. If you have a high gear to climb in you're pretty much stuck standing and pumping up a hill. A LOT of young guys are still doing this. Among other things the bike has to be fit properly so that standing you can be nearly upright and still have complete hold on the bars.

But this position makes it almost impossible to spin circles and that engages all of your muscles. This in turn make you grow tired faster.

Brofessor

I don't always climb. But when I do, I prefer

rollagain

Tell that to the people riding Elliptigos.

KraneXL

Meh, a novelty. Especially on TV commercials.

woodcraft

Those young guys- so wacky with their riser stems!

cyclintom

This is a technique that is generally used on steep hills so you don't need riser stems since the front of the bike is pretty far up already.

wipekitty

I'm generally more of a sitter on climbs, though I'm trying to work on my standing technique. I'm pretty good at it on a single speed bike (out of necessity), but not as good when I have a wide variety of gearing options available.

One interesting thing I've noticed is the variety of techniques for climbing on my group rides, even among fairly equally paced riders. Some will stand most of the way, some can sit and spin with crazy high RPMs, and others (myself included) prefer to sit and put out power at a lower RPM.

livedarklions

That hits on one of the most overlooked factors in figuring out how to ride a hill--the slope changes your body's relationship to the handlebars, frame and pedals so much that it's like operating a different bike from when it's on level. It's not just a matter of increased resistance, it's a different geometry, and this difference gets bigger with each degree of slope.