Spinning: How healthy is it?
5 min
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Are you looking for a hardcore workout? Give spinning a try! This demanding ride is guaranteed to work up a sweat and push you to your limits! But how good is this ride for your health?
Spinning – What is it?
Spinning is an intensive indoor cycling sport. It is also called indoor cycling or spin racing. The courses are suitable for both beginners and advanced cyclists.
Typical for spinning studios is a large room full of spinning bikes. Usually there is a big mirror in the front. Sometimes the studio is also darkened and equipped with LED lights. The group is led by a highly motivated spinning instructor, who cheers you on properly via a microphone and with loud, rhythmic music. The atmosphere during spinning is as unique as the sport itself. Fun and burning legs are definitely a part of the experience!
Usually you only need a towel, sturdy shoes and something to drink for spinning. There are also special spinning shoes that allow you to lock yourself firmly into the pedals of the bike. But they are not a must. Spinning is suitable for both beginners and advanced riders. During the course, everyone decides for themselves how they want to set their level of difficulty. There is a small wheel on the spinning bike with which you can adjust the resistance.
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Your instructor will guide you throughout the class, which involves way more than just pedaling. You’ll sit up and down to the beat of the music and perhaps even do push-ups on the handlebars or clap your hands together. You’ll soon notice that, though this workout is done on the bike, it’s fitness for the whole body. Doesn’t sound like your thing? How about jogging or maybe working out at home?
How healthy is spinning?
Since indoor cycling is very demanding, many wonder: is it even all that good for you? Yes! After all, as with any other sport, how hard you go is what makes the difference. So make sure you adjust the resistance of your bike as needed during training! Don’t focus on your neighbor or necessarily try to keep up with the instructor. It’s not about being the best in the class, but rather about being your personal best.
If you are just getting started with spinning, take a class with an experienced instructor. They’ll show you how to adjust your bike to your height, and during class will walk around the room and keep an eye on your form so you don’t hurt yourself. This is very important. Once you’re more experienced, you can also take classes without a trainer, like online video spin classes.
After your session, take the time to cool down, which will help to prevent injuring yourself. Usually spinning instructors integrate a relaxed cooldown and stretch directly into their class, but the cooldown is usually optional and some people leave the room directly after cycling. But a cooldown is part of every efficient workout, and we recommend it. Stick with it to the end and take the time for a little stretch!
What does spinning target?
Cycling mainly works your legs, since you’re pedalling the whole time. This means that your entire leg, including your calves and your glutes, is working hard. Depending on how intense the workout is, spinning also demands a lot from the rest of your body. You’re supporting yourself with your arms while riding, and some instructors include chest exercises like push-ups on the handlebars. All the while, your core and abs are engaged, too. You’ll notice that spinning is more of a full-body workout. It also boosts your cardiovascular system and burns a ton of calories!
Our tip: To prevent muscle soreness after cycling, supply your body with the right nutrients. Our Recovery Aminos will assist. Directly after training, they provide your muscles with all the essential amino acids and rapidly available carbohydrates they need to bounce back.
How many calories do you burn while spinning?
It’s no secret that spinning really works up a sweat, so it’s not surprising that it burns a ton of calories. A person with a body weight of 70kg will burn about 162 kcal during 30 minutes of indoor cycling. But note that calorie expenditure varies from person to person. How many calories you end up burning depends, among other things, on your gender, height, and fitness/basal metabolic rate. If you want to know how many calories other kinds of sports burn, take a look at our table for calorie expenditure for sports and everyday activities.
Sports with similar calorie consumption
If spinning’s not for you, but you are still looking to burn a lot of calories, there are many types of exercise that you might enjoy more that consume as many or even more calories. Why not try one of these:
| Sport | Calories burned per 30 Min (for someone weighing 70kg) |
| Badminton | approx. 214 kcal |
| Running | approx. 200 kcal |
| Cycling | approx. 218 kcal |
| Table Tennis | approx. 186 kcal |
| Water Aerobics | approx. 162 kcal |
Our tip: Adapt your training to your individual calorie consumption! That way you can achieve your goals even more effectively. With our free Body Check you can calculate your personal calorie requirements.
How often should you get to a spinning class?
That depends! If you’re just getting started, two classes a week is probably enough. Advanced riders can go more than that. It’s important not to overwork yourself, regardless of your experience. That means: adjust the resistance of your bike to your needs and push yourself but take care of yourself. If you get too sore after a class, take some days off until the aching subsides. You can shorten that time in between your workouts with our tips for sore muscles.
As a beginner, be careful not to overdo it. Spinning is very demanding for your cardiovascular system, so drink enough during class. Your ligaments and tendons are also put under a lot of stress during class, and they need more time to adapt to the strain than your muscles do. This means that you shouldn’t always just increase the training resistance if you aren’t feeling exhausted and sore after workouts. Give it another few gos before taking it to the next level.
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The right nutrition
Especially if you’re doing an intense sport like spinning, it’s important you are consuming sufficient nutrients. If you’re sweating a lot, your need for minerals will also increase, since they substances are released in your sweat. You have to replenish these through your diet. A nutrient deficiency can, for example, lead to cramps or fatigue. We therefore recommend that you always eat a healthy and balanced diet that includes plenty of fruit and vegetables and high-quality proteins, such as our Whey Protein.
Our tip: Having some juice while you’re working out can prevent you from burning out or having cramps. But our Workout Aminos are even better: they also supply your muscles with important amino acids and protein during your workout. You can’t beat EAAs, BCAAs and pure whey packed into one shake.
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Summary:
- Spinning, or indoor cycling, is an intense group workout with loud music on spinning bikes.
- The spinning bikes are especially suited for indoor cycling. They can be adjusted individually to you, which reduces the risk of injury.
- First and foremost, spinning works your leg muscles and your glutes. But in more intense classes you’ll find that it’s really more of a full-body workout.
- Spinning is great for your health as long as you adjust the routine to your needs. Set the resistance level to suit you and do a cooldown after the class.
Sources for this article
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