Spinning...
 

I've got a group of guys that I've been riding with for the past few years.

Most of them met one another at spinning classes. I'm the exception.

Tonight I finally went to see what the fuss was all about.

Some thoughts:

1. next time bring a bigger towel.

2. remember not to stop pedaling because it's a b|tch when that fly wheel keeps going.

3. apparently noobs such as myself push it too hard for the first few sessions. 1.5 hours later and i still see spots, so that does indeed seem correct.

4. spinning to footage of paris-roubaix/ronde van vlaanderen/tour de france feels more logical than spinning to the 'beat'.

anyone else do spinning in the 'off' season?

What's an "off season"? :)

... Brad

Sure...My mom loves spinning classes!

The geezer gang I ride with do 3 hour marathon spin sessions to "toughen themselves up". They say after the first hour it becomes more of a mental effort. A couple actually teach the spin classes as well. I am too wussy. 30 minutes on rollers and I am done.

when one is not racing. duh.

+1

I know a couple really strong guys who, situationally, get much of their interval work on a spin bike. It's good stuff.

A spin bike is the only hill I have.

exactly.

that's why i thought i'd try it out.

I posted this last December. Despite my positive experience, however, I've never been back.

Haven't looked into it, but I do notice a clubmate I regularly ride with is pretty strong for the first hour as a result of his spinning classes. The second hour, not so much. Looks like a decent tool to add into the mix, though.

Spinning vs trainer. Quel-est la differance? I guess spinning with a group of people might be a little more motivation, but with resistance trainers, I would think you get the same work out.

Is spinning more intense?

vancemac,

that pretty much covers my thoughts, except that i see the importance of riding out of the saddle.

1. i don't do trainers, i do rollers.

2. the beers and the bull**** with your buddies afterwards is always nice. :D

They are great for me when I need a good hill workout and cant spend 2.5 hours riding to the good ones.

You have to make sure you get a good instructor though too. Some are idiots... I went to one class where the instructor (who wasnt in great shape actually) was playing some annoying song about "get ready to jump" and wanted everyone to jump up outta the saddle for like 1 second everytime the song said 'jump'. Ive never seen so many people slip outta pedals while I sat back ignoring the song. I prefer the instructors who I know actually ride.

Spinning class is for Wussy.

I do spinning two times a week, three times when we don't ride outside. By "we", I mean the spin instructor, who takes willing participants on 3-4 hour rides on weekends instead of spinning indoors. To be honest, it was spinning that got me interested in cycling. I started doing it, got into better shape, and then took the plunge and bought a road bike. And then upgraded. And then bought a second bike.

Spinning was humiliating. Depressing(ly) last Wednesday I hit the gym because it was pouring outside and I wanted to ride. At the gym I usually do a few mile run on the mill. As I walked out of the locker room so was this big guy, he had the matching madone jersey and shorts and mtb shoes. No comment on the clown outfit, but I did comment on his shoes. He said the pedals on the spinners were made for bike shoes or gym shoes. I said, "by the looks of it, they are mtb pedals." He stopped and looked at me and said, "they're biking shoes man." At that point I gave him my best DiNero wave off told him to have a good ride. So I'm heading for the treadmill and I stupidly stop and decide to give spinning a try. I make it w/ a couple minutes to spare. Wouldn't you know it but Madone-boy was front and center in front of the "DJ booth" on his spinner. So I got my spinner adjusted and attempted to follow along with the instructor, who reminded me of Mimi from Drew Carey. I lasted 15 minutes and cut out at the first lul.

My lessons learned.
1. Beware of the guy dressed in full regalia that's going to a spin class because he's a poser
2. No water bottle, no towel = no preparations for an hour spin
3. 15-minute warm up at minimum, my 2-minutes was likely my demise
4. Mimi from Drew Carey is no spinning inspiration and it's humiliating that I couldn't hang
5. Agreed, techno-hop-trance-flashdance music is generally not good anyway

I'll stick to my roadie.

The only saving grace while I was having my ass handed to me was the little Brazilian cutie in front of me pedalling like she stole something. I'm a pig.

Declarations:
1. Madone clown-outfit. Perfect for the guy who has a Madone and rides. Silly for the gym, any gym, period.
2. techno-hop-trance-flashdance music is perfect in it's own setting but I couldn't imaging hammering to it.

That's it. Sorry for the duration of my rampling. Fire at will.

See, you tell her you have already run 7 miles and are out of water, tell her how nice she is, compliment her calves, have one of your friends call your mobile...

You'll know it's going well if she shares her towel.

its a decent alternative to road cycling when weather/schedule do not permit..

but it is not a replacement.

there seems to be a dichotomy- there are classes for cyclists, usually lead by a roadie... and these are great alternative workouts.

then there is the usual... loud techno music and light shows, taught by warmed-over aerobics instructors, and usually focused on reducing dress sizes than any real world race prep.

on the positive- there are some SMOKIN women in those classes. heck of a lot better eye candy than the gorillas i ride with...

Never have, but I'd like to.

You are aware that there are SPD style road shoes as well? Oh and as a poseur did he last the whole class while you didn't?

Just wondering

Rob

I use a fixed gear bike on a fluid trainer. I get to stay home and use my bike so it's better than spinning from my perspective.

Yes. I go to school full time + work part time, it's not easy to find time for a ride.

I agree with what VanceMac said, I'll add:

-Despite having road shoes (with SPD cleats nonetheless) no one, I repeat, no one in my regular spinning class ride bikes in "real life"
-The instructor keeps making the class to sing-along with the music (70s-80s R&B mostly), and everyone except me knows the lyrics, WTF?

My gym locks the spinning room when there are no classes (lame). Once my membership expires, I'm switching to a gym that allows you to use their spinning bikes anytime you want. And they have a DVD player that's hooked up to the projector (Alpe D'Huez 2001, anyone?:D)

I coach a team and have analyzed wattage, LT and other data from people who have spun during the off season and others who have ridden. The fitness was good for the spinners. But it didn't translate into better cycling speed. I guessed that the cause was that spin bikes use a lot of different muscles than their road bikes. I know it sounds crazy to some, but move your saddle back and see for yourself.

I do a spin class once a week, every week. I'm lucky to have two good instructors at my gym who at least do some outdoor riding, so their classes feel pretty realistic. Plus, they both run pretty much straight-up intervals for 45 minutes without all the usual BS that some aerobics-instructors do.

I started spinning regularly last year. I had gotten really sick, but twice-weekly spin classes brought me back pretty fast. I'd get bored riding a trainer or rollers in 30 seconds, but with the music cranking, I can stay motivated. Plus, my instructors play trashy 80s music which I actually like. :o

Spin bike resistance is much different then real road resistance... That's the biggest negative I've found to them. They definitely helped me "re-program" my legs to spin faster, that's for sure.

My 2 time observations.

1). Bring towel, bring water. Pedal away.
2). WAY too much standing. Highly unnecessary.
3). Spin instructors may not know **** about riding bikes on the road and they might not necessarily know what SPD stands for.
4) Hotties everywhere so hold your form sheesh.. But you will get nary a look.
5) Dont be the guy with a big pool of sweat around you.
6) Cotton shirts soak it up like crazy. But Bike Jersey may not be a great idea as they wick away the sweat.

I spin in the off season. Once our Thursday night group ride is done for the year I'll be doing 6 classes Mon-Fri. Unfortunately these are in no way hardcore. The classes pretty much consist of college girls who don't like to sweat. But I like them because they are pretty much 30-45 minutes at 75% or greater of my MHR. And intervals are awesome. But at these there is a lot of lag time between. You know..."everybody rest up for a couple minutes and take a drink of water" To get any type of workout I have to keep my cadence up and push it during their down times.

I have a trainer as well. That's for my longer duration workouts.

You're not working hard enough unless you have a pool of sweat under you :p

Ah but big towel > big pool of sweat