Spinning Classes?

[Atyl1972]

hey guys, can anyone shed some light as to what these classes are, total newbie I'm afraid,lol

 

[Cyclist33]

Hard work!

I've only been once, the guy reckoned it would be about half an hour but he kept us "spinning" for 45 minutes, building up speed, two-minute bursts, cruising periods, basically it's a continuous cycling exercise with imaginary straight stretches, hills, sprints and crazy bits.

Bloody good workout, although I was pathetic at it -- all the other peeps were regulars whereas I was a lowly real-world cyclist.

Do it -- it's really good!


Stu

 

[Chris.IOW]

They are great.

As above they are a mixture of sprinting, hill climbing, sprinting up hills anything really. A great workout and you'll burn a lot of calories.

The bikes are good as well, more like riding an actual bike then a gym exercise bike.

If you have shoes with SPD cleats then a lot of spin bikes have pedals that will accept these.

Enjoy.

 

[HLaB]

I hated them, I prefer the freedom of the open road, that and I hate paying for something I could get for free (a good cycle).

 

[al-fresco]

A friend of mine is a regular 'spinner' and she finally bought a real bike her first ever ride on the road was 47 miles, her 2nd was 67 miles - so the training clearly helps!

Personally I've done it once and hated it. It was 45 minutes of watching the guy in front get sweatier. If we have another long hard winter I might do it to keep my fitness up but I'd rather not.

 

[Chris.IOW]

A friend of mine is a regular 'spinner' and she finally bought a real bike her first ever ride on the road was 47 miles, her 2nd was 67 miles - so the training clearly helps!

+1

I started spinning three times a week in Decemeber and at the end of March jumped on a real bike for the first time and did a 35 mile ride, second was 45 and third 56.

Yes I would now rather be out on my bike then stuck in a hot sweaty studio, but when time is short or the weather is bad I think they are a great way to build or keep cycling fitness up.

 

[Rebel Ian]

I hated them, I prefer the freedom of the open road, that and I hate paying for something I could get for free (a good cycle).

Yes, I'm afraid that was my view too. Any exercise is good obviously but you can't replace getting out on the road on a proper bike.

 

[Atyl1972]

Any spinning classes in south wales??

 

[4F]

I do spinning class once a week at my local gym and really enjoy them. I often combine this with cycling to the gym first, 45 mins of spin and then cycle to work

 

[Globalti]

I did it once and HATED it, mostly it was being told what to do by some instructor shouting into a mic. I ended up following my own routine, which really hacked her off.

 

[Tasker]

I tried it once too. In the winter last year when the snow/ice made it difficult to get out and I thought it would help to keep me fit as far as touring on the loaded bike this summer. I honestly think you have to be young (under thirty five) or incredibly fit to take advantage of it.

Right: duly turned up. Loads of soppy young girls and young 'men' sporting bumfluff beards - what would we do if ever there was another war? (smugly looking round, confidence at overload now).

Then we took off , 45 mins. Result? I was completely knackered and thoroughly humbled - and here's me with more miles than these sissy boys and soppy girls conbined.

If you're young, go for it, wish I could do it.

 

[Vidor06]

I have been cycle commuting for a couple of years now and also combine this with regular gym attendance. I usually do my own thing but a while ago decided to give spin a try. It is a properly hard work out. My commute is only 6 miles and mainly flat. The guy who takes the class makes it almost entirely hill sprints. The whole class on Wednesday was out of the saddle and varying the resistance. Really punishing work compared with what I normally do on the bike. But I must say totally worth it.

 

[Andy500]

I'm 49 years old and have been road cycling most of my adult life. Started going spinning last Oct due to the bad weather and not being able to get out on the road, wanted to keep the fitness over the winter period.

I am by my own admission now a total addict, I go spinning 6 to 7 times per week (sometimes with back to back sessions lasting 1.5 hours) and couple this with road cycling. My road cycling fitness has improved immensely, knocked minutes of the times for regular routes I do, hill climbing faster with better endurance and dropped from a weight of 14stone 4lbs to 12st 10lb over about a 4 month period (I'm 6ft tall).

Yes spinning for anybody who hasn't done it before is 45 minutes of shear hell, I thought I was reasonably fit until I went to my first spinning class and quickly found out I wasn't but if you stick with it the strength, power, endurance and overall fitness improves dramatically. Its the quickest way I've ever found of getting fit and loosing weight.

Absolutely brilliant, I love it

.

 

[Dave Davenport]

Much depends on the instructor imo. I used to go to a local gym through the winter and do two back to back which was a really good workout. However the women running the classes who was great packed it in and the bloke who replaced her was a complete knob, 'when I was in the para's' 'you think this is hard' etc. so I haven't been since then.

 

[4F]

Yes spinning for anybody who hasn't done it before is 45 minutes of shear hell, I thought I was reasonably fit until I went to my first spinning class and quickly found out I wasn't but if you stick with it the strength, power, endurance and overall fitness improves dramatically. Its the quickest way I've ever found of getting fit and loosing weight.

Agreed I thought I was going to die after my first class... This week we did a solid 10 mins of climbing sprints, 10 seconds on, 20 seconds rest. I thought my legs were going to explode