I think most of the ‘stand’ sections have a ding to indicate the end.
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The last part of Elements of Style focuses on standing. It builds on the development of the proper pedal stroke in the first part of the video.
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A bit OT, but I don’t really like standing on the trainer, even with the full motion platform I’m using. I certainly do it to comply with the workout (hence this thread) but I find it best done outside. I’ll use a long grade and stand the whole way up. e.g. There’s a favorite of mine that’s ~0.7 mile long with 300’ of ascent. Of course normally I would only only stand for the steepest pitches on that, but to work on standing, I do the whole thing standing. I have some other shorter steeper ones as well.
Basically, either on a fixed trainer and even on the platform, the bike doesn’t move around (side-to-side, fore/aft) close to the same way it does unrestrained.
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This is why I like riding rollers. The bike can move around freely, and is a very good approximation of riding outside. The big difference for me when standing while riding the rollers is that the bike is still horizontal; I haven’t yet worked out a way to hook up a CLIMB to the rollers!
Totally. So called free motion rollers that can move back/forth are the best and the bike moves just about the same as it does on the road. I used to ride rollers and had plans to rig them up for full motion. Never did and since have given them away. Hmmm. We recently moved and I have plenty of room for rollers too. It might be a nice adjunct to my reg trainer setup.
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Actually you’re correct. I did Blender since posting this and yes I got a ding to sit 
. I’ve done some workouts where it doesn’t but I can’t remember which ones. 
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So a ding means either sit or stand. If you missed the first ding, you might catch the second and stand when you’re supposed to sit. Yeah, you can figure it out, but it’s poor UI design.
I’ve been using the Inside Ride E-Motion rollers for years now. I wouldn’t switch them for anything. I love the freedom of movement.
The best practice I know of for the TRANSITION to standing is to mountain bike. You have to transition a lot and it teaches you to do this in a moment’s notice. There MAY be a benefit in choosing which leg to stand from, but if you mountain bike, you don’t always have that option, and you will learn to do it naturally and easily from either side. It isn’t just grade changes that force the stand, but also obstructions in the trail that catch you going too slow and nearly stop your momentum, but standing quickly saves you and gets you through.
I rode a bike as a youth and a bit into college years, then didn’t for probably another 10 years. Got into very basic gravel roads, then real mountain biking, and finally back on a road bike as well, which is now my bread and butter, though I still love to mountain bike on a much less frequent basis. The handling skills from technical mountain biking are a major plus on the road bike, and the transition to stand is just a tiny piece of that. It becomes second nature so much that it’s simple on the road bike.
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+1 on this. And to take it to the next level, try riding a singlespeed mountain bike. I spend a lot of time out of the saddle, and it’s become second nature to stand when I need to. The experience transfers well to any other sort of bike.
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A bit OT again, but road and mtb are different in this regard, especially road riding in a paceline or peloton where it’s very important to transition smoothly without shoving the bike rearward as you stand and causing someone behind you to crash. In this case you don’t stop or pause putting power into the the pedals and stand on a power down stroke to keep the bike moving forward. FWIW: I got my first road bike in '70 and have been riding mtb since ~'90. Almost exclusively mtb the past few years.
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I would disagree completely. 
Standing smoothly is just as important on the mountain bike, if not MORE. When you stand on a road bike, unless the conditions are sketchy (as they sometimes are, like damp or wet pavement on a steep uphill), your wheel isn’t very likely to break traction. (UNLESS you also are TERRIBLY uncoordinated and throw everything you have at the pedal as you stand, causing a spin-out.)
On a mountain bike, (and I’m NOT talking about groomed race courses that are nearly like smooth dirt roads,) the trail surface is much more likely to have obstacles, debris, loose gravel, roots, mixed with an uphill grade of various degrees, which is what caused you to stand in the first place.
Stand without smoothness in those conditions and you HIGHLY likely to break traction and spin the rear wheel as you stand, potentially causing you to totally lose balance and momentum and you’re off the bike and restarting (and maybe making the rider(s) behind have to do the same. After a few of these bobbles in a race up narrow singletrack, causing several riders behind you to be stopped because you’re in the way, odds are you may get a sudden invite to the woods beside the trail if you don’t get out of the way.
(I only know how this works because that’s exactly what I did in a race about 25 years ago to a young buck who had pulled this stunt several times in a row in front of me and many followers on a steep, long, switchback infested climb, holding up the line of impatient racers while others were running away from us. When he did it again on a switchback, he started to put his bike right in front of me as I rode it cleanly and was about to pass by. I made sure he found some bushes to sit in as the rest of the train went by.)
I might have more patience than that at my age… Or I might have LESS!
Don’t get me wrong, I do totally understand how important it is to transition smoothly on the road as well, and especially in a paceline or peloton. I know full well some people are not great wheels to follow unless you don’t mind getting dumped. No thank you.
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I’ll take your word for it!
At my age, I’m not about to start single-speeding! I need all the gears AND MORE! 
Totally good points on standing while MTB. I guess I’m coming at from the perspective of using proper technique so as not to endanger others on group road rides. My plan workout today just happened to be “Elements of Style,” which drills standing and reminded me of this thread. AND, getting back to the point, it gives a single ding to stand, and another to sit, with a banner at the top of the screen. It does, however have verbal audio instructions that prepare the rider just prior to each Stand and Sit ding. A preparatory warning would be helpful in other workouts.
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On point again, I agree very much that it’s easy to miss the stand or sit commands, for the several reasons already mentioned.
The top of screen factor is big, I think, because we’re rather conditioned to watching the bottom.
I’ve somewhat begun to watch for the cadence change as a tipoff of the change coming: a drop in cadence target leading to a stand command, and a rise in cadence target leading to a sit command. I only apply this thinking on those workouts that I know will have several/sit changes.
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