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Spin-am i missing something?

serves a purpose when weather too horrid to go out and you don't have a turbo

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  • JessterJesster Posts: 482
    Think i'd prefer the rain....!
  • JessterJesster Posts: 482
    Is it me?



    I've been to spin a few times now, and, well....I just don't GET it.



    I've heard people raving about how great it is but i just get really very bored. does anyone else find this? Yes, i get hot and sweaty but I do much prefer getting hot and sweaty on my bike that actually MOVES and i GO somewhere. And my bike is free (and very pretty but not quite bike porn material) and plus i get a breeze and get to 'woooooo' my way down hills (and puff back up)



    People have suggested that i try different instructors, which i have, but they all might as well be replaced by a tape playing, they're that inspirational.



    Am I alone in this? (Wouldn't be the first time...!)
  • MGMG Posts: 470
    The thing with spin is............if you have a good instructor who motivates (not in an annoying way) its a superb hard interval session.



    You simply cannot go COMPLETLEY mental on the road, when I do spin I'm growling, dribbling, eyes shut, total commitment (its not a pretty sight!!). You cant do this on your road bike on the road, you'll die horribly under a car/van!!



    Spin provides a safe atmosphere where you can really push yourself........HOWEVER.........you can do all this on your turbo trainer. Use spinervals DVDs they are brilliant. And were a massive factor in getting my 40km bike split down from 72min to 62min!! try them...........

  • I have to agree with MG. The spinerval DVD's are superb. I have two and am definitely going to buy more. I actually enjoy being on my turbo indoors (get to watch sport at the same time). Hopefully the turbo sessions will have the same effect that MG has found and that my bike times will have dropped considerably. When my new bike arrives, I'm sure this will contribute to better times as well!!!!
  • I'm like MG, I like to go mental with spinning, I'm also not a pretty sight (or smell) during/after a session (thought I was the only one who grunted and accidently dribbbled with their eyes closed!!)



    I find it convienant, especially when the weather is bad and over Winter.. I have a favour instructor who really knows how to push me.. I've also convinced her to add a few "extra" tracks to the end of the normal session for a bit of a longer workout - much to the annoyance of my fellow spinners.



    I found it a really good session for the sprint I did last year and still useful for Olympic distance, now I'm going for a MD event my training has changed focus so I don't do as many classes as before.



    You are of course correct, as now the weather is better, getting out on your actual bike is more appealing and fun...



    I think it can have it's place in a trainnig schedule, but shouldn't be used as primary training method.



    my pennies worth..
  • Cheryl6162Cheryl6162 Posts: 356
    My son does the spinning sessions I go to and it is a wicked workout, especially as we get punished for whinging by having to turn it up another full turn! When there's just a few of us wannabe triathletes he makes us spin hard (if thats not a contradiction in terms!) for 10 mins, then we jump off the bike and run sprint intervals round the field outside for 10 mins, then 10 again on the bike, then 10 plyometrics (jumping onto and off high steps or boxes), back on the bike for 10 and so on..... Bloody hard work but really notice the difference in leg strength after, and the chopping and changing stoips it getting boring
  • PC_67PC_67 Posts: 196
    If I was to get only one Spinervals DVD which one should I get?



    I'm a 69-74 minute 40k'er (74 mins twice at Windsor which is just longer than 40k) and I've done 69 minutes over a course just short of 40k. Would love to think I could regularly do around 65 mins.



    Re-spinning: I like it for the hard intervals but the classes I go to have too much gimmicky "out of saddle" stuff. I try and stay seated and tell the instructor why beforehand.

  • JessterJesster Posts: 482
    Ey Cheryl, your class sounds great! plyometrics and running? Brilliant! I do really like to be pushed but all the ones ive tried are hands/knees/bommpsadaisy kind of stuff with a drone for an instructor.



    Am considering travelling the country in search of a really good spin class....



    It's good to know there are some good instructors out there....
  • MrSquishyMrSquishy Posts: 277
    For me it's down to the instructor, they either motivate me and make it a really hard interval session, or be completely uninspiring and I barely break in to a sweat and feel like leaving. The worst are where they make you do loads of hand/arm type stuff like Jesster mentions, or when they can't count in time to the music!



    Music's another good factor - a bit of the Foo or Pendulum helps.
  • pacman2102pacman2102 Posts: 247
    Spinning is as good as the instructor which I know sounds obvoius, the spinning I do is in the winter when the weather not to good. The real good thing about it is thta it a tri only spin section and run by a guy who do te ironman, so it down to pure biking and we dointerval training hills and sprint.



    While it is boring being inside, it's good for those cold dark wet nights when you canget out on the bike
  • BritspinBritspin Posts: 1,655
    Gotta agree..down to instructor. I teach at least 2x per week, I always give a reason for the workout, be it strength, speed, intervals a mix & a HR range/RPE range for those that are interested. What I don't do (& is contraindicated by many of the certificating bodies) is waving arms around, press ups on handle bars etc...its a bike workout, you want upper body we have a gym or body pump. I also do not get the 'casual' exerciser so much, I get the sweaty boys & girls. In return they get Doves, U2, Editors etc...no Girls Aloud allowed.
  • MowfMowf Posts: 272
    Look out for the Les Mills RPM classes. They're really good and feature no press-ups on handle bars. And no, I dont work for them.



    My biggest beef with spin classes is looking at chumps in there not trying. And then looking at me (sweating buckets and nearly in tears) as if I am unfit for finding it hard. But that's just me.



    I always feel a bit guilty legging it out when everyone else is still stretching so that i can jump on the treadmill and run like grandad for 10 - 15 mins after.
  • MGMG Posts: 470
    PC_67 wrote:


    If I was to get only one Spinervals DVD which one should I get?





    I have 3 spinervals which I rotate. Some have weird homo-erotic titles, but try and look past that........



    First up is "No Slackers", this is a 45 min session, with a good mix of ladders, sprint sets and a 10 minute (fairly hard) TT. I wind the resistance up for this one and its a good 45 min workout.



    Next is "Time Trial Special", this is just over an hour, and is a fairly tough set of ladders and drills, with some "super-spins" high cadence leg killers.



    And finally "Have Mercy", This is 2 hours and is very tough (if you have some moderate resistance set up on your turbo) and is a compilation of every tough set throughout the spinervals range.



    So if you were to own just one I would reccommend "Have Mercy" as you can scan do the whole DVD for a solid workout or your can pick and choose which sets you want to focus on.



    I dont really like the turbo as I've got a low boredom threshold, however these do seem to pass the time and are a good means-to-an-end.
  • JessterJesster Posts: 482
    Yeah, i was seeing a whole lot of torsos and arses waving about when pedalling madly and i thought to myself 'this cant be right?!'



    Good to know its best to keep good cycling form-upper body still, legs pumping, no?



    Its a jungle out there....
  • BopomofoBopomofo Posts: 980
    Britspin.. was thinking of doing a spin class at my local club, but spoke to a few of the 'regulars' who all enthused about the thigh burning properties of one of the exercises that they do, where they slide forwards and down and keep the point of the seat in the small of their backs????



    What a crock of shite!!! What the hell is that meant to achieve other than a knee injury?



    Incidentally, there's one bloke who does spinning more often than most people eat, and comes out cycling now and again on the long runs. That's the only time he cycles on the road and he's shite.



    I guess spinning is to road cycling what aerobics is to rugby. Largely irrelevant... unless your instructor has some experience as a road cyclist, of course?
  • BritspinBritspin Posts: 1,655
    As usual Mr Bop has the nail hit firmly on the head, if your class leader has little or no interest or knowledge of real world cycling then, yes you will get 120 rpm sprints with no resistance, despite every qualification I know telling you to add on resistance to sprint..rather as you would change up on a real bike, but the numbties see fast legs think, 'no resistance' & off come your kneecaps, the hover you so eloquently discribe is contraindicated by all courses but is frighteningly common. It all boils down to instructors thinking they are being creative, but with no regard to anatomy, physilogy or efficacy just an eye to 'entertaining' a class & keeping numbers high. My classes are percieved as being a little dull as I do not showboat, do not do anything that I could not justify & as before do nothing that I could not do on a real bike.

    Can you tell how much crap instructors p*** me off?

    If I had my way everyone taking the qual or even 1 class should learn a bit of 'road craft' so to speak, to inform them what it should be about.
  • Jack HughesJack Hughes Posts: 1,262
    I accompanied a friend to a spinning class once. I'm not sure what annoyed me most:



    - The inability of the instructor to understand any of the fundamental principles of cycling

    - The overheated room

    - The deafeningly loud music (just made me want to curl up in a ball and gibber, rather than motivate me to greater exertions)

    - The way the group slavishly followed the annoying bobbing, bouncing and arm waving of the instructor

    - The lack of any objectivity in the bikes - "Yeah, turn it up!" Well, what does that mean. Should it be impossibly hard, uncomfortably hard, or a little bit wearing. Like the class.



    The whole thing seemed to be an exercise in group think: "Ooh - look at us, we must be good, see how sweaty we are, lets go and eat a tub of ice cream". To which I think 1) You look like your not trying and don't know how to 2) A dog would sweat in a room with humidity of 99.9% and a temperature of 42 degrees. 3) The only weight you've lost is a bit of water, so eating an ice cream is just going to make you even fatter than you already are. Like most of these group exercises at the gym, just a way of kidding yourself.



    Jess: An hour of a spinning class is an hour of not training. It's socialising without the effort of actually having a conversation.
  • JessterJesster Posts: 482
    Haven't laughed out loud like that for a while.



    @Jack Hughes-if i could use the quote facility, i'd have that last bit right there...



    Thank you gentlemen, for your insight.



    Bow, and exit stage right. [;)]
  • BexHBexH Posts: 226
    He he, very amusing indeed and I can recognise your frustrations with the class! However I have 2 instructors; one is a bit more into the whole 'doing stuff in time' 'labelling you as numbers' : he makes us do sprints when your number is called out and then easy inbetween which is quite fun. I don't mind the music- Prodigy etc and seeing as I took a chunk out of his leg when he stepped into my bike accidentally leaving him with permanent scarring he seems to still be ok with me turning up ha ha. I think as with anything you just turn resistance up to your level; if it's not hard enough then I turn it up.



    The other instructor is a girl (who was going to train for tri with me but wimped out because of the swim!) and her classes are not so fun but based around endurance and intervals. I enjoy both classes equally I guess and neither instructor falls into the perma-tan crew. Although Dan is nicer to look at admittedly...



    I have never had anyone complain about my bike set-up although I definitely look different to the other people in the class. I think in general spinning is good fun and I'd rather do that than cycle about in the dark by myself!!





  • MowfMowf Posts: 272
    You get some great characters in there though. See if you can spot any of these:



    - Fake try-hards. They 'pretend' to be really pushing it and look around like they are some sort of super fit spinning machine. Look to see if they ever actually turn the gear up.

    - The Pros. These are the ones who view spinning as some sort of sport. Like it has a bloody NGB and an anitdoping policy. They have proper cycling shoes that are so pristene that they have clearly never been on the road.

    - The 'regular'. Same bike, same place, every week. Only misses spinning for weddings and funerals.

    - The shouter - actually takes the instructor's request to 'holler back' as an order. And annoyingly responds to the instructor's question of 'are we tired' with a big 'NO!'. Try harder then. These often double up as fake try hards.



  • BritspinBritspin Posts: 1,655
    Gelwearin'thongsportin's***emusicplayingcallotmakin'noncyclingpermatannin'....spinning.







    yup thats me...........& I do massage too, but don't tell Lady B.
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