Will Spin classes improve me on a road bike ?

[kingrollo]

Pretty much as the title really.

I went to my first ever spin class last night. I had my cycling shorts and spd shoes so i was hoping it would replicate the road in relative terms.
I was quite surprised at how much emphasis was put on spinning you legs stupidly fast and really low resistance, a lot of people where whizzing there legs around much fast then I could - as you change down when cycling out side.
The part I was dreading - the climbs - I was actually ok at - standing up with quite high resistance.....

Anyway at the end I was a sweaty mess, and no doubt a good cardio workout - what are people views on whether this will make me fast on say a 50 mile ride ?

 

[vickster]

I’d say it’ll make you fitter and maybe less likely to fatigue but not faster. Proof is in the pudding though.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Yes

 

[Milzy]

Sure will

 

[kingrollo]

Cheers guys - some sessions are 30 minutes some 45 - how many per week to make a difference ?

 

[I like Skol]

I am generally pants at riding stood up for any length of time. 99.9% of my riding is done sat down and whenever I stand up I run out of steam pretty quickly, despite being an otherwise pretty good hill climber compared to my peers.
I went on holiday early in 2017 and while there did 3 or 4 spin classes for the first time. Very intense work they were and I enjoyed the challenge. I also ended up a sweaty mess (worse than normal!).
It was a big shock the next time I rode to work, I actually found myself standing up on some of the climbs and managing to keep my speed up. I don't know if it was psychological or down to a real improvement in fitness but this lasted several months from just those few spin classes in one week.
It didn't last and I am pretty much back to where I started now.

 

[biggs682]

IMHO i think a better improvement would be found by spending the same time on an actual road bike

 

[screenman]

It will certainly be of more help than sitting on the sofa, I can often have a harder 40 minutes on the turbo than I could give myself on the road.

 

[rb58]

Certainly good for general fitness. And great fun if you find yourself in a good group with lots of banter. I love them. I also found they helped get my cadence up in the early days of riding fixed.

Unfortunately there's a trend at my gym (David Lloyd) to replace instructor led classes with virtual ones (a combination of Les Mills RPM and Sufferfest) which are nowhere near as much fun and I'm usually the only one in the room. So, for me it's the motivation of having a great time as well as getting in a good cardio workout.

 

[ryanme]

A lot of the time instructors have no idea about cycling ... but it will improve general fitness... id vote just riding your bike, in all weathers, that will help!

 

[Globalti]

On the few occasions when I used my turbo-trainer I found it beneficial. But it was so boring and so sweaty that I'd rather just suffer on the first couple of rides out and I've actually Ebayed the turbo.

 

[Jimidh]

IMHO i think a better improvement would be found by spending the same time on an actual road bike

Depending on the session you are doing - a 45 minute structured session in a spin class or Turbo will probably do more for your fitness than 45 minutes on the road unless you have a nice quiet area where you can do intervals without worrying about traffic etc especially on dark winter nights.

 

[gaijintendo]

When you are talking about it spinning with low resistance... Spin classes are pretty accessible - you can usually calibrate the workout to your power output. So you and the person next to you can have quite different builds, but have the same perceived workout basically. I quite like that. Maybe ramp it up?

I don't find it made my commute any easier. Maybe the hills are in a different gear now. Hard to say. It's not far enough to notice a big change in times.

Unlike @rb58 I find humans are awful at telegraphing upcoming changes and videos are a bit better structured. But I guess if you can find a good leader, then you are rocking.

I quite enjoy then because getting on my bike over lunch and showering doesn't ever work out timewise, and we have a vr suite at work.

 

[Dan Ferris]

I guess it depends on your goals but i enjoy mixing up my training just for some variety. Helps to keep the motivation up !

 

[Nigel-YZ1]

At one point when I was riding weekly I bought a cross trainer and started doing the inbuilt programs once a week. I was surprised at my performance improvement back on the MTB. I think it was the cardio element which stressed my system more than cycling would.