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Out of the saddle - I always stand very upright - which in my head is quads quads quads. For my last climb today I tried to use my glutes more by sticking my ass out. I'm not sure if that helped or not as I was knackered by then.
In theory - gluts are the biggest muscle. Is 'ass out the back' the proper way to climb out of the saddle? Have I been doing it wrong all this time?
I thought cycling doesn't really use the glutes? That's why doing weighted squats are so beneficial as an antagonist exercise.
Cycling is supposed to use the glutes, otherwise we end up using our low back instead...
Contracting the glute helps straighten the leg, i.e. does same job as quads just a different part of the movement I think. Dropping heels and sitting further back engages glutes more, not sure how it works when standing, I think mentally you need to visualise straightening your legs by thrusting hip forward (glutes) rather than by pressing pedal down (quads).
I think mentally you need to visualise straightening your legs by thrusting hip forward (glutes) rather than by pressing pedal down (quads).
Oh - so stand even more upright so at the bottom of your stroke your feet are behind your hips? very interesting!
Oh – so stand even more upright so at the bottom of your stroke your feet are behind your hips? very interesting!
Lol, not quite that exaggerated though, I'm not thrusting quite that much...
I've always thought that your body knows what to do.
In this case, exert downward force on a pedal, like walking uphill (something it is pretty experienced at).
All theories like ankling etc, tosh!
You're doing it wrong.
Relax, take some weight on your arms and use your body weight to help turn the pedals. Use a little bit of side to side sway with the bike to keep it natural.
You can learn to do this for a long time, but stop with all the glutes and standing upright nonsense.
Go and watch some professional road racers do it...
In my mind's eye I ride up hills out of the saddle like a - in his prime - Contador but the reality I feel, is some way from this.
So to ask a slightly different question/s but on the same theme.
Do people who ride mostly in the saddle use mostly their quad's?
And.....
Do people who ride mostly out of the saddle (single-speeders?) use mostly their glutes?
Might explain why I struggle riding quickly with gears after a winter of mostly riding singlespeed. 🤔
James Wilson (BikeJames.com, i think) talks about standing pedalling a lot. Have a Google and see what he says about it.
Go and watch some professional road racers do it…
Not sure how useful this is.
Simon Yates & Enric Mas both keep a straight back and seem to be driving the bike with their posterior chain muscles (incl glutes)
Here you can see Dan Martin & Alberto Contador both getting much more of their body weoght to drive the pedalsL
All of the riders mentioned are pretty good climbers, but for whatever reason use their muscles quite differently to get where they want to be.
That said, I'd be very surprised if all of them didn't do quite a bit of posterior chain conditioning throughout the year.
This is an oversimplification but the more forwards you get and the more you drive through your toes, the more it’s about quads, whilst the further back you are and the more you drive through your heels, the more glutes. Like front squats vs deadlifts.
Just move about and let your body find its strength!
Just move about and let your body find its strength!
Yeah this.
Relax, take some weight on your arms
It's also very useful to practice the opposite - relax, remove all weight from your arms and make the pedal motion controlled.
Just remember, any exercise is a lower back exercise if you do it badly enough
Just remember, any exercise is a lower back exercise if you do it badly enough
🙂
https://tanita.eu/blog/muscles-used-in-cycling/
https://skyaboveus.com/cycling/Muscles-groups-used-while-cycling
How would that diagram change for standing climbs?
This is an oversimplification but the more forwards you get and the more you drive through your toes, the more it’s about quads, whilst the further back you are and the more you drive through your heels, the more glutes. Like front squats vs deadlifts.
Just move about and let your body find its strength!
@chief - when you talk of "forward" and "back" I am not sure what you mean. But I agree with the OPs original post, that a more bent over (at the hips) position will more likely put your glutes in the effective part of their range than a standing tall position. Which is in agreement with you I guess if your forward and back refer to the hips not the shoulders.
Like front squats vs deadlifts.
Different exercises and vastly different range of motion!
Deadlift is primarily hip extension, so glute / hamstring dominant. Front Squat has much more knee flexion so will use the quads more (depending on range of motion).
How would that diagram change for standing climbs?
Not a lot, the same muscles do the same thing, hip extensors extend the hip etc.
I guess from standing straighter you'll reduce the range of motion which the hip extensors work over, so possibly reduce the range of the pedal stroke over which the glutes contribute. Given they're the largest muscle in the body, that possibly isn't a great idea and you're just pushing the work onto smaller muscles...