Standing up

Dan_JR

My $0.02.

I have it in the back of my mind that standing was 16% less effecient, probably feels about right.

D

ellieb

I once did a little experiment with a heart rate monitor. (sad i know) Going up a steepish hill that I could do either seated or standing: I found that my heart rate went up 10bpm when standing, that was while going up the hill same speed with a cadence comfortable for my position. I concluded that for me at least, standing was best for short bursts of power that I could't easily generate while sitting down.

P_Tucker

Slack wrote:

P_Tucker wrote:

Slack wrote:

It is worth noting that when standing, you're transferring your whole body weight onto the legs, you're making the legs work harder. This results in an elevated heart rate and therefore uses up more energy.

Amaferanga says there is a marginal difference in efficiency between standing and seated climbing - fair enough for you maybe, but it is clearly not the case for the OP, where there certainly appears to be difference.

For ultimate efficiency you need to consider your power to weight ratio. Shed some body weight and get down the gym.

I couldn't make that up if I tried. Bravo.

Said the Bikeradar forum troll.

When you start real cycling with the grown ups, I suggest you try climbing hills out of the saddle, and see what difference it makes to your heart rate, compared with going up the hill seated.

I'm finding you a particularly unpleasant individual. I could be wrong of course, and it may be you're just a bad communicator. All the same I do not ever recall seeing a genuinely helpful or useful post from yourself.

Suggest you cut out the one line snide remarks.

Is it worse to dish out a load of bolleaux to people who don't know better, or to abrasively highlight said bolleaux to said people. Tricky.

ShutUpLegs

P_Tucker wrote:

Slack wrote:

P_Tucker wrote:

Slack wrote:

It is worth noting that when standing, you're transferring your whole body weight onto the legs, you're making the legs work harder. This results in an elevated heart rate and therefore uses up more energy.

Amaferanga says there is a marginal difference in efficiency between standing and seated climbing - fair enough for you maybe, but it is clearly not the case for the OP, where there certainly appears to be difference.

For ultimate efficiency you need to consider your power to weight ratio. Shed some body weight and get down the gym.

I couldn't make that up if I tried. Bravo.

Said the Bikeradar forum troll.

When you start real cycling with the grown ups, I suggest you try climbing hills out of the saddle, and see what difference it makes to your heart rate, compared with going up the hill seated.

I'm finding you a particularly unpleasant individual. I could be wrong of course, and it may be you're just a bad communicator. All the same I do not ever recall seeing a genuinely helpful or useful post from yourself.

Suggest you cut out the one line snide remarks.

Is it worse to dish out a load of bolleaux to people who don't know better, or to abrasively highlight said bolleaux to said people. Tricky.

When will the abrasive posts start?

StrangelyBrown

Back to the OP (remember him); the more you ride the better you'll get at it.

Here is some research in a nutshell http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18569564 - so sitting for sub-maximal and standing thereafter, for maximum performance.

Standing and sitting uses slighly different muscle groups, so transitioning from one to the other on longer climbs can help spread the work load and give your legs a break. Although it doesn't always feel like it

amaferanga

Dan_JR wrote:

My $0.02.

I have it in the back of my mind that standing was 16% less effecient, probably feels about right.

D

It depends on how steep the hill is, cadence, etc.

16% sounds way too high to me.

amaferanga

Slack wrote:

....I suggest you try climbing hills out of the saddle, and see what difference it makes to your heart rate, compared with going up the hill seated......

I suggest you try comparing seated to out of the saddle climbing with a power meter. IME same power means insignificant difference in HR. You're probably upping your speed/power when you get out of the saddle which is why your HR is going up.

Monty Dog

Just to add my 2p's worth, I can generate significantly more power out the saddle than I ever can seated. When racing, if you can't get out the saddle, you're toast, out the back, see you at the HQ. To the OP, practise is what you need, ride lots of hills long shallow ones and short steep ones. For long alpine-length climbs being able to switch styles is key to giving your muscles a rest.

Davey C

Similar to the OP I would like to know how I can get better at cycling upside down. I've noticed my HR rises exactly 3.54002% when I do this. Do I simply need to get fitter or do I have to move to Australia?

Ilovebighills

Some clueless fuckers on here, stand up, ride the hills as quick as you can and rest on the way down.

Cleat Eastwood

Some advice by the great Bob Millar was given on here a couple of months back. If anyone knows about climbing, standing, sitting then it's he.

http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopi ... ert+millar

P_Tucker

Cleat Eastwood wrote:

Some advice by the great Bob Millar was given on here a couple of months back. If anyone knows about climbing, standing, sitting then it's he.

http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopi ... ert+millar

Dunno, I reckon Pantani would know better.

mokl

Maybe I'm odd, but I find one of the most enjoyable things on a road bike is to stand and power up a climb. Love how the bike responds to this, especially coming from a full sus mountain bike. I don't know if it's more or less efficient, but I do know that I would really struggle to get up a lot of the gradients I so if I didn't get out of the saddle... Maybe I'm just rubbish!

Richa1181

Not sure where you're from OP if you've got some back lanes with any terrain try to find a couple of dips you can do repeats on. We've got some about 5 miles from here, one with a nice run in and a short sharp exit that you can stand up over and a longer dip around the corner that you need to sit into and spin up in quite a high gear. Done right you can get some decent gains out of that, and you can always go spinning down the lanes until the burn fades and come back to them. Unfortunately there is no magic cure for getting up hills but if you keep going your lactic acid tolerance will increase and you'll eventually find them fun

ShutUpLegs

Ilovebighills wrote:

Some clueless idiots on here, stand up, ride the hills as quick as you can and rest on the way down.

The clue is in the forum name ' road beginners'

:roll:

Ilovebighills

ShutUpLegs - I meant some of the experienced people answering, definitely not the OP.

' :roll: '

passout

Depends on how steep the hill is or if I'm 'sprinting'up it or not. I stand up quite a bit on challenging hills - I actually find it more comfortable & enjoy it more. I don't enjoy spinning up a big hill but accept that it's often more effecient.

rdt

passout wrote:

Depends on how steep the hill is or if I'm 'sprinting'up it or not. I stand up quite a bit on challenging hills - I actually find it more comfortable & enjoy it more. I don't enjoy spinning up a big hill but accept that it's often more effecient.

Agree with enjoying it more.

I used to spin up hills and was hopeless out of the saddle. So last year I started practicing standing for longer and longer, on the turbo and the road, until I could do all my local sharp climbs entirely out of the saddle.

From being cr@p at it a year ago, it's become my favourite aspect of riding. Plus I go up the climbs faster and am better positioned to change pace. It doesn't seem to leave me any more tired, maybe because I'm using additional muscles compared to previously.

Works for me - just took practice.

Thebigbee

I hardly ever stand anymore. Probably only do on an especially steep incline.

Try reading this from the cycling guru Sheldon brown

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/standing.html

rockster100

I'm back....released from hospital....due more to the alcohol consumption....!!!

I did Alp d'Huez woooo hoooo 1 hr 32 mins....then next day did Col d'lauteret....!!!! a long drag up in the mist and that fine rain...on the way down, cracking the flags...!!

Standing or sitting....well....I started off sitting and when i was knackered i stood up....when i was knackered standing up i sat down...!!! I found that 2 totally different sets of muscles were used for each 'discipline'........ after i rested by standing up, i found that when i sat down again, it felt the same as if i had been off the bike totally....and vice versa....at one point i did a 30 minute session stood up, on the road to L'auteret keeping a steady 9 mph ave speed....! So my answwer is both....!!!!!!

oldwelshman

I am with MOntydog on this one and it depends on what the OP wishes to do.
If it just general riding then it is simple, sit in saddle unless your on a steep hill where sitting is either too difficult or impossible.
For longer less steep alpine climbs stay in saddle.
If racing, you have to be able to get out of saddle, you may try to sit and keep up but you wont, you will get dropped.
If you really feel the need to train for it then you can train riding climbs out of saddle in low and high gears to vary it.

merak

Thebigbee wrote:

I hardly ever stand anymore. Probably only do on an especially steep incline.

Try reading this from the cycling guru Sheldon brown

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/standing.html

Sheldon is a great maintenance guru, but not a guru on cycling physiology or road riding technique.

bobtbuilder

mokl wrote:

Maybe I'm odd, but I find one of the most enjoyable things on a road bike is to stand and power up a climb.

WHS^^

I don't care too much about the efficiency side of it, but I LOVE climbing out of the saddle.

Also, I imagine that it's a bit like cadence, everyone is slightly different and the best thing to do is to find what works for you rather than try to subscribe to what works for someone else.

If you really want to improve at it then practice it. The best way to improve at something is usually to practice the exact thing in question.

Wheelybig

I think the easiest way to sum this up is that if you want to ride out the saddle more when going up hill - just do it - practice makes perfect.

Everyones heart rate will differ, your body is different to everyone elses, your fitness is different, everything is different - just practice and eventually, FOR YOU, you will find perfect.

charliew87

Standing up and smashing out a hill is one of the most satisfying things I've done on a bike. It also, as said above, uses different muscles in different ways so is a decent way of giving your sitting down muscles a chance to replenish.

DavidJB

I stand on medium grad / sharp hills and sit on long drags...on any hill worthy of being called a hill I probably stand and kick up it.

One thing I've learned over the past couple of years is ride how you want to ride and feel good riding. People will give you opinions based on how they think it should be done but that might not suit you and you'll be a much better rider if you just do what makes you comfortable and not trying to force yourself to do something because joebloggs1 said thats 'what the pros do'.