Hot Spin Classes and Spillover Effects

Hi all

The local spin place I've been going to has been conducting "hot spin" classes where the temperature in a small room with over 20 bikes is elevated to 40C/100F for the 60 minute class. The classes have been going on for most of last year and this year and are fairly popular, but not as popular as the room temp spin classes. I don't go because it is not a safe thing to do and will not help my training for riding outside but there are others that do go quite regularly. They tend to not ride bikes.

What's been happening though is that the regular hot spin attendees show up for the room temp classes and insist that the fans nearby them be either turned off or set to not rotate so they don't have any air blowing near them. One of them has justified it by saying that he'll "catch pneumonia" if the air is blowing on him, even from behind. Although I do say it is a room temp spin class, it easily rises to the high 70s (25C) with 20 people peddling hard in a small room. Throw in the humidity from people sweating and it's by default a warm spin. I think not having any air moving around in that environment is not a good thing either. There are lots of fans available but several people, all of them who are regular hot spin class attendees, insist on having them turned off and making life miserable for the majority of the class.

Is there a somewhat diplomatic way of telling these hot spin folks that the fans should be kept on during a regular class? The hot spin folks are convinced that working out in extreme heat is helpful, will detoxify them, burn more calories and other complete garbage. None of them have lost any weight (one has actually gained) and they tend to pedal at really high RPMs with little resistance. The majority of the regular spin group would like to be have a great workout without being miserable. One of the hot spinners is quite pushy and will reach across your face to turn the fan off, even when firmly asked "What are you doing?" as a polite reminder that the kind of behaviour he's doing is RUDE. He'll shut the fan off and then I'll get a tap on my shoulder from someone about 20 minutes in asking for the fan to be turned back on, which I promptly do. I've taken to polling the people around me and at least one if them will like the fan on and so I keep it on but I wondered what other strategies I can use to try to keep the hot spinners at bay.

This sounds like something the instructor needs to deal with...have you spoken with that person?

Either the instructor or the gym management -- if it's a regular temp spin class, then they need to make that clear to everyone.

I'd speak with the instructor first and gym management second.

But the issue of fans vs. no fans in our regular temperature aerobics studio wound up fracturing the class, with at least one longtime member quitting the gym.... My personal solution was to become an instructor so that all the fans stiffening up people's muscles could blow onto the people in the center and back of the room, and not me. :cool:

We often had this same debate at the Y. With or without "hot" spin classes, there will always be people who prefer a fan and those that don't. I fell into the former group, but I have some heat intolerance issues and I understand why somebody wouldn't want a fan blowing on them during a workout. At one of the branches I frequented, the room was big enough that we could have temperature zones. One side of the class had a fan; the other didn't. At another branch, you just had to be really strategic with where you set up a fan and where you set up your bike. In any event, I would talk to the instructor and/or gym managment to see if a compromise can be fashioned. It shouldn't be something that members are fighting about amongst themselves.

That kinda sounds like crap to me. If its a normal temp spin class then you should at least have the option to turn on the stupid fan! I'd poke that guy in the eye ;)

This is why I quit going to a gym for 4 years...
The one I go to now is so low key and none of the people (or maybe a couple) seem to care about any of this stuff. The people who go to spin are mostly not cyclists at all, which astounded me, in that they aren't even "spin" people. It's a rag tag group that is much more fun than the the ones at the snooty gym I used to go to. I haven't been to spin in about 4 weeks, since it's perfectly fine for riding outside, but I am sure nothing will change.
They'll all be spinning with no resistance on their bike, no water, wearing cotton T shirts.
Don't I sound like a bike snob? It's all so silly that people get angry over this stuff. The gym management should set the rules.
And another reason why I don't teach at gyms anymore.

Thanks for all of your advice, everyone!

I think the instructor took the incident to heart. It seems every time I show up now, most of the fans that the students can control are on full blast before the class starts!

I bring a light jacket to wear for a few minutes until I warm up. :)