Sitting vs standing - feel burn in opposite sides of legs
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Sitting vs standing - feel burn in opposite sides of legs
Curious if this is normal, a sign of a muscle imbalance or bike fit issue or something else, but I've noticed when riding uphill, if I remain in the saddle, I always feel the burn on the outside of my quads, roughly in the muscles around where IT band goes towards knee. However, when I stand out of the saddle, I always feel it on the inside quad.
Is that just the normal difference between which muscles work hardest in which position? Does everyone have the same experience?
Is that just the normal difference between which muscles work hardest in which position? Does everyone have the same experience?
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Top of thigh used to feel the burns when on the seat going up a hill. Just above the knee would occasionally tighten when off the seat going up a hill.
that was long ago. It's not happened since and i attribute it to conditioning the legs overtime.
that was long ago. It's not happened since and i attribute it to conditioning the legs overtime.
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#5
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the "quads" comprises of 4 major muscles:
vastus lateralis
vastus medialus
vastus intermedius
rectus femoris
when you sit, you're hitting the vastus laterlis more
when you stand, you're hitting the rectus femoris and vastus intermedius
that's why you feel different burn sensation at the different part of the legs
vastus lateralis
vastus medialus
vastus intermedius
rectus femoris
when you sit, you're hitting the vastus laterlis more
when you stand, you're hitting the rectus femoris and vastus intermedius
that's why you feel different burn sensation at the different part of the legs
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The best reason to stand up is because your legs are tired and you want to engage different muscle groups than you use while seated. Moving back and forth from standing to seated (and from standing with weight forward to standing with weight further back, and seated at rear of saddle to seated at tip of saddle) is a conscious strategy you can use to rotate through muscles and avoid fatigue.
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The best reason to stand up is because your legs are tired and you want to engage different muscle groups than you use while seated. Moving back and forth from standing to seated (and from standing with weight forward to standing with weight further back, and seated at rear of saddle to seated at tip of saddle) is a conscious strategy you can use to rotate through muscles and avoid fatigue.
I don't know if that's the best reason, but it's not the only reason. I find it very useful for carrying my momentum into a steep hill climb. Also, on a flatbar, mixing it up is good just to get your butt off the saddle.
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#10
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This is normal and good. As others have pointed out, sitting vs standing can be leveraged to manage fatigue in different muscle groups as well as changes in terrain. This is also the same idea of drop bars, which by enabling the hips and back to be at different angles, uses different muscle groups as well. For me personally, being able to balance fatigue and energy to gearing, terrain, elements, and position is the essence of cycling, and what I'm constantly pursuing in riding,,,