[Kate60]

So last night we did drills of standing for 30-45 sec in high gears on the trainer. I found it really difficult at first, it got easier once I realized I should shift my weight from side to side. I have no problem with this on a spin bike which I thought strange.<br><br>
Anyhow, after several drills I was really struggling. My pedals stroke was choppy and I had NO power. What muscles should I strengthen to make this easier?

 

[jroden]

Your quads, lower back, stomach and arms come into play when climbing out of the saddle, with technique you will be able to lever the bike a little and use your body weight over the pedals, try to keep the weight over the pedals, not forward on your hands.

 

[RunningForT3]

Kate, listen to JR, I asked the same questions last summer and his responses were very helpful. What I corrected was placing my weight right over the pedals, as before I used to lean forward too much. Also, move your weight slightly over the pedal that you're pushing and let the bike slightly wobble in the opposite directions. I'm doing spinning now for the first time, and noticed that it feels totally different getting out of the saddle, mainly because the bike is fixed and doesn't move under me.

 

[jroden]

Kate, the other thing to consider is WHEN you stand on the bike--in general it's slower and burns more energy, so use it for really steep climbs where you can't stay seated, for brief spurts on long climbs if you feel the gear starting to bog or especially to accelerate when cresting a hill and coming out of a turn or slowdown--you can get your bike back up to speed much faster when you stand on it in a big (hard) gear and make it creak a little. It's good to practice coming out of the saddle over the top and plopping right down into the aero bars in a nice smooth motion.

 

[Stitcher]

"plopping" and "nice smooth motion"<br>
Are they allowed to be used in the same sentence?<br><img alt="smile.gif" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/smile.gif">

 

[jroden]

You flick the bike forward as you sit so the seat comes forward under you and the bars scoot forward, plop isn't so hot you are right...

 

[Kate60]

To be honest I never stand on the bike. However my training group has us doing standing drills on the trainer. I figure it is a good skill to learn and hopefully use when I am back on the roads. Thanks for the advice.

 

[Thor]

Kate, Jr has you covered. But before you get all comfy with stands, let me toss this out: you are a triathlete and, I'm guessing, working out for triathlons as number one focus. As a result, you are mainly training to get really strong and fast on the bike so that you can go very fast. All of our efforts are TT-type races. Nothing more. In other words, we do not race in peloton, pace-line, or even as a team. We race solo. And if your goals are racing triathlons to your ability, then I would have you do something very different than stands. A stand here or there or maybe a drill every other week is good, but if you're doing them more than that I'd argue that you could be doing yourself a favor -- assuming your goals as described above -- by not standing and instead, as the rest of the group stand, gear up three or four or even five and, while keeping your butt in the seat, try to maintain cadence. Or something like that.<br><br>
If your goal is doing cycling-specific races, then ignore this, because you'll need that quick-jump explosive power to put your neighbor to shame, or just to keep up with him or her.<br><br>
If I'm way off base here, someone please chime in, as I'd hate to lead Kate astray.