So I'm trying to maximize my time and work out with the Mrs. and spinning has been our class of choice.

It's a hard class but I can see how my regular cycling puts me in better shape than a lot of pure spinners BUT I'm wondering how much of the work out wil eventually translate to my regular cycling.

Standing while on heavy resistance will translate to hillwork? (or should one be sitting more while on heavy resistance)

Spinning at high cadence while on relative easy resistance translate to flats strength?

Anyway input or advice to make the workout more cycling beneficial would be most appreciated.

Spin class standing climbs taught me the mechanism of pedaling around the stroke at both heavy and light resistance. There are hills around here that I wouldn't be able to ascend at all without that skill, because at <30 rpm one dead spot in the stroke would topple me! And I can jump out of the saddle in any gear even at high cadence. Pretty sweet.

Spin class seated climbs taught me how to scootch around on the seat and find the leverage to really haul that pedal around at high resistance. And how to get the beat of the music in my head and spin my cadence up even if my legs are complaining.

Cadence drills also taught me to keep my legs spinning when the difficulty increases. And showed me what spinning 120 without bouncing feels like.

When I sprint in spin class, I give it my ALL (unless they're doing multiple minute "sprints", then I just go really hard). Recovered or no, I go HARD again for the next sprint. A lot of people can't motivate themselves to get their heart rate really high in class, but I feel fortunate because I can get a killer interval workout. Sometimes my HR doesn't drop under 180 after warmup, now THAT'S a good class!

When they do jumps, I try to *explode* off my seat for every one, making it a plyometric type drill and training for quick starts in a race sprint or just jumping off the line at a traffic light.

I think spinning is good for all kinds of cycling skills! But it will never substitute for riding. It's my off-season sad replacement.

One thing about spin class is they often go for very high resistance and very low spin rates. I go for higher spin and lower resistance which gives more power. Also, I happen to know that bikes have gears and even on our worst local climbs, no one is forced into that slow of a cadence. Spin class is rather odd. It probably helps cycling by tuning up your legs if nothing else.

Very true , I'm wondering though if the drill where your just going balls out spinning (at little resistance) for a minute plus will help with the flats. I do tend to get stitches from the effort I put into that drill so I'm wondering if that's helping with the AT. Maybe I should jsut add a bit more resistance.

There is this one drill I like where you put your hands behind your back, put it at a very high resistance and just mash thus activating just the leg and core muscles. prety much reminded me of hills (minus the no hands ofcourse).