Giving spinning a spin

I had been spinning 3-4 days a week, but once the weather changed for the better, I have been outside all summer. but this week i had to go back into the gym to spin (long story)

1. same equipment as a regualr ride, most bikes have clips, but some (it depends on your gym) only have pedals with straps.

2. good to keep your cardio up.

3. most of the movement is the same, but the configuration is bound to be somewhat different than your bike, so you will feel the differenece in some of the muscle groups.

4. get a good instructor and don't do anythng which you would not really do on a bike (like push ups on the bars while spinning). some of the moves, like jumps, are the same as biking but shorter intervals.

if you can't bike outside, its the next best thing.

jahona said:

I'm gonna be without a bike for about the next 3 1/2 months so I'm planning on doing some spinning classes. I've never done any before and just had some questions.

Does spinning do enough to stay in "bike" shape? I'm not too worried about staying in overall good shape during this time as I'm training for a marathon.

I guess it might depend on the gym, but what do you need for a typical spinning class? I guess for sure bike shorts, jersey, bottle, and a towel, but do most gyms have bikes with clipless pedals? Do I need to pack my bike shoes?

Thanks!

the quality of the instructor will make a huge difference in what you think of spinning.

jahona said:

I'm gonna be without a bike for about the next 3 1/2 months so I'm planning on doing some spinning classes. I've never done any before and just had some questions.

Does spinning do enough to stay in "bike" shape? I'm not too worried about staying in overall good shape during this time as I'm training for a marathon.

I guess it might depend on the gym, but what do you need for a typical spinning class? I guess for sure bike shorts, jersey, bottle, and a towel, but do most gyms have bikes with clipless pedals? Do I need to pack my bike shoes?

Thanks!

No absolutely not. You can't rely on spinning only to maintain your fitness level. Best case scenario, if the instructor is good, you will acheive good intensity workouts. BUT you never really stimulate the basic endurance zones properly in a spinning session Ex : 30 min to 1 hour of steady, 100 rpm, pedaling in zone 2. They never do that in spinning, and it's mandatory, once in a while to do it.

Still, have fun 🙂

I was spinning pretty regularly before I got my own flywheel bike. The classes are really high intensity. I go to two separate gyms. One instructor is pretty zen and does a nice ramp up to high intensity and adequate rest periods. The other, a young chick, is like a gym nazi. Hardly any recover time and goes from one high intensity set to another right from the get go.

You will loose endurance. 45 minutes is not enough.

jahona said:

I'm gonna be without a bike for about the next 3 1/2 months so I'm planning on doing some spinning classes. I've never done any before and just had some questions.

Does spinning do enough to stay in "bike" shape? I'm not too worried about staying in overall good shape during this time as I'm training for a marathon.

I guess it might depend on the gym, but what do you need for a typical spinning class? I guess for sure bike shorts, jersey, bottle, and a towel, but do most gyms have bikes with clipless pedals? Do I need to pack my bike shoes?

Thanks!

In actually started spinning before I started cycling. I had a knee operation (meniscus) and my primary sport (basketball) was three to six months away. My surgeon said I could get on a stationary bike the day after the operation so I did. The next week I took a spinning class. Three months later I bought a pair of spd shoes. The following week I tuned up an old road bike and got out on the road. Two weeks later I bought a SEVEN ALARIS. Two weeks later I did my first century. I really feel that the spinning classes helped erect the fitness and learning curve of this rookie. Some classes are taught by cyclist, some taught by dance majors. Try to find one taught by a road or mountain cyclist; They will help you with technique. One of the bike shops in my area (Bicycle John's In Burbank, CA) has a weekly "pedaling" class. If you do take spinning class try to get near a mirror to check your form.

I am one of those spinning instructors that rides as well. I rode before getting into spinning. My classes focus on technique and the only two things you can achieve in a 45 minute class. Improve your lactate thresholds by sprint intervals. I also do a steady climb class alternating with off the saddle sprints (as if attacking on a hill bringing your HR to 90%+MHR) back to recovery. It is a juggling act between bringing your HR below lactate threshold and keeping a 70-90rpm cadence at high resistance level. I've notice climbing and sprint improvements which is good, but one thing you won't achieve which is obvious is endurance. Able to keep going at 50-70% MHR for lond periods of time, peppered with the eventual sprints and climbs. This is the dominion of the road.
I've also noticed that spinning technique is quite different fm a road bike to a spinning bike For one momentum acts different.(On a spinner you resist rotational inertia from the flywheel and brake resistance. On the road, you resist rotational and linear inertia fm your body and bike and wind resistance .) and pedaling does feel quite different. Specially off the saddle exertions. My cadence in the road is lower than what I do in a spinning bike at the same HR. Usually I obtain higher HR averages out on the road than I can accomplish inside. Remember, out there on the road you can be left behind!
I am not shooting spinning down. Spinning has its place in cycling. As a recovery tool (if you're hurt), during times you cannot ride for X reason (weather, time), but it is not a substitute for training on your bike.
That's my two cents
Has any body thought of putting a spell checker in this forum??!!

Induray said:

I am one of those spinning instructors that rides as well. I rode before getting into spinning. My classes focus on technique and the only two things you can achieve in a 45 minute class. Improve your lactate thresholds by sprint intervals. I also do a steady climb class alternating with off the saddle sprints (as if attacking on a hill bringing your HR to 90%+MHR) back to recovery. It is a juggling act between bringing your HR below lactate threshold and keeping a 70-90rpm cadence at high resistance level. I've notice climbing and sprint improvements which is good, but one thing you won't achieve which is obvious is endurance. Able to keep going at 50-70% MHR for lond periods of time, peppered with the eventual sprints and climbs. This is the dominion of the road.
I've also noticed that spinning technique is quite different fm a road bike to a spinning bike For one momentum acts different.(On a spinner you resist rotational inertia from the flywheel and brake resistance. On the road, you resist rotational and linear inertia fm your body and bike and wind resistance .) and pedaling does feel quite different. Specially off the saddle exertions. My cadence in the road is lower than what I do in a spinning bike at the same HR. Usually I obtain higher HR averages out on the road than I can accomplish inside. Remember, out there on the road you can be left behind!
I am not shooting spinning down. Spinning has its place in cycling. As a recovery tool (if you're hurt), during times you cannot ride for X reason (weather, time), but it is not a substitute for training on your bike.
That's my two cents
Has any body thought of putting a spell checker in this forum??!!

I love the way you talk about that subject. I would sign up any time to spin in one of your classes. And I'm pretty sure I would have a lot of fun.

Congradulations!

BUT

You must also admit that all spinning coaches HAVE NOT been created equal.

Cheers🙂

SolarEnergy said:

I love the way you talk about that subject. I would sign up any time to spin in one of your classes. And I'm pretty sure I would have a lot of fun.

Congradulations!

BUT

You must also admit that all spinning coaches HAVE NOT been created equal.

Cheers🙂

Thanks Solar Energy. I'm sure I would enjoy having you in one of my classes as well.
True most coaches are not created equal. My experience has been that a larger amount of the instructors, a) cater to a larger non-spinning audience and b) Do not ride themselves. They throw the "endurance" word all over without understanding the principles of endurance training. (Not that I am an expert). My take is that only endurance training definition applies to a beginner that cannot complete 45 minutes of regular spinning. Then you can teach an endurance class. But teach 45 minutes endurance training to people that can already ride 45 min at over 70% MHR? It is definitely misundertood definition.
Another thing is spinning classes are difficult to measure progress in a consistant/empirical way. It's all based on how you much resistance have you applied during the session, you average HR and max HR achieve and time sustained in the different Zones. This are good measurement that define your fitness level and progress, BUT, it does not provide you with a gauge of how all this translates to the road. The missing link I believe is power meters. That would definitely bring spinning and cycling closely related to ensure that you can measure progress in an accurate way and know you will kick _ss on the road!. Just dreaming.

Ok, for the life of me, I have read the post, and the replies, and I still must ask. What EXACTLY is spinning?

In this context spinning is cycling on a stationary bike/turbo trainer at a high cadence eg 90+.

Personnally when I turbo train I always use cadences around 100 and do half hour or hour sessions at an intensity that means I practically drop dead at the end. Made me improve fast that but only when I had enough recovery....

johnnybrewer said:

Ok, for the life of me, I have read the post, and the replies, and I still must ask. What EXACTLY is spinning?

Spinning is a relatively new concept where a bunch of people do some stationnary bike in a room. There is a coach in front, that acts as an entertainer. The intensity of the various exercices varies following some loud Rock/Dance music.

The increasing popularity of spinning is due to the fact that many people are discovering the challenging aspect of interval based workouts. 🙂

Surprisingly, this summer, I noticed at my gymn, that some people would attend their spinning session, even when the sun was shinning outside. Instead of doing some road, or montain bike, they would prefer to spin. 😕

SolarEnergy said:

Surprisingly, this summer, I noticed at my gymn, that some people would attend their spinning session, even when the sun was shinning outside. Instead of doing some road, or montain bike, they would prefer to spin. 😕

Because depending on where you live, many people are deathly afraid of biking among cars. I live near Boston—there was a man who was run over and dragged several yards down an offramp by a trailer. The trucker stopped, pulled his dead body aside and kept on going. The shocker here is the man was riding a VESPA. If he couldn't notice an 500+lbs vehicle scrapping underneath his gears, how do you suppose a bike would fare?

Part of the reason why I bought a 300PT because I don't have to get tense about these things. And contrary to what some may have said you get one helluva workout with a spin type bike. In fact, with the constant effort you may find yourself out of air much earlier than you would on a road...

Induray said:

......The missing link I believe is power meters. That would definitely bring spinning and cycling closely related to ensure that you can measure progress in an accurate way and know you will kick _ss on the road!. Just dreaming.

I could not agree more! Keep doing your good work. Honestly, I can't wait to see the spinning becoming more and more cycling oriented. Till then, I'm gonna keep giving them some feed back.

This summer, I tried to invite some spinning coaches for a real ride. Just to make them suffer a bit, and to make them realise that spinning does not prepare them as good as they think for the real things. But the only one that accepted, is also a cyclist.

Anyway. Cheers !🙂

SketchySmurf said:

Because depending on where you live, many people are deathly afraid of biking among cars. I live near Boston—there was a man who was run over and dragged several yards down an offramp by a trailer. The trucker stopped, pulled his dead body aside and kept on going. The shocker here is the man was riding a VESPA. If he couldn't notice an 500+lbs vehicle scrapping underneath his gears, how do you suppose a bike would fare?

Part of the reason why I bought a 300PT because I don't have to get tense about these things. And contrary to what some may have said you get one helluva workout with a spin type bike. In fact, with the constant effort you may find yourself out of air much earlier than you would on a road...

I agree with you on all aspects. But to better appreciate road bike, it's better to join a club. There are many clubs, often associated with bike shops. For most part, many of these clubs are mainly recreational. They would solve the two problems quoted :
1) Find out good training ways
2) Assist people in their training so Road bike becomes even more demanding than spinning

And riding in group, with other people, with the sun shinning, I mean it's so fun,, once you've done it, you really wander how can people can stay inside instead of spending time outside with good road bike friends.

Otherwise, I kinda agree with you. When you are by your own, with no real good bike training ways, road bike can get dangerous and boring🙂

SolarEnergy said:

I agree with you on all aspects. But to better appreciate road bike, it's better to join a club. There are many clubs, often associated with bike shops. For most part, many of these clubs are mainly recreational. They would solve the two problems quoted :
1) Find out good training ways
2) Assist people in their training so Road bike becomes even more demanding than spinning

And riding in group, with other people, with the sun shinning, I mean it's so fun,, once you've done it, you really wander how can people can stay inside instead of spending time outside with good road bike friends.

Otherwise, I kinda agree with you. When you are by your own, with no real good bike training ways, road bike can get dangerous and boring🙂

Forgot to mention the view! (Sorry I am a guy... a pig...a pig guy). My road riding groups have just a very selected group of girls, they've been riding with us for so long, they are considered family. But in spinning class??!!! Yowsa! It's INSPIRATIONAL!!!!!!🙂 🙄 But we have also our serious riders that come for recovery spin, or just want to mix some weights and a class.
But true.. I rather ride my bike. That is why I teach spinning once or twice a week during weekdays. Monday ,Thursdays and weekends are mine

SolarEnergy said:

I could not agree more! Keep doing your good work. Honestly, I can't wait to see the spinning becoming more and more cycling oriented. Till then, I'm gonna keep giving them some feed back.

This summer, I tried to invite some spinning coaches for a real ride. Just to make them suffer a bit, and to make them realise that spinning does not prepare them as good as they think for the real things. But the only one that accepted, is also a cyclist.

Anyway. Cheers !🙂

Great idea! But...Suffer a bit? How about a lot!!! Find some good climbs and put them through the wringer? ringer?where in the %#$$ is the spell checker? Make sure they have acceptable bike handling skills! It's easier to ride in a straight line on a spinning bike!🙂

Induray said:

Great idea! But...Suffer a bit? How about a lot!!! Find some good climbs and put them through the wringer? ringer?where in the %#$$ is the spell checker? Make sure they have acceptable bike handling skills! It's easier to ride in a straight line on a spinning bike!🙂

I was laughing out loud reading your anwser. But to tell the truth, it may as well be beneficial for some of them to make some correlations between road bike and spinning bike. It would may also help them wandering about the important questions such as :
- Why is my heart rate going sky high on a road bike as opposed to on a spinning bike when climbing a hill off the saddle?
- Why is it so difficult to push hard for 60 minutes in a row without rest?
- And finally, why is my butt bouncing up and down on the saddle like a basket ball?😄

Seriously, it's good to laugh about it, but for now, spinning belong to the general population, not to cyclists. So I have nothing to complain about. Really.
I even thing of doing some of my quality work in spinning session this winter. I did this last spring, and it was ok. I would adapt their program considerably, but most coaches wouldn't mind, as long as I was sitting in the back of the room.

Cheers

SolarEnergy said:

I was laughing out loud reading your anwser. But to tell the truth, it may as well be beneficial for some of them to make some correlations between road bike and spinning bike. It would may also help them wandering about the important questions such as :
- Why is my heart rate going sky high on a road bike as opposed to on a spinning bike when climbing a hill off the saddle?
- Why is it so difficult to push hard for 60 minutes in a row without rest?
- And finally, why is my butt bouncing up and down on the saddle like a basket ball?😄

Seriously, it's good to laugh about it, but for now, spinning belong to the general population, not to cyclists. So I have nothing to complain about. Really.
I even thing of doing some of my quality work in spinning session this winter. I did this last spring, and it was ok. I would adapt their program considerably, but most coaches wouldn't mind, as long as I was sitting in the back of the room.

Cheers

LOL! I have of those superspinners! I alway encourage him to put some resistance and slow down the cadence but to no avail. He bounces like a jackhammer! Anyways, I feel the same way. I am a motivator, a DJ and a coach all at the same time. You choose what you want. If you have your own routine, I don't mind as long as you do not disturb the rest of the class. I encourage anyone to follow my routine as much as possible. Because there is wide selection of people, I let them know it is each individual responsibility to know and gauge their levels. I promote the use of HRM and understand %MHR etc.