If you feel uneasy about taking to the roads on dark nights to put the miles in, why not train indoors? Nicola Smith shows how you can win with spin.
What is Spinning?
When American cyclist Johnny Goldberg was knocked off his bike one night while training for the 3,000 mile Race Across America, he decided to recreate the training conditions indoors. Goldberg developed a training programme he called Spinning, designed an indoor bike based on his road bike and took it to gyms around the world.
While Spinning is Goldberg’s trademark — only accurately used for classes run by instructors who have attended the official Johnny G Spinning instructor training — indoor cycling classes have taken off in gyms across the world and it can offer a great winter alternative to road training.
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Classes take place on a fixed wheel bike, the pedals tied to a weighted wheel, and you have a lever to alter resistance. Typically, about eight cyclists line up in a semi-circle around the instructor who will take the class through a routine. While routines and instructors vary hugely, music tends to play a big part in any session to set the pace and speed, and create the right atmosphere to motivate people.
A class can accommodate a variety of fitness levels because you work as hard as you want to. “You can have an Olympic athlete in the same class as a beginner and if the instructor is good they should all be able to work at a perfect level because they are in charge of leg strength and speed,” says indoor cycling trainer Debbie Kneale.
Replicating outdoor cycling
Because indoor cycling was developed to replicate outdoor cycling, it uses the same muscles — namely the quads, glutes and hamstrings to apply downward pressure, and the hamstrings and calf to flex the knee at the bottom of the pedal stroke, to pull the foot back. Hip flexors are also used to help raise the leg so the opposite leg can push down on the pedal. At the top, the quads are used to extend the knee and push the foot forward.
Types of spin classes
Spinning sessions
1. Pre-choreographed
2. Rhythm-based
3. Heart rate based
4. Visualisation
Top spinning tips
- Try several different classes and bikes where possible to find which suits you best
- The instructor should explain about the fixed gear and how to set up the bike. You may wish to adjust this closer to your usual riding position. In indoor cycling there is no wind resistance so you tend to ride with higher bars and also encourage greater knee extension at the bottom of the pedal stroke than you may be used to
- Wear your cycling shorts, always take water to class and drink at least 1 litre per 45-minute session
- Work on a smooth pedal stroke, use resistance that really feels like the road outside, whether it’s a flat road or a climb, and pedal at your preferred outdoor cadence (it’s OK to do cadence drills to try to train the neuromuscular abilities of the legs, but remember that indoors it’s so much easier to pedal faster than outdoors)
- Train with a heart rate monitor (HRM) to ensure you have an effective workout tailored to meet your own goals
The moves
- Seated flat, which is good for endurance building
- Standing climb, which challenges balance and core stability (and therefore trains these) as well as working more towards strength
- Jumping, moving smoothly from seated to standing and back again. This can be done on a hill or flat and challenges coordination, balance and core stability while cycling
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