Spinning Classes

Road Red

Anyone have a view on the value of a spinning class as part of a winter training schedule? I do a few turbo sessions a week and am thinking of going spinning as a break from the shed.

Novadog

..though I'm definately a beginner, I'm doing spinning classes instead of on the road as part of pre training for the Etape Caledonia during the week - and longer mile runs at the weekend. It's better than plodding along in a shed.

A class will vary from sprints to really tough hill climbs (you don't change down a gear as the pedals are fixed) with some 'arm and upper body exercises' whilst peddling (this involves bobbing up and down on the bike, undignified but I just pretend, I'm really small so I don't have much space to move anyway). They are supposed to cover around 15 - 20 miles in a 45min to an hour session. I always end up muscle sore on these, where as I can usually do 30 miles on fairly hilly roads and not feel sore.

I've been doing 2 a week and am going to step that up to three. I'm pretty small so I find the bikes a bit awkward. If you choose to do it, take some water and you will need a towel to wipe down yourself and the bike - if you're not extremely sweaty you're not doing it right.

The bikes have resistance knobs which can make peddling harder or easier so you can make it as difficult or as easy as you want. It's a group exercise to music so it does change things round a bit and keep things fresh. I figure I am pacing myself at someone elses standard and not my 'easy' own so I do end up pushing myself further than going out for 30 mins in the evening on the road, and I'm not beholden to traffic lights or other vehicles.

Nx

trailstar

spin classes are ok, but once you're upto a club level of roadie cyclist. you will get annoyed with them.

Try find a local club that do turbo trainer nights, same as a spin session.. but you'll work harder and have a good coffee after for some bike chat.

LikeUStoleIt

i think that spin classes are a useful addition to winter training: a shouty fitness instructor and loud music can make quite a nice change from looking at the garage wall for an hour!

i tend to do them on an easy day as a break from the standard 2 x 20 turbo hurtbox, and just go as easy or hard as i feel on the day.

having said that, i think that class quality can vary a lot, so you might need to have a go at a few before you find one that suits you. try and find one run by a cyclist/triathlete if possible: they won't make you do all the comedy press-up things that novadog mentioned below.

oh, take a big towel!

bilirubin

I used to do a spin class twice a week and if it gets your legs spinning and your heart rate up why not!

I agree with the other comments re avoiding classes that involve arm exercises, press ups etc as it is all a gimic, try and find a class that is run by a cyclist or tri-athelete and concentrate on the cycling.

I was very lucky as the instructor I had at David Lloyd loved his bike and all we did was sprints and hill climbs during the class, we used to leave the press ups on the handle bars to the other classes.

mclarent

I got off the sofa and went to spin classes, got me going and I lost a lot of weight / gained a lot of fitness doing it. Agree with the advice re avoiding gimmicks and finding an instructor who rides outside. If you can find a gym with bikes that display power, all the better.

Not sure I'd bother with spinning now, I have a turbo and some DVDs.

heliphil

I went to one last night for the first time. I thought it was quite good and certainly made a change.

Loretta Damage

I spin at least 3 x per week. I do an interval session and a hill session, both of which I've put together myself and are 62 and 72 mins long. I also attend an instructor led session, normally really good with varied sprint and hill themes but shorter, around 45 mins (and their music can be dodgy!). I find them really good for maintaining fitness and building speed but only so long as I still get out for a long ride over the weekend. I'm just about to buy my first turbo trainer for the evenings, plan to get at least an hour in every week night. I will say that spinning has really helped me drop my weight, I was 18st 2lbs in June and now I'm at 15st 11lbs.