Spinning / "Revolutions"?

[Perplexity]

My gym offers spinning / revolutions / high intensity indoor cycling classes. I'm thinking about trying it. Anybody have any comments? I searched the forum but didn't find anything.

[mattnxtc]

Its all going to vary based on the instructor and how good or bad they are...the best advice is to give it a try and see how you like it..otherwise..just to a HIIT workout on the bike yourself.

[kerowo]

Matt's pretty much nailed it. You might swing by and take a look at one, if they are doing stupid things like standing up and sitting down on alternating peddals, or push ups against the handle bars I'd avoid it.

[Alobar]

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Matt's pretty much nailed it. You might swing by and take a look at one, if they are doing stupid things like standing up and sitting down on alternating peddals, or push ups against the handle bars I'd avoid it.

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why?

OP, if you are interested in it, give it a shot, if you like it keep going, if not find something else that interests you and keeps you active and do that. Everyone here likes to go on about "just go do HIIT" or whatever like its gospel and the only workout worth doing. Most people wont ever stick with a HIIT routine, so its really not going to do them any good. They are much better of doing something that they enjoy and will keep with as opposed to something they arent going to do. Exercise is better than no exercise even if what you are doing isn't the most supremely optimal exercise or flavor of the moment.

[mattnxtc]

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Matt's pretty much nailed it. You might swing by and take a look at one, if they are doing stupid things like standing up and sitting down on alternating peddals, or push ups against the handle bars I'd avoid it.

[/ QUOTE ]

why?

OP, if you are interested in it, give it a shot, if you like it keep going, if not find something else that interests you and keeps you active and do that. Everyone here likes to go on about "just go do HIIT" or whatever like its gospel and the only workout worth doing. Most people wont ever stick with a HIIT routine, so its really not going to do them any good. They are much better of doing something that they enjoy and will keep with as opposed to something they arent going to do. Exercise is better than no exercise even if what you are doing isn't the most supremely optimal exercise or flavor of the moment.

[/ QUOTE ]

Um what?

First off notice that we said try and it and see if you like it. You apparently havent tried out many instructors. Some are really good at getting you involved and making you work hard... Some are just awful at it.

I would think its easier to stick to a HIIT workout than other options as you get the HIIT done in LESS time than a regular cardio workout. Generally if you last 10-15 minutes youve done a pretty darn good workout.

People are more than welcome to do stuff that is suboptimal but why would you recommend that they do something if there is a better option?

[Blarg]

Good post, Alobar. What you're saying is what I've always said -- don't wait to find the perfect workout, just DO something, as long as it's safe that is. You just have to get off your ass, and it better be fun, or you'll probably quit. Almost everybody does. Or else your consistency will be ridiculously poor.

Plus, you're right that HIIT isn't right for everyone. Once you get there, it's fantastic because it takes so little time to get in a great work-out. But you have to earn the right to push your body that hard by getting in shape first. Otherwise you might even hurt yourself. An out of shape guy is not going to be able to put in 20 or even 10 minutes of really intense exercise. You can only do what your body allows. There's no shame in working up that up by slow degrees, doing whatever it is you find fun.

[kerowo]

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Matt's pretty much nailed it. You might swing by and take a look at one, if they are doing stupid things like standing up and sitting down on alternating peddals, or push ups against the handle bars I'd avoid it.

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why?



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My primary form of excercise is road cycling. A good spin workout is riding an excercise bike, increase resistance and/or spin faster is how you work harder or simulate climbing by getting out of the saddle. Doing stupid crap like standing up and sitting down after every revolution may raise your h/r but it's going to destroy your knees and has nothing to do with cycling. As with everything, YMMV, but if you don't like riding a bike don't spin, don't add a bunch of silly crap to try and make it interesting.