Different Spin Exercises

[violette]

I've been going to Spin Class for last 4 year. Always the same thing...1 min. Standing climb, 3 min.seated spin, 5 min standing spin... It gets boring after a while. Does anyone have any other bike techniques, other than these 3 boring spins?

[Zen]

do you always go to the same class with the same instructor?

good music is a big motivator for me and I often do what I want if I feel I need more of a challenge or a rest.

[Miranda]

Well, it sounds like it is just the instructor. Do they have a suggestion box, or supervisor you could comment to about the lack of variety? Schedules can be a bear sometimes, but is there some way you could try a diff teacher or facility, even if as a guest in spin class? I was an indoor spinner first, and then road cyclists. I recently took the Spinning Mad Dogg instructor's course, and I must say, my brain feels like it is going to explode at all the possibilities of the different profiles I could design to teach. Ok, it is a ton of work to set up and perfect a ride, but once you have gone thru the pain of designing the lesson plan, and save it as worked, then you have it forever. Sounds like things are just in a rutt, no reason at all to be bored inside. People are downright mean at my gym, they will boycot a teacher, and if the class does not have consistent attendance of a certain number in a period of time, the take it off the schedule. Buh bye. Not that the situation has to be mean spirited like the crazies at my gym, but maybe the teach just needs a refresher to help mix it up?

[Miranda]

Well, it sounds like it is just the instructor. Do they have a suggestion box, or supervisor you could comment to about the lack of variety? Schedules can be a bear sometimes, but is there some way you could try a diff teacher or facility, even if as a guest in spin class? I was an indoor spinner first, and then road cyclists. I recently took the Spinning Mad Dogg instructor's course, and I must say, my brain feels like it is going to explode at all the possibilities of the different profiles I could design to teach. Ok, it is a ton of work to set up and perfect a ride, but once you have gone thru the pain of designing the lesson plan, and save it as worked, then you have it forever. Sounds like things are just in a rutt, no reason at all to be bored inside. People are downright mean at my gym, they will boycot a teacher, and if the class does not have consistent attendance of a certain number in a period of time, they take it off the schedule. Buh bye. Not that the situation has to be mean spirited like the crazies at my gym, but maybe the teach just needs a refresher to help mix it up?

[violette]

MIRANDA, could you give me examples of exercises you learned in your spinning course?

[Zeek]

Violette,
There are many ways to make a profile interesting. The cadence and resistance are two factors that an instructor can use to make the ride more realistic and add variety. The basic drills done on a spinning bike are as follows:

Seated Flat
Standing Flat
Seated Climb
Standing Climb
Running with Resistance

Then, there is the combination of a Seated Flat and a Standing Flat, which are known as "Jumps." Jumps are done at a cadence of 80-110 RPMs. Next, there is also the combination of a Seated Climb and a Standing Climb, which are known as "Jumps on a Hill." These jumps are done with a heavier resistance which causes the cadence to slow between 60-80 RPMs.

You can vary the time, speed, resistance and positions. The combinations are endless. Have you considered becoming a certified instructor yourself? You've been spinning for 4 years and are bored with the current instructor(s) you are experiencing. Perhaps it's time to put yourself out there and show them how it's done. ;)

[Miranda]

Great post Zeek! So true, so many ways to mix it up.

Violette, Zeek hit upon all the main positions on the bike for endless combos in profiles. Sprints is another technique. You can also do a special profile dedicated to one kind of ride or goal. Sounds like your teacher does mainly what is called "interval".

Some spin energy zones are called: interval, endurance, recovery, resistance, race day (would have to dig my manual out if I missed any:rolleyes: :o ).

An endurance ride for example would focus on keeping your heart rate in the low end of the aerobic zone, or fat burning zone.

When I first became a spinner, and a teacher would annouce this type of ride, I would groan with some of the others at what a bore. One teacher would just have us get our cadence and resistence to a point where our heat rate would be in this zone, then just sit there in the saddle that way for the whole hour. I thought I might scream any minute...could stayed home and did that one in my cycleops--ugh.

Now that I have been thru the teacher's course, I have a whole other appreciation for this. It does NOT have to be taught boring. Recently, a diff teacher used all diff bike positions Zeek talked about during this one ride, and varying resistence and cadence, in a ladder pyramid style, all still with the heart rate being maintained consistent.

Now, mentally that is a real challenge in my opinion, and also really works some finer skills of breathing etc. when you get to the end and are getting tired, particularly on the climbs...still staying lower heart rate. It is aerobic base building.

We have computers on our spin bikes that show cadence, miles, time, picks up heart rate monitors in bpms, and I usually have my Polar set to % for heart rate, so I can get a read both ways. Keeping control throughout, is tougher than you'd think.

A couple other things she suggested was using an outdoor local race profile, or a stage of the Tour De France, and mimiac that into a spin profile. Pretty cool for outdoor cyclists that are spinners too.

Just a class interactive exercise was an example using jumps. Like telling the class you were gonna do a 100 jumps. However... each rider in the class was going to take a turn teaching 5 of the jumps and go down the line of bikes. One person might do single jumps, one per second.... the next might do one jump 10 seconds up, and 10 seconds down etc.

A fun thing with music was suggested that you could do a spinners listener appreciation ride... people sign up on a sheet of a song or artist that they would like to hear, and you create class around that for something fun and different.

Just the surface of what I learned... my brain still hurts!

[Zeek]

Great job Miranda--you hit on some terrific points. One last energy zone, though, in addition to the spinning energy zones you named above: The Strength Energy Zone or SEZ.

Strength sessions are well-liked by my participants. The cadence parameters for a Strength training session is 60-80 RPMs (except for warmup and cool down of course). After warmup, your goal is to keep the HR in the range of 75-85% of your max. HR (that's high end aerobic--75-80%--to A.T. (Anerobic Threshold) or 85% of max. HR. These classes are particularly challenging because although you are climbing the entire time, you must coach your riders to gentle the HR back down to 75% while keeping enough resistance on the bike to keep their quads engaged (so in essence, you are recovering on a hill.)

[violette]

I love this thread...great ideas to get me motivated. Don't get me wrong, when the class is finished, everyone is soaked. But we have to put more work and resistance on the bikes. It seems everytime, it's the same thing. Seated climb, standing climb, piston jog... but we do get a good workout.