tntom

Thanking about taking some spinn classes. Has anyone here ever taken them? I will have to join a health club. The only thing I would want is to spinn . Will it be worth it? I have heard it helps with climbing. It's a lot of money for one thing. Would I be just as well off riding?

Red Rider

I'm a Spinning instructor, have been since '97. It's what got me back on a real bike. Spinning helps not only with hill climbing, but with sprinting and cardiovascular fitness as well. You'll want to be sure it's Spinning that your club offers, rather than Cycle Reebok or other programs that are more like aerobics on a bike.

If you're going to spend the money to join a club, why don't you take advantage of the weight room as well? That's another way to get stronger for those hill climbs. Does the club have a jacuzzi, sauna or steam room? You might as well use as many amenities as possible, to get your money's worth.

How's the weather where you are? Will you be able to get out as much as you want to this winter? If not, you're well served to pursue Spinning classes.

Good luck!

RockyTopBiker

Our local YMCA just started spinning classes, so I decided to check them out. The class consisted of one guy, me, and about ten women, some of whom I knew. They knew that I cycled a lot and put me in the front row. Well, let me tell you they almost killed me. The instructor had us standing up and sprinting; something that I never do on the road. I thought I was going to "toss my cookies" any time. I imagine that all the "girls" behind me was snickering and I was sort of embarrassed. Thank God they had the lights in the room very dim. Long story short...I never went back, but may try again this winter. One thing for sure, I'm going to be in the back of the class....Ned

What goes up must come down
spinning wheel got to go round
Talking about your troubles it's a crying sin
Ride a painted pony
Let the spinning wheel spin
-Blood Sweat and Tears

Garfield Cat

Once you got back on a real bike, what then? Was spinning like a transition? My thoughts are that bike riding has its own dynamics and no matter how much indoor spinning, there's nothing to compare to actual road riding (or off road) in the elements.

Jet Travis

If your class is anything like the ones I've taken, spinning will kick your butt and keep you in decent shape through the colder, darker months of winter. The rest of the year, I usually just ride outside.

Red Rider

Once I got back on a real bike I scaled back teaching to a minimum (currently 1-3 classes/wk.) and head for the road every chance I get. Spinning was indeed like a transition. Outdoors is definitely preferable to indoors. Riding in the rain has no appeal to me, so I'll choose indoors on those occasions.

There's nothing like riding a bike outdoors. Spinning will keep you from losing fitness when you can't get outside.

Note to RockyTopBiker: I'm sorry that instructor put you in front and embarrassed you. That's just inappropriate, IMNTBHO. I hope you find a seat in the back row and pace yourself (tossin' your cookies isn't the point in Spinning).

RockyTopBiker

She didn't do it to me, I embarassed myself. Just hope it was too dark for the ladies to see how I was struggling. Is this the reason for the dimmed lights?

tntom

Sounds like what I need this winter. I'll go check out the club. Thanks

Pat

Well spinning is a mixed bag.

Spin bikes are much more like riding on the road than bikes with resistance. The freewheel does a good job of mimicking the feeling of momentum. All of the bikes I have ever tried are like riding a fixed gear bike. So spin bikes are really good for working on your "spin".

Also, I can mimic hill climbing reasonably well by running up the resistance and getting out of the saddle. It isn't quite the same, but it is better than a road bike on flat terrain. Plus, I can make hills of any length that I want.

I would strongly suggest getting at least an inexpensive heart monitor. On a spin bike, you need something to guage how hard you are working and a heart monitor does that. On the road, I just use effort and mph.

Something to check on is to see if they have numerous fans in their spin room. You need the moving air, or at least I do, or a keel over from over heating.

A warning, spin classes are strange. The leaders like changing everything fast. They do everything for pretty short times and they change up stuff with great frequencey far more than any road cyclist would ever do. I pretty much ignore 'em.

Also they have people really put up the resistance and run at really really low RPM. Again, I ignore 'em.

Another thing they do is turn up the music really loud (or at least for me, I am highly adverse to loud levels of sound) so I wear ear plugs and muffs which I got from the Home Depot power tools area. I don't need to lose my hearing just yet.

You can get a nice controlled work out in a spin class and you can concentrate on it. You don't have to slow down for corners, or watch for traffic or vary pace for various hazards. So there are some real advantages. Also, if the weather is nasty, it is usually OK inside.

Most places let you try out a class at a no cost basis. Go try one and see if it is something that you might stick with.

Louis

I work out on my trainer at home. What, besides motivation, would I gain by doing spinning classes?

Red Rider

Generally not. Dim lighting allows concentration and focus. You can close your eyes and envision your challenge, whether it be a sprint or long hill -- whatever the instructor is cuing.

If those women noticed your struggling, they weren't working hard enough themselves.

edzo

someone else's cold, flu, or fungus basically

Red Rider

Different music than you might choose for yourself -- direction, a goal for that period of time during which you're on the bike, encouragement to push yourself more than you might if you were working out without direction.

I can't speak for other instructors, but because I cycle outdoors I tend to make my indoor ride profiles similar to my outside rides. Each class has a goal (endurance, strength, recovery, all-terrain), and I set the expectation when explaining the goal. I stick with moves that, for the most part, can be recreated on a real bicycle. I describe the road, the weather, the topography, whatever is part of the ride I'm offering -- so it's easier to envision what's expected during, say, a sprint up a hill.

My biggest pet peeve about indoor cycling programs is that they are often aerobics on a bike -- set to pop music, using movements that have no outdoor equivalent, e.g. hover drills and popcorn jumps -- that's why I'm a Spinning fan. The founder is a triathlete and knows what it's like to ride a bike. I find it much easier to transition from indoors to out, and vice versa, with Spinning. YMMV.

RickinFl

Anyone ever been to a spin class that actually taught you how to spin, or any other legitimate cycling technique besides out of the saddle for that matter?

Rick

SabreMan

Do spin classes always use uprights? I am a recumbent ride and prefer to use a recumbent exercise bike for my indoor workouts.

Glenn in Omaha

Paniolo

motivation is good ...

and the scenery can be quite nice too

My lbs offers "spin" classes Mon-Thurs over the winter. Bring your bike and trainer (trainers can be rented) and pay by the class/month/season. Usually 15-20 are there.

CrossChain

My daughter, former cheer leader and perky as a sea otter, loves her spin classes. The Grump here prefers to retire to the garage and Coach Troy or, on recovery days or long spin days, the History Channel or a dvd. For me, getting to the gym, putting up with the instructor's chatter, etc. seem a hassle. At home, my shower (and refridgerator) are so close and scheduling is mine.

Always, always prefer outdoors of course.

Louis

Thanks for the info RR. Gregarious as I am at times, I'll likely stick with what I've been doing.

knotty

I wonder what the chances of a staph infection are? I know recently there are real concerns in school gyms, telling kids to wash hands etc. I guess the worst case is flesh eating bacteria.

knotty

john wood

I did it last winter with my son.We both enjoyed it,we were training for the MS150,just trying to increase our stamina.We didn't have to join the club,we paid 7.00 per session.I thought it was good,definitely a good work-out.By the way,I'm 64 and did the MS150 and 5 other metric centuries this past season.Hoping to do at least one full century this coming year.

tntom

Well I have looked into joinning a health club can't afford that. Can't find a place where I can just take spin classes. So I will just have to ride more this winter that I had planned.

stapfam

Started on Spinning about 3 winters ago.Mainly because I wanted to see what they are like. Took about 6 sessions before I got into the Technique as it is a bit different to bike riding. One Thing I learnt was to keep your own pace and pressure on the wheel for the first few lessons. When the others are out for a 3 minute sprint- Remember they have got used to a cadence of 120 but when you first try it- The stomach going up and down will cause pain, if you haven't got enough pressure on- your legs will start losing tension in the muscles and the flabby bits going up and down will cause pain, and if you have too much pressure on the wheel will burn the legs out- or the lungs- well before those slim 20 year old girls that are now well in to their second season.

I am an experienced rider so I know how to ride a bike- any bike- but on these spinning classes- you learn a great deal more. You do get the exercise of riding a bike for 45 minutes and at your level but a structures series of classes will teach you a lot and improve your fitness no-end. I learnt a lot on how to climb a hill- at low cadence with pressure on and higher cadence with less pressure. I learnt how to pedal in circles at the gym- so much so that I do not realise that I now do it all the time. I learnt to keep a steady cadence that is comfortable and I also found out what my best cadence is. And when it comes to riding out of the saddle- I learnt how to ride with real pressure on- How not to rock the bike and how long I can do it for.

Riding a spinning class bike is different to a real bike. It does not teach you everything but I still do 30 minutes or so practice out on the road spinning fast- climbing hills in too high a gear- Honking out of the saddle on steep hills without rocking the bike and pedalling only on the upstroke up the slopes. What you learn at the class still has to be practised and it has to be done on a real bike on real hills- but it did improve my riding technique and did build up a few muscles that I never used to use.

Only thing to remember- Don't ask a spinning class mate to join you on a ride. They may be able to show you up in the class- but ask them to go for a ride- and you will find out that most of them don't ride, in fact , most of them won't own a bike.

knotty

It may be fun if they had a huge screen in front with bar graphs that move up or down with each riders name, speed, and difficulty level showing. Then you can see who wins sprints, wins on hills etc.

knotty

RickinFl

Well- since this is the over 50 forum, I guess it's OK to stand up and be a curmudgeon. If not here, where?

Spin classes are a damned menace, and I'll tell you why (of course..what else is a curmudgeon to do?): they produce people who are strong on a bicycle but have absolutely no idea of how to ride safely in a real group ride on the road. There was at least one long standing weekend ride where I live that died on the vine because it became popular with the ersatz spinners. Guess what? Crashes almost every week. I quit riding most of the big group rides around here because I mostly ride with my blind wife on a tandem and I just didn't feel like exposing her to the risk of going down. If it were just me, fine, but not with her on the back trusting me.

I'm not trashing the entire concept; I do think that spin classes are a fine off season or bad weather adjunct to regular training on a real bike. A responsible approach for the spin instructor would be to let his neophytes know that there's a lot more to riding a bike in the real world than what they can learn in the gym.

Rick