Standing in a higher gear gives you more power, but sitting and spinning will generally produce less lactic acid. It will vary from situation to situation. As you ride more and more, it will become second nature as to which you should be doing at any given time. In triathlons especially, since you're always trying to save your legs for the run, it's generally better to sit, but of course there are times when that'll just be too slow. A really good addition to a workout (especially early in the season) is to focus on always sitting on the climb and pushing a bigger gear than normal. This will strengthen your hip flexors a great deal not only help on your climbing, but make your time trialing more powerful, too.

I've always heard it depends on the hill -- if it is a longer one, all or most of it seated, and shift down and such. For a shorter but steeper kind of thing, sometimes it's best to hold momentum and just power over it, which means standing.

This of course also depends on the type of ride -- if in base and trying to keep HR low, then I'm more likely to cruise up the hill seated with higher cadance.

i think that's where i'm at right now.

the "hills" and the lots of "standing up" is mostly put in to increase the intensity to really give the participants a sense of a great workout. Is it a general spin class or a class designed for cyclists? If you are on a specific plan or have certain goals, don't feel stupid. Do what benefits your goals the most.

but also don't get "lazy" so to speak and never get out of the saddle. If you are training for a sprint, I would practice out of the saddle for power.

normally I go most of the time seated when I'm climbing and my body tells me when I must standing.

So listen your body.

Most people going to spin class aren't tri heads and are interested in building a really nice looking bum. Standing on the cranks alot will build a really nice looking bum.
I stand and power over the short hills...stay seated and spin up the long ones.

You need to stay seated during all of your climbs. Given your size you will generate more power with less fatigue by staying seated. Again take this with a grain of salt and remember that if you are doing a long ride then standing (even on a flat assuming there are no hills) is worthwhile just to target all of your muscles and keep general circulation going.

Also I would get out of spin class ASAP and ride outside or at home on a trainer. Spinning and riding are very different things and even on a trainer you can simulate real riding better than in a spin class. But that is just my opinion and I suppose spin class is better than no riding at all!

Good luck!

yeah, that's what feels best too.

believe me, i'd love to get outside and ride. but we have a blizzard warning right now and 7" of snow on the ground already! maybe march is hopefully a different story. that and i can't afford a trainer either right now, maybe next season.

and i can definitely tell there's going to be some differences, the way some of the people "ride" in that class, there's no way that would ever work on a real bike!

In my opinion, its seated the majority of the climbs, unless its a really short climb that you want to burst up. What's important is to teach your body to spin. Cadence has as much to do with power as strength. It's also a style thing, look at Lance, he will get out of the saddle to shake someone loose, but even on the toughest climbs that are sustained, he just spins at a high cadence.

I also agree with spinning for Tri's as you can generate as much power, work the heart and save, somewhat, the legs.

I can't say if my way is any more effective but it seems to help me get up the hill at reasonable pace without killing myself. I try to visually divide the hill into 3 parts: part 1: ride seated until I can't keep cadence, stay seated for two more lower rear-wheel gears, part 2: come out of the saddle for the middle third, part 3: gear down two more gears (or more if need be) and get back in my seat. Hope that makes sense.
Of course it depends on the hill size; smaller hills I just push through them while still on my fanny. And during training I may purposely stay seated to build hip flexor strength.

If you use a heart rate monitor you will notice that standing when climbing will raise your heart rate by 5 -10 BPM compared to sitting. This will result in more fatigue/energy usage. I stand to stretch the legs, lower back and give my bony butt a rest. I also use standing to just power over some small inlcines. I have noticed since getting a bike setup and fitted properly I can stay setaed on all climbs now and not lose any speed.

From the book Going Long by Friel and Byrn (p.76):

"Smaller riders (less that 2 lbs of body mass for every inch of height) usually climb best when out of the saddle, whereas bigger riders (more than about 2.3 lbs per inch) climb more effectively seated. Top riders between these extremes often alternate between sitting and standing but spend more time seated. The standing position is less economical on a moderate grade , but on a steep hill standing reduces the feeling of effort."

Not that I know anything but this Friel guy is supposed to know a thing or two...