Monday, July 18, 2011

Spinning Class Kicked My A$$

I'm going to come right out and say it...

I'm a triathlete.  I do a LOT of cycling (ok, plenty of people do more, but I think I do a good amount).  I've raced up to 56 miles on a bike straight.  I've spent three hours straight in the saddle.  But yet...

spinning class is TOUGH!!


Here's my post-class rationalizations...
  • Spinning class is 50% or more out of the saddle & I rarely ever get out of the saddle when I'm cycling.
  • While the spin bikes are the "closest thing to actual bikes," they still fall quite short.
  • Cycling 11.5 miles to the gym at a sprint pace just to make it there on time for class should not be considered a warm up, but a workout in itself. 
  • I was still within one week of my 70.3, so my legs are bound to feel tired.  ...right?  (Really, I would call shenanigans on that since I rode to work the day before at the fastest speed I've done so far)

Either way, I might be heading back for more torture later this evening.  It's supposed to rain, but I might just ride my bike there anyways.  We shall see. 

Also, my boss keeps telling me to get certified to teach spinning.  All of my cycling to work along with the shortage of spinning instructors falls together conveniently.  I'd love to - and I'm sure I will eventually - but I have to make sure that he'd actually give me class time if I did get certified since $$ is tight these days.  

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Questions
1.  Have you done spinning?  If not, why not?  If so, what are your thoughts?

2.  Does anyone teach spin??  If so, do you find it a decent part time gig or are gyms difficult about it?
I know a lot of gyms are strict with their class instructors and personal trainers.


Stay fit.  Stay healthy.  Stay safe. 

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am certified through Johnny G Spinning. My gym paid for it a long time ago otherwise it's about $250 or so for the weekend cert.

I learned some really valuable things in my certification-the women's NY state cycling champ taught mine so I was very fortunate.

I have taught spinning for 4 years. Beware...teaching more than twice a week can burn you out quickly! It is really exciting at first but just like with training it can feel stagnant after a while. Keep attending other people's classes and getting new ideas!

I do not teach in the warm weather-work knows they cannot pull me off my bike to come inside to ride stationary =)

Aimee said...

Before I got into tris I used to go to spinning classes and they were always tough, but awesome! But, it all depends on the instructor. If you don't have a good instructor with good music, then the class usually sucks in my opinion!

Richelle said...

I've done spinning before, but I just do my own thing. I've never joined a class.

Emily P (@trirunner302) said...

I did 2 spin classes per week throughout my 70.3 training. I feel like the class pushes you harder (through hill work and sprints) than you would riding on your own. It's not my favorite thing to do, but I find it's a necessary evil during tri training. :^)

Big Daddy Diesel said...

I prefer my bike over spin class, but in the offseason I go a couple times just for the fun of it. Being a biker, I admit, I get irritated when the instructor does a bunch of stuff that you would never do on the bike, if you pursue this, I think it would drive more bikers in if you incorporate real biking exercises instead of whatever these spin instructors do

Anonymous said...

I love the spinning classes at my gym. They have 60 minutes and one 90 minute class that my husband and I go to quite a bit over the winter months.

Not so much once the weather gets nice, and now that I have my bike trainer in the basement though.

But yes, it is hard just having someone push you and do intervals/sprints/up and down, etc.

Definitely a great workout! Not sure about teaching though - I belong to Lifetime Fitness and I know many of their instructors have "real jobs" too

5 Miles Past Empty said...

LOVE SPINNING!!! Totally get certified!! But un, shouldn't he pay for it?? Come on! He's your boss and uh you work there. I call shennanigans on him NOT putting you through the training. Seriously. Tell him I said so. When I worked at the Y they would train us in anything as long as we committed to teach.

I agree that spin is too much out of the saddle. I tried to stay in the saddle in class just to keep it the way I knew I would race. But still, not quite the same.