Out of the saddle

nitrogen

My cycling for the last few months has only been commuting. I tend to stay seated while climbing, and recently I've noticed how unfit I really am when I get out of the saddle.

How do you train for it?

DirkVoodoo

Keep doing it, try and push that bit longer each time.

If you are happy climbing seated and find you go slower and end up more tired out of the saddle, don't do it. It's handy for rotating working muscles around, and it looks cool, but it's not really necessary for climbing.

victorcarrera

nitrogen wrote: »

I've noticed how unfit I really am when I get out of the saddle.
How do you train for it?

It's not that you are unfit. It's just that those particular muscles in your upper body need more training. Try to get out of the saddle more often, for so many turns of the pedals as feels comfortable and over time increase the duration and intensity. Occasionally standing on the pedals gives you the option to accelerate quickly using your weight, hips and upper body and gives the backs of your legs a brief recovery time. Handy when moving off from traffic lights or riding over short hills without slowing down.

tomasrojo

I'm not sure from your first post whether you're finding that you're tired standing up out of the saddle during your commute, or whether you've just returned to training and find it tiring.

If the first, just stop doing it maybe. Sheldon Brown reckoned that it was a technique for winning races, not generally suitable for utility cycling.

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

Standing pedaling allows you to apply more force to the pedals than is possible seated, because you can rest your entire weight on the driven pedal, and, even more, by pulling up on the handlebar, you can push the pedal with more than your actual weight...but is this a good thing?

Pedaling that hard is very stressful to the joints, and to the bicycle, and usually involves a level of effort that cannot be sustained aerobically. Unless you have unusually good form, it also tends to involve a fair amount of thrashing from side to side, which is a waste of energy.

Standing pedaling doesn't make you any faster, except in the very short run. On longer rides, it can seriously slow you down on the average, because if you waste a lot of energy this way early in the ride, you're likely to finsh the ride much slower than you started it.

I virtually never get out of the saddle, but I'm only a utility cyclist. I have to ascend the odd hill, but nothing major. I did have to ascend a few corkers when I worked in Switzerland, but I still just picked a low gear and spun away, still in the saddle.

Lumen

When you get out of the saddle, try and relax. Unless you're deliberately sprinting over a short hill it's very easy to overcook it.

Home:Ballyhoura

tomasrojo wrote: »

Sheldon Brown reckoned that it was a technique for winning races

Cancellara doesn't think so - up the Muur in the saddle is what he preferred this year, and he also mentions winning a sprint against Zabel at one stage sitting too iirc.