Out of the saddle

[thunderlips76]

ok so.....I've been cycling a while now, like four years or there about. I have all the gear including a rather nice BMC gran fondo, I do ok on Strava and I ride on average 150/200km a week. Something is bothering me however, it seems I like to ride out of the saddle a lot. Any sleight incline and I'm stood up, climbing is all out of the saddle, even on some flats I'm out.

Am I doing something wrong, maybe I love the feel and look (feel a bit pro) if been off the saddle, but it feels right to me. Anyone else the same????

 

[ColinJ]

You may have all the gear, but do you use all your gears?

If you are using too high a gear then that would often get you out of the saddle.

 

[MikeG]

I'm the exact opposite..........and the pros are trending away from standing up. Sit down and spin. Get to the top of a hill using endurance rather than strength.......it is far more efficient and quick, as Froome proves every time he rides. For too long it has been macho to stand and power up a hill.

 

[Milkfloat]

If it floats your boat go for it. There is no right way or wrong way to do it. Personally I get out the saddle only to stretch/make something else hurt, or when teh going gets really tough. I will only be out/up for a couple of minutes at an absolute maximum.

 

[nickyboy]

I'm the exact opposite..........and the pros are trending away from standing up. Sit down and spin. Get to the top of a hill using endurance rather than strength.......it is far more efficient and quick, as Froome proves every time he rides. For too long it has been macho to stand and power up a hill.

Well it depends how long the hill is. Shorter relatively anaerobic efforts (so for me maybe a couple of minutes) and out of the saddle is definitely quicker. But I can't keep that effort up for long so hills of more than a couple of minutes and I will climb seated. I'll often do the first couple of minutes of a longer climb out of the saddle then seated for the rest of it too

 

[thunderlips76]

You may have all the gear, but do you use all your gears?

If you are using too high a gear then that would often get you out of the saddle.

Well I have a 11-32 but obviously don't cross chain if I can help it. Might be because of my location, lots of steep. lots of short climbs as opposed to long winded ones. Back in Yorkshire I used my little ring a lot more than here in Reading but even then I find climbing out of the saddle more comfortable. Think it's the wagging rhyme of the back of the bike.

 

[Dogtrousers]

it feels right to me.

Then it is right.

I find it's good to change up a gear or two (or not change down) and stand up just to give my backside a respite every now and then to use muscles slightly differently. When it becomes a problem to you, and stops feeling right, that's when you need to consider change.

 

[Yellow Saddle]

ok so.....I've been cycling a while now, like four years or there about. I have all the gear including a rather nice BMC gran fondo, I do ok on Strava and I ride on average 150/200km a week. Something is bothering me however, it seems I like to ride out of the saddle a lot. Any sleight incline and I'm stood up, climbing is all out of the saddle, even on some flats I'm out.

Am I doing something wrong, maybe I love the feel and look (feel a bit pro) if been off the saddle, but it feels right to me. Anyone else the same????

You lack strength and compensate with aerobic capacity.
Elite cyclists train specifically for three basic things namely strength, endurance and speed. They also train for combination of these, but it gets complicated.
If your inability to remain seated bothers you, you need to work on strength. In the off season you can do some gym work with weights. Squats, leg presses and other lower body exercises that flex two joints are best. Second best is single-joint flexures such as quad and hamstring curls on a machine. Once you have a good base of strength and you have good knees, you no longer have to go to gym but can start doing pistol squats. These are however very difficult and require a staged approach.This training is of short duration but done to exhaustion and with a frequency of no more than twice a week.
Stage two is to specifically ride long hills whilst seated. At first you don't go for performance, just form. In other words, remain seated for as long as the hill is there. If you can't, then find a less steep hill.

 

[S-Express]

You lack strength and compensate with aerobic capacity.
Elite cyclists train specifically for three basic things namely strength, endurance and speed. They also train for combination of these, but it gets complicated.
If your inability to remain seated bothers you, you need to work on strength. In the off season you can do some gym work with weights. Squats, leg presses and other lower body exercises that flex two joints are best. Second best is single-joint flexures such as quad and hamstring curls on a machine. Once you have a good base of strength and you have good knees, you no longer have to go to gym but can start doing pistol squats.

YS - depending on your definition of 'strength' - and assuming the OP is a normally-functioning, healthy individual, it's not strictly necessary to do any of that in order to improve performance. The limiters in endurance cycling are aerobic/metabolic - not strength related.

 

[S-Express]

and the pros are trending away from standing up.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqP1Nzmniao

 

[Crackle]

Pistol squats are very easy to do wrong and can damage knee joints. I would not recommend them unless you're supervised by someone who knows what they are doing.

 

[S-Express]

Am I doing something wrong

No. Do whatever you want to get up the hill in a way which is most efficient for you.

 

[Yellow Saddle]

YS - depending on your definition of 'strength' - and assuming the OP is a normally-functioning, healthy individual, it's not strictly necessary to do any of that in order to improve performance. The limiters in endurance cycling are aerobic/metabolic - not strength related.

Like I said, if it bothers him, he could do X.
At the elite level you do care about strength.
The definition here is that which requires the ATP-PC energy system.
Without strength you can't jump.

 

[Drago]

Don't worry about it. If it works for you then cool. I never honk, cos that's what works for me

 

[S-Express]

At the elite level you do care about strength.

I don't think so. Your physiology doesn't change as your ability improves. The definition of strength within exercise physiology is generally defined as your maximum force application at 1RM. So by that definition, strength is not a limiter in hill climbing, or any other branch of endurance cycling really.