How to make hill climbing easier. My left field suggested technique

[Flowrider]

Okay for some this might be a little out there...

We did some massive hill climbs yesterday, and I thought I'd try out a new technique to make it 'easier'.

I focused on the psychological and physical aspects of a hill climb.

PHYSICAL:
In the past, when I was straining up a hill, I'd use a lot of upper-body movement. You know, my shoulders sawaying from side to side as I push down on the pedals.
So I changed this.
My thinking is that I was wasting energy with this excessive upper-body effort, so I just pedalled like I would normally. Just legs and no upper body movement.
And keeping the grip on the handlebars as relaxed as I can.

PSYCHOLOGICAL:
Now this may sound crazy!

In the past, when I was straining up a hill, I would grimace. Massive facial expression as a result of the effort I was exerting on the hill climb.
Yesterday I tried a new technique.
I kept a neutral, expressionless face. My thinking was that this would send a message to my brain saying this wasn't as extreme as it is thinking it is. The idea was to change my thought process and my mindset.
Neutralise it in effect and just pedal.
(I did try smiling, but that didn't work for long 😁 )

RESULT
As mentioned, we did a series of incredibly steep hills, and consciously putting this process into action did take a few hills, but in the end, I got used to it, and it felt more comfortable, and the hill climb was more enjoyable.
On the last few hills, I did pass some of the other riders in our group relatively easily, and my recovery was quicker.

Okay, this is my first attempt. The results were very positive, so I will be using this technique in the future on steep hills

* Relaxed grip
* Pedal normally, no upper body strain
*No facial expression. Keep it neutral and just pedal

Was yesterday a one-off success?

See how I go in the future

[meamoantonio]

climbing never gets any easier but you do get faster and suffer less the stronger you get, at the end of the day it all really boils down to watts/kg

[Flowrider]

Thanks @meamoantonio . With all the mountain biking I've done over the last 25+ years, hill climbs have been my biggest challenge. Jumps are fear-related, and overcoming that is mainly a mind game with technical attributes but steep hill climbs for me are a psychological challenge that you have to take on.