Spin classes............. any good ?

[tiswas-steve]

Was thinking about joining a spin class locally to get to understand a training plan to suit my needs and just wondering if its worth the costs and the time ?

 

[Moodyman]

I've went once - was persuaded by a non-cycling friend.

We okay, but not overly impressed. You can do a perfectly good spinning class on a real bike on quiet roads. And it's more enjoyable,

 

[Rob3rt]

Varies from class to class. You won't get much from it in terms of being able to plan your training to your needs though, not in my experience anyway.

 

[PpPete]

For me it's a "better than nothing" when the weather's too cold to face going out on a proper ride.
You won't get much specific training plans from it - if it's anything like at my gym. Just seems to alternate between high resistance/low cadence "climbs" and "sprints" at low resistance and stupidly high rpm.

The "scenery" can be interesting if you're an old lech like me !

 

[Norry1]

Its hard work and you sweat like a good un - but if you want structure, I'd spend £130 on a turbo trainer and get a specific training plan.

Martin

 

[Fran143]

I use spin throughout the winter if unable to get out and in my club we combine it with HRT, this has been great and myself and another member of the tri club have both already seen benefits compared to where we were last year. So if your having difficulty getting out I'd say its a great training sess.

 

[Yellow Fang]

Spinning's great. It's great cardio work. You have to work like a b@5t@rd.

 

[Cush]

Spining classes are OK if you can put up with the music and loud bossy female instuctors.

 

[buggi]

For me... it knackered my knee up and i lost a tit size. so not that impressed!!!!! took me about 4 years to eat enough to recover my C cup without my ass getting bigger. Physio told me she saw loads of problems from it, mostly coz the bikes aren't set up right for such a vigorous exercise. (ie. i know you can adjust the height of the saddle etc but because you only have a few seconds to do this before your class you can easily get it wrong and then people have problems)

i gave it up, my knee recovered (and so did my cup size eventually) and now i just have a turbo for when the weather is too bad.

 

[yello]

Spining classes are OK if you can put up with the music and loud bossy female instuctors.

And I couldn't. Not my scene at all. A home turbo was preferable albeit no replacement for the road.

 

[Yellow Fang]

For me... it knackered my knee up and i lost a tit size. so not that impressed!!!!! took me about 4 years to eat enough to recover my C cup without my ass getting bigger. Physio told me she saw loads of problems from it, mostly coz the bikes aren't set up right for such a vigorous exercise. (ie. i know you can adjust the height of the saddle etc but because you only have a few seconds to do this before your class you can easily get it wrong and then people have problems)

i gave it up, my knee recovered (and so did my cup size eventually) and now i just have a turbo for when the weather is too bad.

How much did you do? I don't think I could face it more than once or twice a week.

 

[welshdragon]

The classes are good for getting a good sweat and burning loads of calories. In terms of using it as an aid to cycling it is totally different especially if the teacher is just a fitness instructer and not a cyclist. The woman who teaches in the gym that I go to is a non cyclist. Would be better calling it grind than spin. I think she would try to climb alpe dhuez in 53-12. Thats just my opinion but it does keep u going in winter if yr struggling to get out on bike.

 

[jay clock]

Would be better calling it grind than spin. I think she would try to climb alpe dhuez in 53-12.

Agreed.... a mad idea. Having said that I find it a good way to sweat off some calories and I ignore the "grinding" and keep spinning....

 

[tiswas-steve]

Hmmmm. Interesting points. Thanks guys !! I was mainly thinking of taking spin classes to burn off a few calories without actually being on the bike. I know it can never beat the road but methinks it would be good to see another side of cycling fitness .

And on the other hand if I had tits and I fancied losing some sizeage of me bangers, spin classes is the way to go !! You learn something everyday eh ? Cheers Bugs !! Lol

 

[Campfire]

For me... it knackered my knee up and i lost a tit size. so not that impressed!!!!! took me about 4 years to eat enough to recover my C cup without my ass getting bigger. Physio told me she saw loads of problems from it, mostly coz the bikes aren't set up right for such a vigorous exercise. (ie. i know you can adjust the height of the saddle etc but because you only have a few seconds to do this before your class you can easily get it wrong and then people have problems)

i gave it up, my knee recovered (and so did my cup size eventually) and now i just have a turbo for when the weather is too bad.

Well, I've already got knackered knees to a degree but I'd love to lose a bit from the latter.

I did it for a long while, and even joined in a sponsored spin, did a few hours, for charity. However, I do think it's fine so long as you ignore the instructors when they expect you to spin out of the saddle and use lots of resistance. Both are unnatural and you never seem to do quite such extremes in cycling. I found my face stayed bright red for hours, as I'm fair skinned. In fact even though it hadn't exerted me excessively, although I tried hard, I looked as if I was ready for a coronary. That was when I was quite fit.

I was thinking of having a few beginners sessions and laying the knee probs on just to tone up a bit!