# Muscles used when sitting vs. standing??



## Coach (Jul 30, 2006)

Forgive the newbie question.....just looking for some advice.

Is there a difference in the leg muscles used standing versus sitting, when on the bike.

What exercises can I do to improve my out of the saddle performance? Riding is out of the question........I live in the great white north. I am taking some spin classes.


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## android (Nov 20, 2007)

There are probably some differences in the leg muscles used, but the big differences are in how much more of the back, core, shoulders and arm muscles come into play.

The best way to find out is to find steep hills and ride up them out of the saddle a few times and then make note of what is sore the next day.


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## thegock (May 16, 2006)

*Didn't ride today either*

Rain was forecast with 39F degrees in NJ this morning. Instead of hitting the trainer in the basement, I went over to the YMCA and did a spin class. Those 40 lbs flywheels deep in the resistance are tougher than most of the hills that I usually ride.

If I wanted to do hill work in the basement, I would use a spinerval dvd like Hillacious. When I am in shape I increase the intensity and duration of the hard bits and rename it Hilarious. 

I only did leg presses at the gym once last year, but I suppose they might help.


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## waldo425 (Sep 22, 2008)

Best thing that I could say is that you should ride more in both positions. I like to kind of mix it up a bit so that I don't get bored and I can work on my form in both positions.


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## exolyte (Sep 17, 2008)

When I climb a righteous hill, I feel it in my quads more than usual and less in my hammies....so...going with that, a good work out would be doing some lunges..

Also...getting out of the saddle for an end-of-the-race sprint or something similar is an explosive action if you ask me. Very few weight exercises improve your explosiveness as well as cleans do. www.exrx.net has a good section on power lifts that includes cleans, hang-cleans, etc.


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## bauerb (Jan 18, 2006)

i've been training on a spin bike for 3 years now. one area where they kick the crap out of bike on a trainer is the ability to do alot of aggressive out of the saddle and sprint work. after a couple of months you should be able to stand for at least 10-15mins at a quick tempo.
Re the flywheel: don't let it fool you. that big wheel provides some serious momentum. also, given the fixed gear, plus the momentum, when out the saddle it has the tendency to really pull your legs around making standing much, much easier than a real bike. 
I have 2 spinners: a schwinn(health club model) and a Ketller with powermeter. the kettler is not a fixie. standing on the kettler is a very different experience. both will get you where you want to go with training, but FYI, they are diff then real bikes


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