With spinning to more endurance

When the first bicycles with front-wheel pedal drive appeared in France in 1861 – Vélocipèds, also known as “boneshakers” because they did not have pneumatic tires – people had no idea what a boom in spinning (also: indoor cycling) would be in the world around 150 years later gyms around the globe would experience. Bicycle ergometers have become indispensable in fitness studios because they enable joint-gentle endurance training on the bike at any time of the day or year. You can safely forget about heavy traffic and bad weather conditions when you sign up for a spinning course. You can find out what’s behind the sport here.

What is spinning?

Spinning means nothing other than indoor cycling or cycling indoors, but it is a protected term of the American professional cyclist Jonathan Goldblum, who “invented” the stationary bicycle.

The indoor bikes at the studios have a large flywheel that weighs at least 15 kilos, with an infinitely variable brake to adjust the resistance. The beat, i.e. the cadence, is set by the music or the trainer. A rotary knob can be used to set whether you want to go for a leisurely ride or an uphill and downhill ride, during which you have to get out of the saddle for a short time to keep up.

Speaking of saddles, they could be more comfortable. Inexperienced people get pains in the buttocks because a training session lasts a whole hour. There is no idle time; permanent cycling is the order of the day.

In a 60-minute spinning session, men burned an average of 643 kcal (kilocalories) and women 500 kcal.

 

Spinning is accessible on the joints.

Cycling, whether indoors or outdoors, has many positive effects because it:

• promotes endurance
• protects the cardiovascular system
• can be easily integrated into everyday life

Since the bike carries the body weight, the spine and joints are protected, which is particularly important for overweight people and people with musculoskeletal disorders.

Proper endurance training

Doctors recommend low gears with a high pedalling frequency to avoid overloading when cycling. It’s the same outside as in the studio:

• After a five- to ten-minute warm-up phase of slow cycling, you start briskly and steadily.
• In the primary phase, the pace and resistance vary. The individual stress blocks are usually based on the length of music titles and last four to five minutes, followed by a two-minute recovery and drinking phase.
• A training session ends with a warm-up phase at a reduced pace.
• Relaxation and stretching exercises in between are important.

 

The correct heart rate when spinning

In any case, you should work with a heart rate monitor when spinning. The standard formula for an optimal training heart rate in cycling is Maximum heart rate: 220 (men) or 230 (women) minus age.

This formula is just a rough guide. A good endurance training condition is usually reflected in a lower resting heart rate.

While the heart of untrained people beats between 70 and 80 times per minute, values ​​below 60 are the rule for trained hobby athletes. This means the blood pressure is regulated because the heart pumps the same amount of blood with fewer beats, and the pauses between the individual beats become longer. In addition, there are better blood flow properties and thus lower cholesterol and blood lipid levels.

Since it is best to train between 60-85% of your maximum heart rate, using a heart rate monitor is essential. Cadences that are too low (under 60) or too high (over 120) (rpm = revolutions per minute) should be avoided to prevent knee problems. Most of the time, you drive between 80 and 120 rpm, which also depends on the driving technique that has been chosen.

Spinning: customize training

For beginners, the focus is on moderate cardiovascular training with light technical exercises to improve essential endurance and burn fat. Advanced users want to improve their fitness (stamina and strength).

The medical journal “Ärzteblatt” writes about the risks: “Especially in the case of older participants with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease or existing risk factors, the resilience must be checked during preventive examinations. Here, the specification of an individual training heart rate makes sense, especially from the point of view of training effectiveness.”*

Was it Aqua-Spinning?

A unique form of spinning is aqua spinning or aqua cycling. Here, the bikes are in the water, your upper body is above the surface once you sit on the bike, and the water is only waist-deep.

The arms are used after an easy warm-up phase; for example, they are pulled sideways through the water. You are standing pedalling alternates with sitting pedalling. Aqua cycling can be performed in two directions: pedal forwards or backwards. This can be very strenuous because you feel the water resistance.

 

Who is aqua cycling suitable for?

Aqua spinning is good for joint problems and is a critical rehabilitation measure. The movement in the water acts like a massage. The legs, buttocks, arms and stomach are tightened, strengthening the cardiovascular system.

In addition, the body weight is reduced to about a tenth in the water, which relieves the joints. Especially with knee injuries, aqua cycling should ensure faster healing. Due to the reduced body weight in the water, the protective posture assumed under normal gravity is eliminated. The regeneration of the knee joint is faster and more effective.