[Closed] Spinning / Cycle group in the Gym - any good?

I use to attend one in Denmark with the local road club. I found it was a good workout, legs felt like jelly afterwards.
Not scientific proof but I felt my sprinting improved the following season out on the road, though this could just have been because I was cycling more.

I enjoyed it when I used to go, great instructors though both big riders in their spare time. I loved it. The instructor makes it though. Have a go it beats the turbo!!!

Tried it, didn't like it myself but my girlfriend enjoys it.

I prefer road riding instead.

Been spinning for 12 month now started as recovery from injury and now part of the workout......lots depends on the instructor and intensity if done correctly yes intense and hard......If you want to use little resistance or hide crap......I find the intense mid resistance a killer.
I think it has improved my fitness considerably....but I use with rowing and some jogging.

Try it and see

I wouldn't say I enjoyed it when I did it, but it definitely helped with my fitness.

As above depends largely on the instructor, and how much resistance you put on. I find the sessions with lots of interval and pyramid training the most effective and enjoyable, and think it has made a significant difference to my overall fitness and also bike fitness. Its a great alternative when you only have a short period of time to spare, its dark or the weather is crap.

Mine should read mid resistance sprint training.......intervals and pyramids above very effective

Depends on the instructor, beats the turbo, think carefully about who you want to sit behind for 45 mins......

And you will sweat buckets, no headwind to cool you down

Depends on the instructor,

And the rest of the class...

Bike at the back....

8)

And if they ask you to do "press-ups", hovering, bouncing up and down... go to a different class or ignore them. Don't do anything on a spin bike you wouldn't do on a real bike.

[url= http://www.bengreenfieldfitness.com/2009/06/a-spinning-indoor-cycling-instructor-gets-a-bit-hot-under-the-collar/ ]http://www.bengreenfieldfitness.com/2009/06/a-spinning-indoor-cycling-instructor-gets-a-bit-hot-under-the-collar/[/url]

Fair bit of stuff written by Jennifer Page about this.

I've been going to classes while I am bike less working abroad. Keeps the legs going and is often a pleasant enough place to spend an hour!

The instructors do make it along with their ability to set it all to music!

I've just started going, did my 2nd session last night.
1st session seemed to last forever and I thought I was going to die.
Last night I took my SPD shoes, clipped in, took my watch off and tried to switch off more. It worked, I sweated a lot but the intervals went faster and I had a better idea of how long things were going to last before I could sit up and spin out again. I also had enough water and a towel which made a big difference!
I'm doing it to keep my legs vaguely cycling fit as I'm not getting out much at the moment.
The plan is to get into a routine now to see me over the winter so I can buy a new bike in the spring and enjoy it...

Been spinning for years. Fast and efficient way to maintain bike fitness with minimal hassle. No travelling, cleaning, traffic. Pick a gear that offers meaningful resistance and stay on the beat through each track and you'll be sweating buckets in no time. A good instructor will mix spin / climb and standing / sitting tracks throughout the session to provide a balance between cardio work and fat burning.

Funky choons and laydeez in lycra are simply a bonus.

Only downside is it does zip all for trail skills.

"think carefully about who you want to sit behind for 45 mins"

LOL

Very tactfully put Sir

I went to a few classes, got a bit bored, never went back.

Went once.

Not my idea of cycling it's exercise for the sake of it.

And if they ask you to do "press-ups", hovering, bouncing up and down... go to a different class or ignore them. Don't do anything on a spin bike you wouldn't do on a real bike.

+1

The new poncey gym I've joined at £70 a month has 'trixter' bikes, with wobbly handlebars and freewheels.

My old gym had what looked like some sort of soviet era TT training bikes with fized gears and huge flywheels with smooth resistance changes, not the crappy webbing strap on a gear cable crap. Used to do three days a week Monday, Tuesday, Thursday with Tuesday being two back to back sessions, I think that would kill me these days!

"it's exercise for the sake of it."

Not always a bad thing

If the OPs sitting at pool side bored... he might as well do something useful

I did a few when I was recovering from a broken wrist. They're as hard as you want them to be, and kept the legs turning while I couldn't ride.

I wouldn't do them in preference to getting out for a ride, and I now have a turbo for that anyway.

Ladies in lycra was a bonus though.

The ones I have been to seem to be generic workouts and not specific to anything. My last session involved hill climbs, a variation of tabata and in and out of the saddle.

Can't beat being out on the bike or a structured turbo session in my opinion.

*Be careful as to who's behind you want to sit....behind!

I found them good fun, as said previously as hard as you want it to be.

Ladies in lycra was a bonus though.

Especially the blonde in my class. 😀

Word of warning, don't go too hard too fast too soon - 45 minutes at a higher than normal intensity hurts!!

Take water and a towel, and make sure you're fully hydrated.

I did it regularly for a few months before an unrelated injury forced me to stop.

If you go flat out on a decent resistance level you'll see your fitness improve greatly, but there are a lot of people there who just seem to potter along at a lazy pace. To get the most you need to feel that you're about to keel over and die at the end of the hour.

As said above, the instructor makes the group, there's 3 at my gym and we just make sure it's the decent one taking the session before we book.

take a towel.

some places hold race nights as a bit if competition

some places hold race nights as a bit if competition

I tried racing the guy next to me last time I went, didn't get very far.

take a towel

I used to go 3-4 times/week when it was harder for me to commute by bike.
Found it very useful for "power" type riding - out of saddle steep climbs, sprinting etc

As above, a lot depends on the instructor - you'll get more out of it if the instructor is shouty/badass/sadistic 😉

2 mornings a week for over a year i'd guess, really enjoy it... its always hard, there's always sexy young things bouncing around you, and no matter how long i'm off the real bikes for due to whatever reason... my fitness is maintained and often better than the riding buddies who've only been out on their mtb's in my absence.

i tried some evening groups and they were full of people not trying at hard.... there's something about loud music and being shouted at at 6:30 am that makes everyone try much harder!

Looking at this thread anyone able to give some advise.

I'm currently off the bike having had a ruptured tendon in thumb and recent surgery to fix it, for about 2-3 months so have started using exercise bike in gym (gym only has spinning classes whilst i'm at work)

I currently do an hours ride where i ride for 10 mins at about 85rpm and HR of 70%-75% to warm up, i then up resistance and do intervals taking HR upto 85-90% of max, then drop down resistance for a further 5 mins and pedal at 70-75% of HR max, then back to intervals for 5mins.

I repeat the intervals sections 3-4 times, then last 10mins gradually cool down.

This seems to aiding fitness quite a bit, but not really shifting weight, I am tying this to a fairly sensible diet as well.

I know that the old way of thinking was "long and slow" for weight loss, but thought that new thinking was intensive intervals to keep metabolism fired up for a long time after?

Any ideas on best sessions for weight loss (will keep doing the interval training for fitness also.

PS hello otherjonv

Dunno , but get a soft squash ball for re-hab on your thumb tendon .
I snapped mine skiing and its not as strong as it was .
Had it sutured back together in Austria

I went once - pushed too hard, got cramp in both legs at the same time and fell off the bike. Didn't go back.

I think they are brilliant but like any form of exercise, you only get out of it what you put in, and as others have said it depends on your instructor. After a half hour spin session i'm literally mopping up the sweat from off the bike and off the floor around the bike and according to my HRM, over a half hour no other form of exercise i've done burns anywhere near the calories. I regularly burn 500 - 600 calories during half an hour spin class. The best I can muster on a run over the same time is about 350 calories. It also helps improve your pedalling technique for when you're on the proper bike.

got cramp in both legs at the same time and fell off the bike

Scud;

hope the hand's healing up.

As above I've got a turbo now that I use as an add-on to riding (I'm thinking of hiring some ladies in lycra to inspire me too, because it's big-time dull)

I use a mix of these sessions. http://www.bikeradar.com/fitness/article/fitness-basics-turbo-training-24170/ - the Stairway one is HARD if done right.

Not sure I can help much on the weight loss side (guilty as charged also) but i figure a decent calorie controlled (not crash!) diet and lots of exercise, stationary or otherwise, is the key to that.

I found that I became much more powerful and faster overall. I'm not really a long distance rider, preceding to go for 1-2 hour blasts rather than slog around all day. But after a few months of spinning 3-4 times a week I managed to knock about 5 minutes off my 8 mile commute and could out sprint most of my friends on both the ups and the downs. Although I found that my actual technique in the classes was different to actual time on the bike.

Tried the spinning classes - Didn't really get on with it - Think it was mostly to do with the non free-wheel aspect & nearly ripping my ankles off when trying to stop.

Trixter - Thoroughly enjoy it ! ( as comment above - wobbly variable tensioned handlebars & freewheels).

Classes are 45 mins & if you're not sweating after 5 mins - You're not doing it right. ( After 45 mins, its quite common to have a small puddle on either side of you).

I just go to the Trixter classes to get barked at by the instructors - Keeps the motivation & effort level up.

As for bike fitness - Can't see it doing any harm.

Chris

Used to do it 5 or 6 years ago. Usually two sessions a week (one single session and one back to back session - ouch!).

It made riding home rather tricky sometimes....