Spinning

[jon avery]

I've been invited to a spinning class held in the gym at work, first lesson free and all that. I said i'd give it a go, but have a feeling it is going to be like a turbo trainer session only with more people. Anybody else tried or still do spinning classes and do you get anything out of it?

[Joanna]

Ive done a few over the winter months in the past. As with all Gym bases classes it will depend on the teachers background and skill. some are great, and work well to supplement riding time, but others!! we have been asked to do pushups on the handle bars while spinning at above 90 rpm and spin at max speed backwards, not skills ive needed out on the road.

Still I have found the teachers that have a cycling background good.

Oh and at our Gym the bikes have SPD pedals so you wont be able to clip in in "real" road shoes.

have fun

[tel]

I`ve also done a fair bit. I think it all depends on the instructor. The guy who took us was an ex-Olympian trackie so he knew his stuff. Some of the other instructors seem to just want to knacker you.
Give it a go and see how it goes. It can`t do yo any harm, and will give you another string to your training bow, so to speak.

Best of luck

Terry

[Graham O]

I did this when I first started to get myself fit again. Watch out for the press ups on the handlebars..

Only advice I would give is....

The twiddley knob is key. Some in the group will twiddle and some will not.

[Elliot M]

yeah, i've found it's very easy to blow up if you take all the instructor's shouts to add an extra turn on the twiddly knob literally - best to use an HRM so you know when you are approaching your limit

[Robert]

Give it a go, it gets you comfortable with spinning on the road, On most club runs I am able to spin a lot lower gear (ie small chain ring) and set a pretty high tempo with others around me pushing the big ring. Spinning on the road can keep the legs feeling quite fresh when you have finished, rather than totally knackered and hardly able to stand. It certainly works me for endurance wise. In fact some gyms let you change pedals over with your own provided you do it yourself and their pedals back on when you are finished