Spinning = better MTB riding?

[allison]

Originally Posted by Jman

I don't have the smoothest pedal stroke in the world and while my postioning on the bike isn't bad I noticed that when I make sure to have at least two sessions in my garage gym set-up things just work better. I don't worry to much about the quads (my riding and running take care of those) but I do concentrate on all of the other muscles in the legs, especially the hamstrings.

Yeah, I've got a free gym at work, but no spin classes. I could sit on a stationary bike, but that isn't any fun.

For awhile early last year we were exercising 6 days a week. My legs were *always* sore.

I've been doing legs in the gym again, but have gone way down in weight. I do leg press, hamstring curls, and seated calf raises. My legs are sore today, but will be fine by this weekend! I also tend to notice more weight loss when I do legs once a week at the gym. Or, rather.. weight maintenance.

[Marshall Willanholly]

Originally Posted by sdyeti

It's easy to cheat by adding less resistance than the instructor has in mind, but if you push it, you will walk away feeling like you got a good workout.

I use a heart rate monitor to keep myself from slacking off or not adding enough resistance.

It has helped my cardio for sure, and it beats sitting on the freeway. I don't get many opportunities to ride during the week thanks to my long commute, so the chance to pedal anything, even if I'm not moving, is welcome.

It's hard to find a good instructor. Some just play a bunch of hip-hop and want you to pedal really fast. I've been fortunate to find some who have some knowledge of cycling and training, so the classes have more of a structure and purpose. My favorite was a guy who used to be on the Hungarian cycling team. Those were some tough classes!

I even visualize myself sprinting along "the wall" at Fontana when we do intervals.

[Edog]

SDyeti has some great points, I do spin twice a week, I have 24 hour fitness outside my office so I hit it up at lunch. I have found my form has improved, more for my road riding. I like the mirrors too, really gives you an idea about how you are postioned. Compared to actual riding I've found that I burn 1200 Calories on average in an hour long class. I did some hour loops at Aliso at a similar intensity to compare & found them to pretty much the same, the class did burn a few more calories (about 150). I agree with Alison about rusting skills if you don't use them, but I think spin is an excellent way to augment your training routine. Work on intervals etc. It's sometimes hard to keep your heart rate in a constant zone on the mountain bike. In the summer I do the same routine as the class on my road bike insted.
If you are worried about burning musle insted of fat use a heart rate moniter to target zones, fuel up before & after the ride, keep hydrayted.
All 24 hours have a class at 5.30am Mon thru Fri for day hards.
I sooner be riding my bike but hey one wheel is better than none right!

[sdyeti]

Our friend is a personal trainer. She explained the "work out more, stop losing weight" phenomenon is attributed to your body being in a heightened state of "stress" when you don't take enough rest days. Essentially, under stress, how does the body react? By producing more of a hormone that causes one to retain weight.

Also, muscles do swell.

Originally Posted by allison

I also tend to notice more weight loss when I do legs once a week at the gym. Or, rather.. weight maintenance.

I agree with the HRM thing. I hate wearing the strap though. I found that after a while, I could gauge pretty well if I was within the cardio zone or not.

The instructor is so key to a good workout. All SD peeps...there is a great class Monday nights at 5:00 at the 24hr Fitness in PB.

Originally Posted by Marshall Willanholly

I use a heart rate monitor to keep myself from slacking off or not adding enough resistance.

It has helped my cardio for sure, and it beats sitting on the freeway. I don't get many opportunities to ride during the week thanks to my long commute, so the chance to pedal anything, even if I'm not moving, is welcome.

It's hard to find a good instructor. Some just play a bunch of hip-hop and want you to pedal really fast. I've been fortunate to find some who have some knowledge of cycling and training, so the classes have more of a structure and purpose. My favorite was a guy who used to be on the Hungarian cycling team. Those were some tough classes!

I even visualize myself sprinting along "the wall" at Fontana when we do intervals.

[Wrecker]

I think you get what you put into spin. If you slack off and don't "bump up" to the proper resistance/rpm/etc, then you don't get as much out of it. Still, I get bored as hell on a stationary bike unless I have to be on it.

Anyone in the Irvine area, Sand Canyon Cyclery has a Spin Class set up and will even fit you to the spin bike. I haven't done the classes there, but they are supposed to set up the bikes to a power meter at some point.

Plus, it's all geared towards real cyclists. I remember the first/only spin class I went to, asked someone if the pedals had SPDs on them; she gave me the funniest look. I pointed to my cleats and she was still blank-faced. Great work-out though (luckily, she wasn't the instructor)

[guero]

Originally Posted by northshore

Funny...I'm going to my first one tonight. Should be interesting.

bring a camera, take pix, then post a SCR (spin class report).

[Jman]

I've never lost more weight than when I'm working with the weights on a morw regular basis. About 5 years ago I was up over 250 lbs and off the bike nearly completely. I got into Aikido (Japanese martial art) and from there i started looking at life as one big session of training. That led me to the weights and back to the mtn bike. Since then I've been doing pretty good. I've gotten down to 190 at one point but that was just way to hard to maintain with a young family so I'm hovering around 205 now-a-days and I'm fairly happy with that. I'll never be the skinny 170 lb XC rider that I want to be. Long live the Clydesdale class!

[SheDevil]

Buy a road bike...enjoy the scenery people. JEEZE A LOO!!!! (snicker)

[northshore]

Update: I took the spin class after work and it kicked my azz to a degree. Yes, you lose the technical work during real MTB but I can see the added benefits of the cardio and building strength for climbs.

[OCwombat]

I've taken spin classes for the past 4 years, it helped improve my cardio abilities on hill climbs like Mathis. You can train yourself to withstand higher heart rates for longer periods of time. Not all spin instructors are equal, some will really work you with intervals and out of the saddle climbs and some are total duds. If you don't walk out of class totally drenched you didn't work hard enough. If you take these classes don't cheat yourself with low resistance. Wear a heart rate monitor to gauge your efforts and calorie burn. How you train is how you ride, so crank up the resistance!

[tazmanrod]

i found spin class great for cardio and leg strength.find one with good mix of instructor types,ask around.you still need to ride outside for skills though

[OffRoadie]

Originally Posted by sdyeti

Also, it sounds corny, but being in front of a mirror makes me pay attention to my form.

Ever try rollers? I like rollers.

[PacMan]

Originally Posted by sdyeti

Also, it sounds corny, but being in front of a mirror makes me pay attention to my form.

Spinning in front of a mirror just makes me pay attention to what a sexy bitch I am. No wait, it's how fat I am. Nevermind.

[nappyt]

I did spin class for a couple months. I really should go back. I noticed a major increase to my cardio. That only translated to a lower heart rate on the climbs. Didn't make me any faster or better on my mtn bike. I was still slow but my heart rate stayed under 180. Before the spin class on a good climb I was hitting ~230 which my doc said was bad to do for long periods of time. With my BMI in the 30's I wasn't surprised.

[guero]

Originally Posted by northshore

Update: I took the spin class after work and it kick my azz to a degree. Yes, you lose the technical work during real MTB but I can see the added benefits of the cardio and building strength for climbs.

dude, where are the pix?!?!?!!

[northshore]

Originally Posted by guero

dude, where are the pix?!?!?!!

I would be banned from the site if I posted them.

[thephat]

It all depends on the resistance that you run. If you are used to pushing hard gears, you can get worked. I went to a spin class once. It started with the instructor asking us to turn up the resistance till we could not turn the pedals anymore. This is how you determin what 100% of your effort is. This way, you can run at varying levels of effort based off this max effort number.

The class was one hour, and by the end, I was destroyed. I was drenched in sweat, and could barely walk. This was back when I thought I could pedal hard too.

Insomuch as this conversation is about spinning vs pushing tall gears, I think that different folks will perform better at different rpms. Some engines work better at higher RPMs etc. I also feel that it is best to master both techniques.

When you spin, your cardio improves. When you push taller gears, you get more of a strength workout.

[spookydave]

ok, I've never done this either but plan on going tonight.

question, what type of shorts are you all wearing? Oh, I take it my normal shoes I wear with my flats will be fine too??

[sdyeti]

I see folks in spandex and in regular gym shorts (the thought of the chafing scares me). I usually wear tight capri pants, but I am a girl

Originally Posted by spookydave

ok, I've never done this either but plan on going tonight.

question, what type of shorts are you all wearing? Oh, I take it my normal shoes I wear with my flats will be fine too??