new to spinning

[Irulan]

eww, that sounds terrible. The classes I go to are pretty straight forward ( 24hour fitness) We don't use the bikes for anythign other than the ride, or to put a leg up on the frame post ride to stretch. WE used to do calf stretches standing on the pedals but the maintenance people made us quit.

Irulan

[annie]

Okay, I ask you, can someone tell me WHY you use a spinner for squatting? Wouldn't it make sense to stand on the floor?!

LOL! That IS the question......... I have no idea. Wouldn't it make sense to NOT do squats in Spinning at all? Just ride and do other exercises elsewhere?

As for the "stand and grind" routine, if the instructor is following Spin guidlines, cadence for a hill is supposed to be between 60-80 rpm, no slower. That's not quite a grind but is a cadence that can be used while climbing actual hills outside and should be safe on knees.

Flat riding should be done at 80-110 rpm, again according to Johnny G. Any faster and the flywheel on the bike is doing too much of the work. So sometime when you are in spin class, check your cadence and see how you're doing. I try to have a cadence check at least twice per class, especially if there are new riders in the class, too help everyone get a feel as to where they're at.

Sprinting.......... We have one instructor who simply encourages riders "faster, faster!" when we sprint. His legs are a blur on the bike, but his resistance is so low that there is not much work involved. Before beginning a sprint, resistance needs to be added, more speed isn't always necessary, just intense, maximum effort for the length of the sprint (never longer than 30 seconds.) It's much more challenging this way than simply whipping legs around at 150+ rpm as the wheels zips along. (My pet peeve in spin, so please excuse the ramble here.)

Jumping......... it's interesting to read all the different opinions on that. I have to agree that it doesn't seem to have much to do with riding. Some people like it, some don't. I try to use it sparingly, once, rarely twice, per class, and sometimes not at all.

Running.......... I actually like this even tho' I certainly don't do it often when I am outdoors. If you concentrate on keeping your weight over the pedals, NOT on your hands and arms, keeping a relatively still upper body, I think it is a good workout for your quads and also gives you a sense of floating on the pedals (think of Lance climbing Mount Ventoux) if you can keep an even pressure on those pedals for the entire stroke. It forces you to really concentrate on form. ::::::shrugging:::::::: Each to their own.

I say, try to enjoy the classes. At least you are with other people. If you just don't like what the class is doing, be smart and do your own thing! It's your ride! You are probably paying to be there, make it work for you.

[VenusdeVelo]

I like your stuff Annie, agree 100% -- it's how I teach my classes. I try to show my students the difference between "stand and grind" and 60-80rpm by demonstrating -- stand and grind to me is like you are taking choppy strokes, shooting 1 foot downward then the other. When we go into a hard climb, I try to get them to think about still maintaining those nice smooth pedal circles.

Funny, the spinner "allows" you to stand and grind without immediate consequence -- meaning it does not feel really bad when you do it. If I tried to stand and grind on my road bike on the trainer, my pedals would make this awful clunk sound!

LOL -- I too hate the wildman spin!! I have seen a few like that but I probably have more problems getting certain students to understand resistance on hills. 90% of us are slowing our rpm as we increase resistance and they are still sprinting up the hill....I find people innately HATE to slow their rpm down -- speeding it up makes them look fitter.

Somthing interesting I learned I use in class -- esp when I detect students placing all their weight on the bars. I tell the class to press all your weight on the bars like you are pushing down on a scale. Then I say "Now, keeping your hands where they are, ease all that weight off...this is the lightness you should feel on the bars". No deathgrips!

So much fun teaching people -- it's great when they just start to get it -- I am taking my class through heart rate monitoring right now, and more and more, people are wearing HRMs in class, asking alot of questions -- this makes up for all of the other silly stuff....

[Dogmama]

About pushing down on the bars...

I had a teacher say to envision your arms are like spaghetti - loose & fluid. Worked for me. I do better with visualization on the spinner than with stark commands.

[spokes]

this thread has been immensely helpful.
this is a sidetrack and slight hijack (from spinning class to home spinning):
i realized that with winter (and snow and cold, and wimpiness ) i am letting myself get all soft. come spring i'll huff and puff after ten minutes on the road-- if i don't get my butt in gear (so to speak )
so... i finally started using the indoor trainer that i bought in october. my biggest complaint? boooooriiiing!! i started doing 15 min at a time and couldn't wait to get off the bike. so, i've learned to bike while watching something good on tv (if it's old or crap, i'll die of boredom!) a friend of mine had the same experience-- she started using the 'chicago' soundtrack as motivational music. i'm not really a chicago fan, but i think the buffy the vampire slayer 'once more with feeling' soundtrack will do the trick! (shhh! don't tell anyone i'm a loser )
anyway, the tips about sprinting, spagetti arms (anyone else remember that from 'dirty dancing'?) 'jumps', etc are very enlightening. hopefully i can vary my spinning a bit, and keep boredom at bay. any anti-boredom tips would be appreciated-- as usual, you've all been very helpful. thanks!

[Veronica]

Hey another Buffy fan!

I'm a big fan of the Spinervals tapes. I like my indoor workouts to have a focus and the videos really help with that. AND I don't feel like I lose any ground over the winter between the tapes, a few spin classes a week and whatever rides I can get in when Mother Nature cooperates.

Veronica