Indoor cycling vs real cycling (Page 2)

This is BAD advice!!!!  This is the kind of stupid, contraindicated stuff that indoor cycle instructors tell their participants to do when the instructor does not know how to coach an effective ride.

I am a Spinning instructor.

Single leg drills are not effective on an indoor, Spinning type bike.  An indoor bike is a fixed wheel, meaning that the pedals are attached to the flywheel via the chain and will continue to spin regardless of the amount of effort you put into turning the pedals.  If you get tired, you cannot simply stop pedalling.  Additionally, the heavy flywheel is doing most of the work of turning your leg around.  Your leg is just going for a ride.  These are excellent drills for your own bike on a trainer.

Hovers do not do anything for you on an indoor Spinning type bike.  This is a contraindicated movement!  DO NOT DO THEM!!!!  If you feel like you need more power from your glutes, go to the weight room and work on your butt!  Hovers take an indoor cycling participant's body out of alignment on the bike.  The knee joints, hip joints and back all take on too much stress.

Just ride the indoor bike like you would out on the road.  Like I said before, find a GREAT indoor cycling instructor who rides outside.  This person will, most likely, coach a cycling specific class that is both fun and effective for athletes and the general gym population, alike.

BbMoozer - 2010-08-16 10:19 AM

owl_girl - 2010-08-16 10:39 AM

Fit4Infinity - 2010-08-15 8:39 PM Spinning is great when It's dark, and cold and wet outside. Get yourself a heartrate monitor so you reallly know you personal level of exertion. Spin has the advantage that you can do things on a trainer or stationary bike that just doesn't happen on the road. Like exended single leg drills, extended positions like hover that focus on triggering the glutes as the start of the power stroke and you can focus on smooth circles and long levers when you're exhausted instead of watching for glass, holes, cracks, cars and crackheads.Spin class does not teach you to read the road and time your accelerations and how to find another 3percent to reach the top of a hill at your maximum speed. Each is an important component in a complete training plan.

This is BAD advice!!!!  This is the kind of stupid, contraindicated stuff that indoor cycle instructors tell their participants to do when the instructor does not know how to coach an effective ride.

I am a Spinning instructor.

Single leg drills are not effective on an indoor, Spinning type bike.  An indoor bike is a fixed wheel, meaning that the pedals are attached to the flywheel via the chain and will continue to spin regardless of the amount of effort you put into turning the pedals.  If you get tired, you cannot simply stop pedalling.  Additionally, the heavy flywheel is doing most of the work of turning your leg around.  Your leg is just going for a ride.  These are excellent drills for your own bike on a trainer.

Hovers do not do anything for you on an indoor Spinning type bike.  This is a contraindicated movement!  DO NOT DO THEM!!!!  If you feel like you need more power from your glutes, go to the weight room and work on your butt!  Hovers take an indoor cycling participant's body out of alignment on the bike.  The knee joints, hip joints and back all take on too much stress.

Just ride the indoor bike like you would out on the road.  Like I said before, find a GREAT indoor cycling instructor who rides outside.  This person will, most likely, coach a cycling specific class that is both fun and effective for athletes and the general gym population, alike.

 I don't mean to pick a fight   I teach indoor cycling too and I find SLD's useful in developing smoother pedal strokes while focusing on building strength in each leg. I know for me, it really illustrates leg strength imbalances. I usually start off and low to mod. resistance, then add a bit reminding folks to back off if their form starts to slack due to work load. However, I TOTALLY agree with putting skull and crossbones on hovers and /or other contraindicated stuff like push ups, standing with no hands, popcorn jumps etc that basically serve no fitness value and potentially will cause pain due to misalignment or by falling off... If you wouldn't do it on your outside bike or trainer for that matter  - skip it.

No worries bb.

Single leg drills are a FANTASTIC exercise on your own bike on a trainer.  This is because your own bike has a free wheel, meaning if you stop pedalling, the wheel will continue to turn.  A Spinner type bike is a fixed wheel, meaning if you stop putting any effort into pedalling, the flywheel will continue to turn your legs around without you putting any effort forth.

When you do single leg drills on a Spinner bike, you are not focusing on the entire pedal stroke.  You are only able to focus on the downward motion of the pedal.  After your foot reaches 6 o'clock, the flywheel pushes your foot backwards and up because of momentum.  On your own bike on a trainer, there is no momentum pushing your foot back and up.

This exercise is best left for cyclists to do on their own bikes.  The general gym population will not benefit from this exercise on a Spinner bike.

And to add to bb's great description.....

Hovers on an indoor Spinning type bike force your hips into an unnatural angle for pedalling efficiency....or should I say inefficiency.  There is just too much of an angle at the hip for your your everyday gym person.

Just ride the bike.

Agree!!!!  People grossly overestimate the amount of work they are doing in an indoor cycling class!

And back to the original question.  If you are not in the middle of a dedicated program designed to prepare you for a triathlon, indoor cycling classes are just fine.  If you are training for a specific race, you better get on that real bike of yours.

BbMoozer - 2010-08-16 12:39 PM

owl_girl - 2010-08-16 1:17 PM

No worries bb.

Single leg drills are a FANTASTIC exercise on your own bike on a trainer.  This is because your own bike has a free wheel, meaning if you stop pedalling, the wheel will continue to turn.  A Spinner type bike is a fixed wheel, meaning if you stop putting any effort into pedalling, the flywheel will continue to turn your legs around without you putting any effort forth.

When you do single leg drills on a Spinner bike, you are not focusing on the entire pedal stroke.  You are only able to focus on the downward motion of the pedal.  After your foot reaches 6 o'clock, the flywheel pushes your foot backwards and up because of momentum.  On your own bike on a trainer, there is no momentum pushing your foot back and up.

This exercise is best left for cyclists to do on their own bikes.  The general gym population will not benefit from this exercise on a Spinner bike.

You have a point BUT if one has a good measure of resistance (say the feel of riding into some headwinds) they really should HAVE to pull up the backside to get the pedal rotating smoothly over the top. But I do agree, there are probably many peeps in the class who don't bike outside so likely are putting no where near the actual feel of a headwind on their flywheel.

I'll bet you lead a great class.

Thanks!

Most regular gym people just don't have the cycling knowledge to be able to pull off this drill with any success.  Most will drop the hip of the foot they are concentrating on pedalling with as they approach the bottom of the pedal stroke.  Then, as they try to bring their foot up and behind, their whole hip will rise.  This movement puts too much stress on the lower back if they are pedalling with lots of resistance.  If they don't have much resistance, then the flywheel is doing the work.

Instead, you could suggest during their warm up that they focus on unweighting their foot as it passes through the bottom of the pedal stroke.  They should always have both feet on the pedals.

I sure hope this thread helps any of the BT folks that are thinking about taking a Spinning class.  You really have to find a good instructor.  There are just too many instructors out there that are doing aerobics on a bike with blatant disregard toward proper biomechanics.