Endurance limitations when riding out of the saddle

Ezy Rider

I went out today on another hilly ride , when it came to steeper sections I either spun up them in a very low gear or got out of the saddle. What annoys me is that it feels ok when im up out of the saddle and climbing, but boy does it affect me later in the ride and its particularly felt in the front of each thigh. It gets to the point when if another steep section needs tackled, if i get out of the saddle my legs feel like lead weights and lack strength in the frontal thigh area and my only option is spinning.

Should the out of the saddle method only be used for extremely short durations or is there a specific methodology to ensure leg strength doesnt get rapidly sapped away like what is happening to me

Ezy Rider

100 views and nobody has any advice :shock:

Cayambe

EZ you asked,

"Should the out of the saddle method only be used for extremely short durations or is there a specific methodology to ensure leg strength doesnt get rapidly sapped away like what is happening to me?"

It's like anything else in training: you have built up endurance to ride a bike normally - seated. But you have not built up endurance for out of saddle climbing. It will take time and an intentional training effort to increase your endurance for climbing out of the saddle. Being able to do both a seated climb and out of saddle climbing is important. You know what they say: practice, practice practice. Each time, add a little more distance or time to your out of saddle effort and you will increase your body's ability to do longer and repeated out of saddle efforts. As a rule of thumb...out of saddle efforts should be for shorter durations and used to give the body a break from hard, seated climbs, and to give you small bursts to hang on to better climbers. There is no real methodology although out of saddle climbs should result in you being in one to two harder gears so plan for it by spinning up a little faster while seated and then shift and then stand. When returning to the saddle, be prepared to shift to easier gears right away once you are seated.

P_Tucker

You're getting out of the saddle when there is a really steep bit of road and presumably in order to keep the gear turning over you go into the red. Its probably the going into the red thats knackering you, rather than merely standing up.

To prove (or disprove this), next time you come to a gentle hill which you'd normally take seated, stand up but go the same speed/effort. If this kills you, then there's something horribly wrong with your technique - if it doesn't, then you simply need to understand the difference betwen correlation and causation.

optimisticbiker

The key point is that standing and sitting use different muscle groups. The ones used when sitting get well exercised, the standing ones dont get so much use (on the bike), so you have to intentionally train them. Reps and intervals needed...

Pseudonym

Ezy Rider wrote:

100 views and nobody has any advice :shock:

those 100 people probably had a serious case of deja vu..

http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12782758

P_Tucker

OptimisticBiker wrote:

The key point is that standing and sitting use different muscle groups. The ones used when sitting get well exercised, the standing ones dont get so much use (on the bike), so you have to intentionally train them. Reps and intervals needed...

unixnerd

In my youth I saw this BBC programme where they were training jockeys. They sent them out for bike rides on a bike with no saddle! Maybe that's the sort of training that's needed :-)

P_Tucker

unixnerd wrote:

In my youth I saw this BBC programme where they were training jockeys. They sent them out for bike rides on a bike with no saddle! Maybe that's the sort of training that's needed :-)

I had a seat clamp break a hour away from home a couple of weeks ago. Riding back was grim - obv legs were fine, but my forearms were bloody killing me.

Bar Shaker

Use the spin studio bikes at the gym. Steady yourself on the bars only with the tips of your index fingers.

I can't at the moment, but I used be able to do an hour.

stevec205gti

Have a play with how you push the round the pedals when you're out the saddle - things like how much you lean over the bars, the angle of your ankles etc all make a difference. You'll find there's some ways you really put the power down and give your legs a pasting, whereas in other positions it'll feel like you're dancing on the pedal and spin them over with no effort at all

kieranb

just ot confirm, practice

I started out doing small bits of my commute standing until I could do the whole commute standing out of the saddle. (commute time about 40min).

Butterd2

Riding out of the saddle is less efficient, when I stand up my heart rate increases 5-10 bpm for the same speed. Therefore if I am climbing close to the red zone anyway this will take me into it and I will suffer later.

Bobbinogs

Oh no, here we go again...

simon_e

Cayambe wrote:

You know what they say: practice, practice practice. Each time, add a little more distance or time to your out of saddle effort and you will increase your body's ability to do longer and repeated out of saddle efforts.

Good advice.

Whenever I do out of the saddle turns I count with each pedal stroke, but only up to four. It keeps my mind on turning the pedals and I find I can do more sets this way - it prevents me from thinking "Second fence post, that's enough today" or "Bloody hell, I want to stop!" Don't underestimate the power of the mind.

Use a climb with a shallower gradient rather than crank it up a big wall and wonder why you're fit to drop half way up.