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

[montage]

Make sure you get the saddle height correct, and you're onto a winner. Obviously it won't be as good as the road in many aspects, but it allows you to absolutely rag it in a safe environment. My main issue with spinning is just how unbearably hot it gets. The CV benefits will be more than enough to benefit your cycling

 

[youngoldbloke]

Worth taking a tape measure with you to replicate your normal bike position* - only takes a few seconds to get the set up right. * or use some other method - e.g. for me the distance from top of saddle to C/L crank spindle equals armpit-over-saddle to first-finger tip, and saddle nose to bars equals elbow to finger tip + 1.5ins.

 

[zigzag]

spinning classes are good fun and intense excercise as well. you can set and change the resistance level how you want - it will depend how intense the class will be. bike setup is important and should be set corretly, maybe with the help of instructor. one of the excercises i like is spinning without moving hips while standing - this would be similar to spinning up the hill in high cadence out of saddle and keeping the bike vertical (no rocking). burns like hell!!
i'd recommend to go for a taster session then decide if you like it or not (also try with different instructors).

 

[just jim]

I'm doing a spinning class followed by circuit training. A sufferfest indeed, but I keep going back. Good warning about the knees though...

 

[515mm]

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)

The one spin class I did do, I took care to set the saddle height/reach very carefully. Once going I took a glance around the rest of the class. Compared to them I looked like Lance Armstrong(I looked in the mirror). The guy next to me was bouncing out of his seat, his knees near his ears. The bloke next to him's hips were rocking all over the place. 2 blokes out of a class of 15 looked comfortable and smooth - one of those was me.

We were soaked in sweat by the end and I was shattered (everyone else saying "Good Workout"), but the drills the instructor made us do bear no resemblance to the way I've seen anyone ride a road bike. I don't stand up and turn a gear that gives me a cadence of 30 for 2 minutes when I ride uphill, it's simply too inefficient. I came to spin, not grind.

I think the class should have been shown how to set their bikes up at the very least. I know the instructor is under pressure to appear to provide value for money but 2 mins taken out getting the position dialed in to protect the health of the client.............

 

[Cush]

The first thing our instructors do is to ask if there are any new comers and if there is they check that the bike is set up and that they can see both the instuctor and a reliable spinner. If the instuctor thinks some thing is wrong they will come and check both new comers and regulars. Some things I dont like abot spinning but the level of care can not be faulted but maybe we are lucky.

 

[KRUSSELL]

I do spin quite a bit and with different instructors but I found most of the instructors do,t know how to set the bikes up correctly.
As for setting the height, the bikes in the gym only go up by 1 inch increments only, this is not fine enough.

 

[Enigma2008]

Might just be a one off but the one and only spin class I went to was mental! Situated in box room off the main sports hall (yes where they store the gym gear) ten or so spin bikes, no windows or fans and a bunch of keen spinners without any brains between them. No checking of owt from the instructor, just the speed of his music! The off, a madness never to be repeated by those with a preference for life... short warm up then spin like xxxx, stand up and spin like xxxx, do press ups while you spin like xxxx, sit down and spin like xxxx, easy, easy then do it all again but against increased resistance, then do it again as a lower resistance but faster. The driving force was the beat of the music which the instructor adjusted with alarming frequency. In that box room the volume of sweat leaving my body was only exceeded by that volume of blood being pumped around my body. Somehow, for me, it just didn't seem to fit anywhere within a sensible and progressive training plan designed to achieve a cycling goal. But that's my one and only experience and I've no desire or inclination to repeat it. It was absolutely a crap way to spend 45 minutes on an excuse for a bike undertaking a series of pedalling actions that have little bearing on what I would be doing on a real bike.

Sorry, rant over! I'll get my coat...

 

[Sittingduck]

Spinning - love it!

 

[Thomk]

Some good instructors, some bad. I like spin classes. It's something different, a bit more sociable than solo rides, a bit of fun and fairly good CV work. I often cycle to the gym (6 miles), do a spin class and then cycle to my parents house from there (another 22 miles). It's a good way of getting a fairly good ride in at the weekend (I call it about 40 miles) without wasting too much time getting nowhere.

 

[poynedexter]

if you arent getting much from a spin class, the answer is simple. turn up the resistance and work harder. its your workout so get the finger out. i spin twice a week and most people work at half effort. its obvious to watch them. little sweat and light breathing. i try to work hard for each 45 min class plus a 25 min pre spin. its not cycling but its not always possible to cycle out on the roads for me. i finnish work and am spinning 15mins later. spin works for me.