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Do Spinning classes help you do better on the road?

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Road Cycling “It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle.” -- Ernest Hemingway

Do Spinning classes help you do better on the road?

Old 01-26-15, 06:57 PM
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Originally Posted by shyonelung
So I'm three weeks in and I've done 2-3 spinning classes a week and 3-4 rides (twice I did a ride and a spin on the same day). I've also been crosstraining three days a week (weights, squats, rings, core, etc.) which is part of a program I've been doing for going on about 9 months now. I did a 30-mile ride with about 10 other riders yesterday that was, at times, much faster than my average. I felt strong throughout, especially climbing and found it easier to stand up and pedal when I needed to do that. There were segments during the ride where I improved my average time by as much as 3 mph. So I'm going to say at this point that the spinning combined with my other workouts is helping me so far. One other side benefit is that I feel really good today. My legs feel like they've done a good workout but nothing is sore or painful. I really like the spinning classes too so I think I might keep doing at least one a week (it's getting nicer out and the days longer so I'll be able to get out on the road more now). But, of course, YMMV.

Btw, I'm newly unemployed (got laid off from a job on New Year's Day) which is why I presently have time to do two-a-day workouts.
Wonderful! (Not the being laid off part, sorry to hear that, but the feeling stronger part)

I have also found that the spinning classes have helped me increase my speed. They are, essentially, intervals, after all.


We're in a bit of a dilemma right now ... our fitness centre membership finishes later in February. On the one hand, I enjoy the spinning classes and the rest of the facility, and it is close to where I work. But on the other hand, it is some distance from where we live and quite some distance from where Rowan works, and there are other fitness centres that would be more convenient and potentially more cost-effective. So I may be trying out some spinning classes in the other fitness centres over the next month to see if they will suit me.
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Old 01-26-15, 08:33 PM
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I'm surprised y'all can stand the saddles, more than anything.
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Old 01-26-15, 09:08 PM
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Why? I go ride on the road to work on my bike handling skills. I go to the gym to work out at night when I can't go ride safely on the road. The spinning classes are free with my gym membership. Why pay $800 for something that won't fit easily in my house, when I can go enjoy a good workout at the gym I have already paid for?
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Old 01-27-15, 02:27 PM
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Originally Posted by Sullalto
I'm surprised y'all can stand the saddles, more than anything.
Some of those things are indeed quite terrible. Several of us got permission from the fitness director at our gym to put some of our extra road saddles on a few of the bikes. So there are about 4-5 of the 30 or so bikes at our gym that have nice road saddles on them.
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Old 01-27-15, 02:33 PM
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Originally Posted by oldnslow2
...the class is full of women in their 20s and 30s, so the view from the back of the class is very pleasant.
Only reason to go to a spin class in my opinion...
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Old 01-27-15, 03:14 PM
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Originally Posted by txags92
Why? I go ride on the road to work on my bike handling skills. I go to the gym to work out at night when I can't go ride safely on the road. The spinning classes are free with my gym membership. Why pay $800 for something that won't fit easily in my house, when I can go enjoy a good workout at the gym I have already paid for?
Fair enough. Just reemphasizing the point that fitness is only a part (a smaller part than most people realize) of riding well.
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Old 01-27-15, 05:40 PM
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Originally Posted by MRT2
Tough crowd here. How many folks critical of spinning actually do the classes? You absolutely can crank up the Watts if you have the legs for it, or you can spin away with almost no resistance. Your choice. That is part of the popularity of the classes. Anyone from an out of shape beginner to an elite athlete can do it. And, most instructors I know don't crank the music to ear bleeding levels.
Yep. You can crank that resistance knob and have sparks flying off that wheel if you want. Or, you can sit off to the side and barely toodle along while you gossip with your friend.

I did some spin classes years ago and brought my own cleats, pedals and saddle. The instructor was a triathlete who had a tough program that thankfully didn't include any of the "jumps" Machka mentioned. Not sure how much the spin class helped my cycling but it certainly didn't hurt.

Doing a lot of weightlifting with my legs seemed to help my sprinting but I didn't notice any improvement on my climbing.

My biggest problem is the local spin class is at 0530. Getting up in time is sketchy for me as my alarm clock(the dog) likes to sleep until 0600. Maybe as the sun rises earlier I'll be able to get to another class.


As for riding on a trainer at home; I'd rather watch paint dry or grass grow. I sold my trainer and bought better winter cycling clothes. But at this time of year, I'm working the "vampire" shift; it's dark when I get to work, it's dark when I leave. The gym gets me to the weekends.
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Old 01-27-15, 05:53 PM
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Originally Posted by bbattle
Yep. You can crank that resistance knob and have sparks flying off that wheel if you want. Or, you can sit off to the side and barely toodle along while you gossip with your friend.

I did some spin classes years ago and brought my own cleats, pedals and saddle. The instructor was a triathlete who had a tough program that thankfully didn't include any of the "jumps" Machka mentioned. Not sure how much the spin class helped my cycling but it certainly didn't hurt.

Doing a lot of weightlifting with my legs seemed to help my sprinting but I didn't notice any improvement on my climbing.

My biggest problem is the local spin class is at 0530. Getting up in time is sketchy for me as my alarm clock(the dog) likes to sleep until 0600. Maybe as the sun rises earlier I'll be able to get to another class.


As for riding on a trainer at home; I'd rather watch paint dry or grass grow. I sold my trainer and bought better winter cycling clothes. But at this time of year, I'm working the "vampire" shift; it's dark when I get to work, it's dark when I leave. The gym gets me to the weekends.
The gossip crowd usually hangs around stationary bikes in the big room; not so much in the spinning room.

In the past, spinning helped my outdoor riding. Perhaps not to the levels of greatness of some in this thread, but I noticed a difference. I will keep this group posted in a couple of months when I start riding outdoors regularly again how it worked out this season, since I am spinning 2 to 3 times a week specifically to keep some semblance of cycling shape through the winter months.

Last edited by MRT2; 01-27-15 at 05:58 PM.
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Old 01-28-15, 05:21 PM
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Originally Posted by MikeyBoyAz
Only reason to go to a spin class in my opinion...
Because women really want to know that the guy behind us is staring at our a$$.
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Old 01-28-15, 05:33 PM
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Originally Posted by shyonelung
Because women really want to know that the guy behind us is staring at our a$$.
If you hadn't already noticed that most guys behind you (anywhere...not just in spin class) are staring at your a$$, you probably haven't been paying much attention to your surroundings since around puberty. We are guys...it is just what we do...
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Old 01-28-15, 05:38 PM
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Originally Posted by txags92
If you hadn't already noticed that most guys behind you (anywhere...not just in spin class) are staring at your a$$, you probably haven't been paying much attention to your surroundings since around puberty. We are guys...it is just what we do...
Of course I'm aware of it. I don't have to like it. It's not why I go to the gym, believe it or not. I imagine guys don't go to the gym to have their a$$es stared at either. Of course, I'm going to get the "you're a prude" line but I just wonder if there's a place a girl can go where there are guys and not have to worry about them checking her out? Happens on the bike too. Guys wear the lycra, we wear the lycra but somehow on us, it's a sexual thing.
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Old 01-28-15, 05:48 PM
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Originally Posted by txags92
If you hadn't already noticed that most guys behind you (anywhere...not just in spin class) are staring at your a$$, you probably haven't been paying much attention to your surroundings since around puberty. We are guys...it is just what we do...
Go to a gym to stare at women's asses?
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Old 01-28-15, 06:53 PM
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Originally Posted by shyonelung
Of course I'm aware of it. I don't have to like it. It's not why I go to the gym, believe it or not. I imagine guys don't go to the gym to have their a$$es stared at either. Of course, I'm going to get the "you're a prude" line but I just wonder if there's a place a girl can go where there are guys and not have to worry about them checking her out? Happens on the bike too. Guys wear the lycra, we wear the lycra but somehow on us, it's a sexual thing.
I don't know why you'd think it's not a sexual thing for males, except that you're not one. Sailors whistle at me and that's a fact.

I have to admit to admiring various aspects of human physiology. As does my wife, who is a great starer at well developed male bodies. I think there's a reason that it's the really built young guys who wear the most skimpy clothing in the gym. They're much more exhibitionist about it than the women at our gym. Probably something to do with power relationships. My observation is that it does seem to work for them. I can't say we all do it, because there are people who feel constrained by their communal social norms: we have some Muslim women who work out fully covered. However, both sexes do some gawking given the opportunity.

It's a strange business. Walking down most streets, the guys are in suits or mostly look like shlumps. However the women are turned out in revealing outfits in eye-catching colors. I've always wondered what that was about. Yet as I said, in another context the men are in more revealing clothing than the women. Male peer pressure prevents us from showing our stuff in public? Some of us men fought that battle in the 60's and lost. One of my favorite memories is of a really well built large black man walking down a Seattle street in tight jeans and a tight red T-shirt that said F*** YOU in big block letters. This is going to take an evolutionary sociologist.
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Old 01-28-15, 07:12 PM
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Originally Posted by shyonelung
Because women really want to know that the guy behind us is staring at our a$$.
really the fact is I don't go to spin class but if I did, that would be the only reason.
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Old 01-28-15, 09:40 PM
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Boys will be boys? No. Actually some of them grow up. I've seen it.
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Old 01-28-15, 09:59 PM
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Originally Posted by shyonelung
Boys will be boys? No. Actually some of them grow up. I've seen it.
They're just better at concealing it. Heterosexual men find women attractive and are going to look. Mature males can look while being discrete and not make someone feel uncomfortable but we're still admiring.
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Old 01-28-15, 10:23 PM
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And women will be women and TG for it!
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Old 01-29-15, 05:11 AM
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Maybe you can check them out for the first 30 seconds, but if you can after that, you're not working hard enough.

I joke about being that creepy old guy in the back of the class, but since i'm now able to do as much as everyone else, I might move to the front and so those young ladies can checkout my a$$ and legs.
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Old 01-29-15, 07:22 AM
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In modern workout/cycling gear, and from the rear while cycling, most backsides look very similar anyway. The black stretchy pants do their job. I have to look at the rest of the body to determine gender. Look at the waist/hips, then move up. Females will usually have on a top with some kind of cutout in the back showing skin and sports bra. The ponytail used to be a giveaway, but not anymore. I personally think that the women are looking at and evaluating each other more than the men. The ladies have their outfits matching just so and work hard to do that. Men, on the other hand, any pair of shorts and a shirt will do. If they do not clash, all the better.
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Old 01-29-15, 11:25 AM
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Yeah, don't worry too much about it, I was mostly joking about it anyway. I am a guy, I will look once or twice, but I am not going to spend an entire class staring at anything. Also, after riding seriously on the road for a decade, and going to spin classes for about 7 years now, I have to say I just don't look that much anymore. Once you have seen 1000s of butts in spandex, they all kind of blur together. And for sure it isn't the only reason I am there in any case. I mostly ride in the front row anyways, because the pressure of knowing everybody behind me can see me makes me work harder. I don't think anybody is a prude for not wanting to be perved on at the gym. Our gym actually has a women's only facility across the street for that reason.
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Old 01-29-15, 09:28 PM
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The spin classes at my gym don't agree with me. The spin bikes have a horrible saddle (can't use your own), there is too much reach to get the saddle and handlebars at the right height. The flywheel kills my stiff bad knee.
The instructor quality varies. One of the incredibly fit and fast women in my bike club teaches some classes and her students do something productive without the nonsense that other instructors do (jumps, hovers). She encourages without being a cheerleader.

One of the guys in my bike club did a lot of spin classes over a winter and found the out-of-saddle work helped his climbing tremendously when he got back on the roads. Others have noted that they had a much easier return to the roads after taking spin class over the winter when they did not to ride in cold and dark.

The advantage of a class is the trainer at home is dangerously close to the couch and TV; or too close to the car keys to get to work early. At the gym there is also the option of using the weights, swim pool, or the other indoor equipment while you're there. The scenery varies more in the class.

I still attend a spin class when weather makes outdoor riding unpleasant or dangerous. I modify the instruction to suit my own needs. I view it as strictly maintenance of existing fitness, not improving on it. I'll sweat a lot but the bikes are too hard on my knees to really get my cardio going.

After one spin class leaving me raw and bleeding from the saddle, I'll need to rest a day or two. Then I'll decide it isn't *that* cold and wet outside and I'll go for a real bikeride.

Last edited by nkfrench; 01-29-15 at 09:33 PM.
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Old 01-29-15, 09:31 PM
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I did not read all the posts until after I chipped in with my reply. There are ladies in this forum too.
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Old 01-29-15, 09:43 PM
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Originally Posted by nkfrench
I did not read all the posts until after I chipped in with my reply. There are ladies in this forum too.
shyonelung is one of them. An inspirational one.
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Old 01-29-15, 09:45 PM
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Originally Posted by nkfrench
After one spin class leaving me raw and bleeding from the saddle, I'll need to rest a day or two. Then I'll decide it isn't *that* cold and wet outside and I'll go for a real bikeride.
Do you wear padded cycling shorts? I tried one class without them, and ... never again. I don't know how some of the others do it, but I need my padded cycling shorts on those spin bikes.
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Old 01-29-15, 10:33 PM
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Originally Posted by Machka
Do you wear padded cycling shorts? I tried one class without them, and ... never again. I don't know how some of the others do it, but I need my padded cycling shorts on those spin bikes.
I wear my regular good bike shorts and chamois butt'r on the spin bikes. I don't get adequate sit bone support from the unisex bike saddles. There are other TMI problems with the spin bike saddle contours.
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