Spin Classes

[Speicher]

Noodlley I really must say that I prefer men with two legs.

 

[Noodley]

Noodlley I really must say that I prefer men with two legs.

How about this bloke?:

View: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=KJleJbn9G6Y

 

[Ravenz]

During the winter I do 4-5 sessions a week. Monday 45 minutes, Tuesday 2 x 45 minutes back to back and Thursday 45 minutes. If the weather is bad Saturday or Sunday I'll do another instead of getting the bike out. Spinning is good fun, will help you through the winter
The classes vary with the instructor, some do lots of short sharp bursts of a particular move, others do longer spells on the same move. I know one guy who literally takes the class on a ride through France, describes the road, the scenery, the cafe, the climb - close your eyes and you can see it! If you don't enjoy the class after a few sessions try a different class with another instructor.
If you find some of the moves don't suit you just do one that does as a substitute. Don't expect to do a lot of spinning, good instructors will give you a good mix and through in lots of tough hill climbs.
Wear decent shorts, same rules apply as cycling but you will sweat buckets or this can to sore upper thigh / groin. I wear old cyle shorts and sudocream. Lots of water, about 0.75l at least.
Finally when it comes to setting the resistance or gear go with what suits you rather than what the instructor says.../quote]

... ditto this.. sums up what to expect and what to deliver as someone who attends and wants to get the most out of a class.
as an instructor, it is nice to be listened to sometimes!
I am not too prescriptive about bike techniques, but one of my pet hates is seeing someone with blatent too little resistance on the flywheel and spinning at 175rpm plus seeing their knees jerk in shock as they do it...
anyways , the default class is a mixture of harder rsistance to simulate climbing (in and out of the saddle) and higher bursts of interval type -
a few of my classes are run for a cycling club who want the 3/4 hour class to be a benefit to their CV system... they have it not so easy with structured intervals set at appropriate heart rate zones (towards the higher end of the scale ).. they all wear HRMs as these things are cheap and cheerful and allow for more targetted training in the absence of power meter training which Spinning bikes are not equipped with (exception is Watt bikes but no gym in my experience has them in stock and bikes set up on turbo trainers - again these are not seen in commercial gyms)
Don't be surprised by the fact that many attend classes have absolutely no experience of riding a bike outside.... a well run class should develop the interest and hopefully tempt them.....

 

[threebikesmcginty]

I did a spin class once - I'm fit and got through it but thought I was going to die...gasp!

Good luck!

 

[snapper_37]

I did a spin class once - I'm fit and got through it but thought I was going to die...gasp!

Good luck!

I did too. I thought I was cock 'o' the north at first. Lulled into this security that because I could ride a few miles on a bike, spin would be a piece of p*ss.

WRONG!

It's really hard work and it took about 4 weeks before I was anywhere near decent. Gave it up not long after as prefer the open road *cough* that's my excuse anyway

 

[HelenD123]

I thought I wasn't going to make it through just a half hour spin class a few years ago. It was tough! That was before I started proper cycling. I wonder how I'd fair now?

 

[PaulSB]

I thought I wasn't going to make it through just a half hour spin class a few years ago. It was tough! That was before I started proper cycling. I wonder how I'd fair now?

If you cycle you should be able to spin. I'd guess 3-4 classes and you would be up to speed. I only go through the winter and it takes me about 10 days to get back into it.

 

[Matt]

I went once. This was a beginners class too. It was really hard. I can ride miles on a normal bike without too many problems but after 10 minutes of the spin class my legs felt dead