Feet falling asleep during spin class

[trista]

My last two spin classes, the bottoms of my feet have been going numb, starting at the cleat spot and spreading to the toes (I wear SPDs when i spin). It starts right away - within 15 minutes or so, and very uncomfortable for an hour-long class.

I've been spinning in these same shoes since April/May and this has never happened before during spin class. It's really frustrating! Any advice?

[Miranda]

If your feet are going numb sounds like a pressure-circulation issue in my best guess.

1) do your shoes fit? not too small or tight? too pointed at toes that your toes (or anything else) is smashed tightly?

2) loosen the shoes method of fastening up as much as you can get it EXCEPT for the most upper part that secures it on your foot around your ankle

3) PULL UP!!! (& kick back with your heel) this cue comes out of my mouth many times in teaching class, and to myself when riding... it's easy to forget about all phases of the pedal stroke and do nothing but mash downward... this helps relieve the pressure in one spot on your foot... I cue to picture a piece of paper sliding under the ball of your foot as you pedal

4) wiggle your toes in your shoes as you pedal... help move the blood circulation to prevent numbness.

5) thin socks... or for me no socks... helps give my feet more breathing room to not get smashed & numb... I wear my Keen cycling sandels sockless to ride spin. http://www.teamestrogen.com/prodKE_5264.html

6) always drinking enough water before, during, and after class helps alot whoas.

7) how tight were your shoes you wore before you arrived to spin class from work? sometimes pain is cummulative effect.

8) try less resistance... and pull up to get more power & intensity with less foot pressure

Good Luck

[trista]

Thanks Miranda! I will try loosening my shoes. I wonder if I've started tightening them too much, as I haven't had this problem with these shoes in spin class before. Reminding myself to pull up is great advice too. The instructors there have us do a lot of standing, and I'm not coordinated enough to pull up while standing, lol.

7) how tight were your shoes you wore before you arrived to spin class from work? sometimes pain is cummulative effect.

I go to spin class first thing in the morning, straight outta bed

[tulip]

If they are having you do "jumps" and it is not comfortable for any reason, just don't do them. I detest jumps and just stay seated. I do like longer climbs out of the saddle, but the jumps are not very useful in my opinion.

Also check your seat height. That could affect your circulation to your feet if it's too high, or if the saddle hits you wrong. Do you bounce when you spin very fast? If so, increase the resistance and slow down until you stop bouncing. Bouncing can cause problems, too, and I imagine it could affect the feet.

If you find relief, let us know what you did. I'm sure other people have the same problem.

[trista]

Thanks Tulip, I will. I *think* my saddle height is ok, but I will play around with that if loosening my shoes and remembering to pull up doesn't help. I don't bounce - I always increase resistance when doing sprints because, well, bouncing is incredibly unattractive, LOL.

Some of the instructors do a lot of those jumps. Good advice to skip them, i will do that more often. I hate them.

[Catrin]

Could your shoes be a little soft for cycling shoes and allowing your feet to collapse a little around the cleats? I had this happen the one time that I tried spinning in my Keen Commuters with cleats and got different types of foot-related problems in that class. I do not especially remember any numbing, but there may have been, there was a lot going on that session.

The Keen Commuters no longer have cleats and are my platform riding shoes once again...