What to do?

[Joe24]

Ive got 3 monthsw of free gym membership(think my school have paid for it/local leisure centre have done it cheap) and the question is, what stations in the gym will be best for me to work on to build my leg mucles and also my upper body?
Are there any ones to go for that will work them better for cycling?
Its also means i get in free for swimming, spinning and aload of other classes that the centre does
Will swimming help me much? Ive not swum for a long time(except when i was messing around canoeing, but that was with the kit on which made it harder)
Whats spinning like? Ive been on a spin bike before, but not done a spin session thing.
Theres loads of other ones aswell, which ones are really good?

Cheers

 

[BIGSESAL]

Swimming is great. It works almost every muscle in your body. I am relatively fit and I went for a swim recently (first time for around a year) and the next day muscles hurt that I didn't even know existed. Perhaps not specifically good for cycling but it will improve general fitness and if you go at a good pace your cardio fitness will improve.

 

[IJCymru]

I have also just started at my local gym, the obvious one is the cycle machine. I am going for an induction where they are going to show me what will be best to help with cycling, it might be a good idea to ask for one of these and they should be able to tell you everything you need to know.

 

[Ravenz]

Are there any ones to go for that will work them better for cycling?
Its also means i get in free for swimming, spinning and aload of other classes that the centre doesWill swimming help me much?

I would recommend to add in a swim session for at least 20 minutes, to establish base fitness... one of my regrets is not becoming a strong swimmer to maintain a good freestyle for long enough...
Spinning classes are good but can be wholly dependent on the instructor as to the style of class ... you may get a nice looking gal who has an 'aerobic class' stance on music choice etc but basically knows diddly squat about cycling and how to train effectively to go faster for longer for example and some of the Spinning bikes can be dreadful in terms of manufacture and maintenance... the fitness industry can be a little tight in spending money on the better brand bike such as Spinner NXT... Total Fitness have some God awful no brand bike that gives me either numb fingers or toes after 30 minutes due to its bad design and non abililty to adjust correctly to my body ...

 

[Will1985]

For the lower limbs, the leg press is pretty important (Hoy pushes something pnenomenal but I forget exactly), and so is the squat.

Added to that some swimming or ergo rowing for an all round cardiovascular workout. This might hurt if you're only used to lower body exercise.