Spin class maiden broken

[Elefantino]

We are visiting our daughter in DC and she spins at a local gym, Vida Fitness. So I went along this morning. Had never spun on a real spin bike before; this one was a Matrix IC7 with "coach by color."

Forty-five minutes with her personal trainer, Kyle Suib, leading the class of about 25 people.

Whew. It was interesting, to say the least. The bike took some getting used to, adjusting the resistance knob and all, but by the end I was able to hold 300+ watts with the rest of the class on the final "sprint" session.

Not bad for an old man who two days earlier had the last birthday he's going to count.

I have to be honest, though. I don't see the attraction for serious cyclists. Sure, it was a great workout, but I would much rather go out and do a hard 45 minutes on the road.

Those of you who do both might be able to weigh in on how spinning benefits your road riding.

[huck*this]

Originally Posted by Elefantino

I have to be honest, though. I don't see the attraction for serious cyclists. Sure, it was a great workout, but I would much rather go out and do a hard 45 minutes on the road.

Agree. It's a good sweat but that's about it.

Those of you who do both might be able to weigh in on how spinning benefits your road riding.

Two totally different worlds. I would not classify spin in the same category as cycling. Easy to cheat let up on a spin bike, can't do so on a road/mtb bike.

[ultraman6970]

If you need to move the legs because you cant go out spin class is great. But from here to replace nice road or track training with spinning? well...

I dislocated my knee twice years ago, part of rehabilitation was this spinning computer bike and pretty much the guy was surprised that i was able to spin that think in level 5 and 6 resistance (out of 12 i think) with a really f'ed knee at the 1st try, even had to tell the guy to increase the resistance because felt like nothing. I had to do the same work out in a regular bicycle even with super light gearing it might have hurt badly. At the opposite side it makes me wonder how weak legs some people has because honestly I left my prime long time ago and Im pretty wimp now.

[Bentley]

Originally Posted by huck*this

Two totally different worlds. I would not classify spin in the same category as cycling. Easy to cheat let up on a spin bike, can't do so on a road/mtb bike.

Agree with this perspective. I do Spin Classes when I am on travel because I dont take a bike. Ive done all the big places, SoulCycle, RPM, CycleBar, a few others. Basically it works to help keep a strong aerobic system, if you work. Typically, most of the "cyclist" are loafing, very low resistance on the wheel and they "fake" the pain. That said, there are some very serious spinners who grind me into the dust.

The biggest difference is that you do things in a Spin Class you would never do on a bike. Jumps, who the H goes from seated to standing on a 2 or 4 count. Push-ups? Crunches? Dumbells???

For me its about mixing things up (keeping my training fresh) but when I go in, I go in to work not screw around and check out the scenery. I think that used appropriately its a good way to ride and do other stuff that keeps up the overall fitness, but I don't believe that it "improves" my cycling in any way.

My 2 cents

Ray

[simplemind]

Agreed, cycling is so linear that to stay overall healthy, its my thinking that you need cross-training some way. I mountain bike, which does wonders for upper body and to a degree is more 3 dimensional. Spin class does get you out of your comfort zone by dictating the rhythm.

[benb]

I did a few spin classes 10+ years ago in the winter. The bikes are about the same, some places have some rudimentary or even fancy electronics on the bikes but the structure of the classes and overall feel has changed a lot in a negative way IMO.

Back then there were often a bunch of cyclists in the class, the workout was somewhat sane in terms of something we'd want to be doing in the winter. The instructors were often cyclists too. It wasn't expensive, most of the ones I did were free with my gym membership.

Now it's expensive, they're doing weird things like turning out all the lights, burning candles, not running the A/C, playing tons of really obnoxious dance/disco music, doing weird moves that have nothing to do with cycling or maybe even seem like they'd mess up your pedal stroke, etc.. the instructors aren't cyclists and the classes are full of people who wouldn't get on a real bike. Just weird, not for me!

I go to the exact same workplace gym I was going to back then. Back then the spin bikes were accessible all the time to use in place of the horrible life cycles, etc.. the classes were free with your gym membership. Now they're locked up all the time except during classes and they want $20 to ride them for $45 minutes. The bikes are pretty much the same except now they have a head unit that lists speed (meaningless) and resistance level or something.

[ftf]

Originally Posted by Elefantino

We are visiting our daughter in DC and she spins at a local gym, Vida Fitness. So I went along this morning. Had never spun on a real spin bike before; this one was a Matrix IC7 with "coach by color."

Forty-five minutes with her personal trainer, Kyle Suib, leading the class of about 25 people.

Whew. It was interesting, to say the least. The bike took some getting used to, adjusting the resistance knob and all, but by the end I was able to hold 300+ watts with the rest of the class on the final "sprint" session.

Not bad for an old man who two days earlier had the last birthday he's going to count.

I have to be honest, though. I don't see the attraction for serious cyclists. Sure, it was a great workout, but I would much rather go out and do a hard 45 minutes on the road.

Those of you who do both might be able to weigh in on how spinning benefits your road riding.

Does vida still have that watt bike, probably better off on that than a spin class.

[simplemind]

Spin only when it's raining!

[Jeff N.]

The idea of spinning on a stationary bike, as well as mountain biking, has never grabbed me. My hat is off to those who do either but, for whatever reasons, I've never been intrigued by either.

[crankles]

Originally Posted by Jeff N.

The idea of spinning on a stationary bike, as well as mountain biking, has never grabbed me. My hat is off to those who do either but, for whatever reasons, I've never been intrigued by either.

LOL. That's because you live in SD! I remember when I first moved there, I went for a run past a gym and saw people on tread mills! I wanted to run in and slap them. The worst day in SD is better than most days where I grew up!

[avalonracing]

I've literally had people say to me "Oh, you're an OUTdoor cyclist". Uh, no, I'm a cyclist. Along the same lines, I say Zwifting isn't "racing". If it is I'm going to put my motorcycle on rollers and call myself a motorcycle racer.

[eddief]

and I gotta say for me there is a big difference between "keeping up" in a spin class and my typical 40 mile club ride with a 2K feet of climbing. When I club ride I usually ride fairly hard but mostly keep the gearing in a range that is comfortable so I can last 40 miles.

in today's spin class I was standing up when commanded to do so after cranking up the resistance and staying there until allowed to sit back down and back off on the resistance. in other words i was being forced to work way harder on purpose than i ever "force" myself when road cycling. it was the toughest 45 minutes of "cycling" i have done maybe ever.

i will go back and suffer some more and do believe road cycling will be more fun as a result.

today's class = 12 women, 1 me.

[dvancleve]

Agreed. Doing a spin class and following the instructor is MUCH harder than the average hour of real cycling, if you don't live in the Alps or something ;^) There is A LOT about it that is super annoying for an actual cyclist, but (for me) it is 1K calories burned in an hour and a bucket of sweat. I set my "bike" up similarly to my real bikes and I don't generally follow when it is something dumb that isn't part of actual cycling. There is a lot of artificially high rpm standing with instructions like "add a little bit of gear". Overall, it is a hard workout but I have mostly only been doing my short fixie commute since I started doing spin with my wife over a year ago so I don't know how it translates into real road riding.

Doug

Originally Posted by eddief

and I gotta say for me there is a big difference between "keeping up" in a spin class and my typical 40 mile club ride with a 2K feet of climbing. When I club ride I usually ride fairly hard but mostly keep the gearing in a range that is comfortable so I can last 40 miles.

in today's spin class I was standing up when commanded to do so after cranking up the resistance and staying there until allowed to sit back down and back off on the resistance. in other words i was being forced to work way harder on purpose than i ever "force" myself when road cycling. it was the toughest 45 minutes of "cycling" i have done maybe ever.

i will go back and suffer some more and do believe road cycling will be more fun as a result.

today's class = 12 women, 1 me.

[laupsi]

Originally Posted by dvancleve

There is A LOT about it that is super annoying for an actual cyclist, but (for me) it is 1K calories burned in an hour and a bucket of sweat.

I taught spin classes and then RPM classes for about 10 years, started just after our son was born, needed to keep active, w/our schedules I couldn’t afford the time to train and race. Figured it was a good way to stay fit. What I learned are the following:
1. Most spin bikes use algorithms to compute calories and power and are completely unreliable. Sorry,it’s highly doubtful anyone is burning 1K calories in an hour long spin class.
2. Most spin instructors are motivators not cyclists and have very little experience teaching/instructing proper bike fit, pedal stroke, cadence, hand position, etc... as it relates to outdoor cycling.
3. Most spin instructors would be hard pressed to finish an outdoor ride lasting more than 1.5-2 hours at an aerobic pace. Forget anything competitive. They simply aren’t that fit, fit for cycling.
4. Guys/gals who think they can instruct spin classes to prepare/train for racing, road/crit, are mistaken.
5. Most who take spin classes are duped into thinking they are in “really” good shape. Doing a structured routine say from TrainerRoad or Zwift is so much more productive to building lasting fitness, but the work needs to be done. A year long episode of doing an average spin class is good exercise, but it ain’t anything close to where you’d be fitness wise if you stuck to real structured training. Of course same is true of outdoor structured training and one learns bike handling skills too.

[dvancleve]

Not that it matters, but that is from my HRM not from the spin bike I'll posit that a big (heavy) guy working hard in a spin class can easily burn more than 1K calories in an hour. A wirey, fit dude with a traditional cyclist's build, maybe not... Everything else you said seems true to me, I have never done any structured training on the road or anywhere else so I can't speak to that...

Thanks, Doug

Originally Posted by laupsi

I taught spin classes and then RPM classes for about 10 years, started just after our son was born, needed to keep active, w/our schedules I couldn’t afford the time to train and race. Figured it was a good way to stay fit. What I learned are the following:
1. Most spin bikes use algorithms to compute calories and power and are completely unreliable. Sorry,it’s highly doubtful anyone is burning 1K calories in an hour long spin class.