Spinning Class vs. Cycling

You probably ought to know what the answer's gonna be on this forum...

Ride! Who wants to sit in a spinning class when you can be on the road? A spinning class might get your heart rate up, but finding a good route to ride can be just as good and, -- a very big "and" -- you've got to ride to know how to ride. Stiomping pedals on some machine is a lot different than sitting in the saddle. Get out and ride and have a good time.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Chaim
I have been spinning (classes) for a few years now.
I was able to bring my heart rate up to 80-90% of my max during these classes.
In the last few years I have been cycling/training a lot and my condition improved dramatically.

Lately, I can not bring my heart rate in spinning classes to high levels (the 80-90% of max). I work hard, lots of tension, leg speed, etc.

The question is: are these spinning classes really helping with my training or should I just focus on cycling (when weather permits…)?

Dude,

I'm faced with a similar situation everyday. I can either get up at 4am to go riding in the currently 7 degree celcius weather, or I can get up at 5am to go spinning.

I choose the former. Why? Coz I get to do an extra hour of riding and there is no weighted fly-wheel to help me along. So instead of spending 45 minutes (the ave duration of a spinn class) on an artificial bike, I get to spend 2hr30 on the road instead. You do the math.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Ratty
Dude,

I'm faced with a similar situation everyday. I can either get up at 4am to go riding in the currently 7 degree celcius weather, or I can get up at 5am to go spinning.

I choose the former. Why? Coz I get to do an extra hour of riding and there is no weighted fly-wheel to help me along. So instead of spending 45 minutes (the ave duration of a spinn class) on an artificial bike, I get to spend 2hr30 on the road instead. You do the math.

Animal ..😄

The only spinning I do is after I've had too much Crown Royal.
Spinning = last resort
Do some hard climbs for better results.That forces you to perform.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by jhuskey
The only spinning I do is after I've had too much Crown Royal.
Spinning = last resort
Do some hard climbs for better results.That forces you to perform.

True .. I have been asked into a few classes; but, the thought of being sardined into a hot, sweaty, stinky room staring at the backsides of folks is not my idea of fun .. plus some of the funky music .. uhh .. yep, give me wet, windy and hills .. plus indoor bikes are so funky fitting ..

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by jhuskey
The only spinning I do is after I've had too much Crown Royal.

Drinking that stuff I'm not surprised, switch to Scotch 😄

You want your hear rate to climb? Try having two 18-wheelers closing on a two lane blacktop with you in the middle and no place to go except cross-country. Get out and smell the roses. Feel the wind in your hair, the dust in your eyes, and the pain in your thighs from taking one hill too many.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Trekker2017
You want your hear rate to climb? Try having two 18-wheelers closing on a two lane blacktop with you in the middle and no place to go except cross-country. Get out and smell the roses. Feel the wind in your hair, the dust in your eyes, and the pain in your thighs from taking one hill too many.

Oh, yeh ............................. still beats stinky gym rooms with cheezy murals & someone yelling at you!

My question was about spinning classes and Heart Rate.

Motivation is not the issue…

My obsession is cycling! I average 150 miles a week (100 weekends, 50 weekdays) and I would do more if time was not an issue.

I spin with a State Champion, CAT 3, 2 racers who use spinning for part of their training. I will not attend ANY spinning class with any instructor. I am lucky to have instructors who are also CAT rated and race regularly.

Thanks for the encouragements.

Don’t know, but it seems to me that you’re surrounded by your best answer. Those great cyclist that are around you are the best proof that spinning has it’s good side.

From my personal point of view spinning is good:
- You can focus in what you want to train, circular stroke, stand up hill, cadence, one leg effort, etc.
- You don’t have to travel where you usually start your cycling.
- Weather it’s not an issue.
- Sometimes there is nice people at the spinning.
- It’s nice to be yelled by a lady instructor that is not a good cyclist, but its really good screaming at everybody.

I have no idea why your HR it’s not rising as before, maybe you need to increase your energy, maybe you’re over train (that’s a symptom)

Yes, I do spinning in week days, 6 AM and 8:30 PM, I can’t do the same on the bike.

I came across the following at another thread:

""
The fitter you become the longer and harder it is to reach your maximum heart rate.

An unfit person reaches MHR very quickly and heart rate recovery is very slow. A fit person takes much, much longer and with more difficulty to reach MHR but recovery is very rapid.

It has been discussed by exercise physioligists on an ancient thread in this forum. They confirmed that MHR does actually reduce slightly with improved aerobic fitness.

MHR also varies in different physical exertions. Running MHR is higher than cycling and cycling MHR is higher than swimming.
""

so I gusse that sine a Spinning class is only 45-60 min, it is harder for a fit person to reach max heart rates.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Chaim
I came across the following at another thread:

""
The fitter you become the longer and harder it is to reach your maximum heart rate.

An unfit person reaches MHR very quickly and heart rate recovery is very slow. A fit person takes much, much longer and with more difficulty to reach MHR but recovery is very rapid.

It has been discussed by exercise physioligists on an ancient thread in this forum. They confirmed that MHR does actually reduce slightly with improved aerobic fitness.

MHR also varies in different physical exertions. Running MHR is higher than cycling and cycling MHR is higher than swimming.
""

so I gusse that sine a Spinning class is only 45-60 min, it is harder for a fit person to reach max heart rates.

Thanks Chaim. That was my post. You should have used a bibliography though 🙂

I have not been to a spinning class, but I would have thought for an hour's class the efforts would be at maximum around about AT level. Only going over, momentarily and delayed, if you were sprinting but not reaching MHR.

Gyms would also have to be observant of their legal obligation of duty and care to not to push exercisers beyond their limits which may result in health problems. Plenty of ambulance chasers out there looking for a contingency legal fee arrangement and then the gym's insurers would not be happy campers.

There would only be need to go to MHR to find out your MHR as a starting point to establish your training levels. That is a specific test where you can only achieve MHR by ramping up the effort gradually through stages.

You cannot compare an indoor workout with an outdoor workout as far as time. Any coach would recommend around about 1 hour as the norm on a trainer if you are doing high intensity work. On the road you are at the mercy of the influences of traffic, wind, gradient and momentum so you cannot get the consistency of effort over the same short period of time.

You can only train at intensity over time that is at a level that allows you to recover before your next training session - indoor or outdoor.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Chaim
ILately, I can not bring my heart rate in spinning classes to high levels (the 80-90% of max). I work hard, lots of tension, leg speed, etc.

This may seem like a stupid question, Chaim, but are you not perhaps taking any chronic medication that could contain a beta-blocker or mimic the effect of a beta-blocker?

Goosebeak. No medication.

Cuervo. You are correct. Many of us use spinning as training for the same reasons you had mentioned.

VeloFlash. You are correct, I am not targeting MHR; 85-95% during some interval training.

I am going to go with the following explanations:
- I am in better condition (need more time to reach 85-95% of MHR)
- The indoor class is too short. It takes me 20 min just to warm up
- The intervals are too short (and maybe not intense)

I will try:
- To come in earlier and warm up.
- During class, push myself more than what the instructor "order".

Chaim, IMHO, you should be posting this type of question to the forum on this site "Cycle Training".

There are a number of professional exercise physiologists and researchers (Rick Stern, 2LAP, Andrew Coggan) who contribute to that forum and will jump in with advice.

Sometimes the advice is disputed amongst the pros, but that is only an indication we are dealing to a certain extent with an inexact science.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by eric_the_red
Drinking that stuff I'm not surprised, switch to Scotch 😄

I recommend Kentucky Bourbon.

Everyone hear seems to be against spinning at the Gym but other at Bikeforums.net everyone loves it..

I think you guys should read some of the posts there. I've considered taking up spinning...

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=51081

Spinning is a great alternative if you can't get on the road either because of weather or time constraints. All in all though given the choice I would rather be out on the road by myself or with a group eating up some mileage.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by larry barr
Spinning is a great alternative if you can't get on the road either because of weather or time constraints. All in all though given the choice I would rather be out on the road by myself or with a group eating up some mileage.

Well, I don't know how true this is, but I've heard that spinning was devised for people living in godforsaken hellholes such as Canada in the middle of winter (Joke, it's not really a hellhole!)....

In my country, about the coldest I've ever personally experienced has been -9C - nowhere NEAR what forced the Canadians to come up with the idea of spinning.

Are we all just getting soft? To agree with you, Larry, I thought the idea of cycling, especially MTB, was to get OUT there...