Spinning classes are amongst the most beloved and popular physical activities, and for a good reason. Whether you want to completely melt hundreds of calories in less than an hour or shape your legs into marble perfection, spinning can help you get there.
And what’s better: you can do it while having fun.
However, burning calories is only the tip of the iceberg regarding the benefits of spinning.
But before we can fully dive into all of that…
What Even Is Spinning?
Spinning is the group practice of cycling with a bunch of other people (generally 10+ people, but classes can be smaller) while listening to songs, typically chosen by an instructor, to help improve your performance.
But unlike traditional cycling, you’re not on a road or street in the open air.
Instead, you’re indoors, which is why spinning can also be called “Indoor Cycling.”
I am using bicycles that are stuck in place.
These special bikes are slightly different from traditional bikes, not just because they’re stationary.
Spinning bikes have a power meter, an ergonomic saddle, low pedals, and high handlebars, which allow you to reach high speeds.
It is the ideal exercise for people who already have a habit of cycling outdoors and those who do not have the patience to face vehicles and weather adversities. It can make the exercise a lot less pleasant – and a lot less effective.
Do not think that you need extensive previous experience, though. The practice of indoor cycling is recommended for all ages, and there are no limitations or heavy requirements for you to apply for a class. And even if you’re new to cycling, you can still get started on it without issue.
Furthermore, this isn’t an exercise that is exclusive to group activities. You can buy and install a spinning bike in your own house and make an already convenient routine even more effortless to use.
Is Spinning Good for Weight Loss?
The short answer is: yes.
It’s great.
A one-hour session of indoor cycling can quickly burn 600 calories. And depending on your weight, height, and how vigorous the exercise is, you can reach upwards of 1000 calories an hour.
Considering that it takes around 3.000-3.500 calories to burn one pound of fat off your body, you’re looking at a considerable loss of fat through spinning.
For Each Hour of Spinning, How Many Calories do I Burn?
As mentioned previously, one hour of spinning can burn 600 calories like it’s nothing.
However, the actual science behind it is a little more complicated.
How many calories you burn is based on the metabolic equivalent of task (MET).
The MET is a metric of the energy required for different tasks.
Just sitting, doing no exercises, has a MET of 1.
Therefore, more strenuous tasks and exercises are based on how much your body requires to just stay in a neutral position. MET 2 would be twice as hard as doing no exercises.
And the MET value of spinning is rated at 8.5 according to the Compendium of Physical Activities.²
And if you increase the intensity of your exercise, it can go as high as 14.0.
But why does this all sciencey stuff, MET or whatever, matter?
It’s because the formula of how many calories you burn per minute of exercise is (MET x Kg body weight x 3.5) & divide; by 200.
This means that how many calories are burned on exercise is highly varied and depends on your body weight and the intensity at which you’re doing the exercise.
For instance…
Let’s say Stacy weighs 155 pounds (70 kg) and does indoor cycling for 1 hour; we can then calculate how many calories Stacy can burn in an hour-long workout.
If we take the previous 8.5 MET rating and the above statistics, we can calculate (8.5 x 70 x 3.5) & divide; it by 200, which equals roughly 10.4 calories PER MINUTE.
If we multiply that for 60 minutes (an hour-long workout), Stacy will burn 624 calories in an hour!
As such, most people can burn roughly 500-800 calories an hour with indoor cycling (although, if you go hard at it, you can almost double this amount).
With all of this, we can then calculate…
How Much Weight You Can Burn in a Day
Assuming an average of 600 calories burned per 1 hour of exercise, you’ll burn roughly 2.7 ounces of fat daily.
If you have a single 1-hour session and later have a shorter 30-minute session, you can lose about 4 ounces a day.
Not too shabby, right?
And over time, if you teach yourself to increase the intensity of your training, you can burn more fat daily. Being able almost to double how fast you burn fat.
How Much Weight Can You Lose With a Month of Spinning?
If you exercise every day, and each day you have 1-hour sessions, each burning around 600 calories, you can burn roughly 1.2 pounds of fat EVERY week.
If you work like this for an entire month, that’s 4.8 (1.2 x 4) pounds every month.
You’d get ripped in no time.
And let’s not mention that over time, as you become better at spinning and have more vigorous training, you can lose fat at even greater speeds.
Speaking of being better at the spinning…
How to Improve Your Spinning and Burn More Calories
1. Don’t Stop All the Time
The first thing you should do is always to keep moving.
It can be very tempting to take a break during song transitions or completely stop working when you start feeling your heartbeat go up.
Instead, you want to decrease the intensity of your movement but keep cycling, even if a lot slower.
2. Be Hotter
Another thing to keep in mind is heat.
Your sweat is solid (liquid?) proof that you’re doing your workout right.
Sweating and hotter rooms can significantly increase the number of calories that you burn, increasing your gains over time.
So, while a well-conditioned room may be attractive and comfortable, it is not the most effective room to take some pounds off.
3. Bounce Less
Maintaining your form is essential to burning as many calories as possible.
And bouncing on your bike will disrupt just that.
As if that wasn’t enough, it shifts the focus from your muscles to your joints. It’s a double loss – you burn less fat and strain your joints.
If you start to slip out of the saddle or want to reposition yourself in a more comfortable position, just take a quick second to move fully.
4. Preparation
The famous quote goes: “Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.”
If you have a pre-workout routine, such as jogging or walking to class, you can start heating your body and preparing it for the entire workout routine you’re about to have.
And you even burn some extra calories in the process.
But that’s not all. You should also take enough water with you for the workout.
Drinking plenty of water is crucial for any good workout. Primarily for indoor cycling classes, which can cause a significant loss of electrolytes and minerals and lead to dehydration. You are replenishing all the nutrients your body needs to stay balanced and with the required energy to keep going. Keep a bottle of water on your side during classes.
5. Have the Right Bike
Hip pain, sore buttocks, leg and back pain, cramps, feet, and ankle injuries.
These are just a few horrible things that can happen if you’re not careful when indoor cycling.
And all those risks, and more, can all come from an all-too-common problem: a low-quality spinning bike.
With comfortable saddles, high-quality materials, and various extra features such as different bike modes, we recommend the Peloton bike [HYPERLINK to the other blog post here on Peloton bike] to erase the risks of risky indoor cycling bikes.
If you want to find out more about the Peloton bike, check out our other blog post covering it in more detail [here] (HYPERLINK)
Which Muscles Does It Work On?
Indoor cycling mainly works on your lower body muscles.
It can affect the muscles of the quadriceps, thighs, and buttocks region. By having the right bike or training in the proper position, you can also focus on other muscles, such as your leg and calfs.
Not only that, but by extending your body forward a little extra closer to the handle, combined with reasonable breath control, you can target the muscles of the abdominal region pretty well too.
But that’s not all…
You also work on another critical body part: your cardiorespiratory system. They are also known as your heart and lungs. As a Respiratory Therapist, this is my expertise.
Over time, this improvement to your heart and lungs will be recognized even during the most trivial activities of everyday life.
You won’t feel as much discomfort when climbing stairs or going on long walks, such as running errands.
And even when doing basic house chores.
Spanning will give you more consistency and stability throughout the day.
What Body Parts Will I Lose Fat On?
If you’re worried about which parts of your body you’ll burn body fat from, don’t be.
It is, sadly, outside of one’s control to decide which parts of your body the fat will be taken from.
Even if indoor cycling mainly acts on your lower body, you may lose fat on your upper body first, for instance.
The previously mentioned targeted muscle groups are mainly focused on muscle-building, not necessarily on fat loss. You could, for instance, increase the strength and muscle structure in your legs but lose fat in your belly, for example.
So, no matter what body part you’d like to look a bit thinner, indoor cycling will help you accomplish it. The belly, legs, back, hips, or other body parts will eventually lose fat.
How Long Should I Spin For?
According to the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, adults should have at least 2 hours and 30 minutes of moderate physical activity a week and two days of muscle strengthening.
So, if you want to meet the moderate-level exercise every week, doing 30 minutes a day for five days is good enough.
You could also do even more if you want – an hour for five days. An hour every day of the week. Two sessions a day. Or even more.
Alternatively, you could have different schedules, like doing two days of 1hr 15 minutes of exercise, instead of 5 days of workout.
The schedule and specifics are up to you!
You already have the tools to predict how many calories and how much fat you’ll lose per session, and so based on that, you can define the best routine for you.
There are, however, a couple of precautions you have to take for healthy long-term activity in case you’re planning on having more intense workout routines:
· As a rule of thumb, take a break if it starts hurting a lot. There’s no point in causing irreversible injury when your goal is to be healthier in the first place.
· Dehydration: As mentioned previously, always ensure you have water near you to keep yourself hydrated. This point is essential to remember if you plan to have intense, more prolonged workout schedules.
· Don’t overstrain yourself if you’ve had an injury in the past that affects your ability to spin. On top of that, make sure that your class instructor is aware of your condition. The same is true if you are sick.
Other Benefits of Spinning
· Blood Flow: Spinning can improve blood flow throughout the body and increase the speed with which oxygen is distributed, granting you multiple health benefits.
· Reduced Risks: Since indoor cycling does not require complex or multiple types of movements during class, the likelihood of injury occurring is inferior compared to the possibility of outdoor cycling since those bikes put pressure on various joints.
· All-Year Round: While practicing indoor cycling, you don’t have to worry about cars and vehicles and car accidents, weather, slippery or difficult ground, and the many other minors (sometimes significant) difficulties and annoyances that come with outdoor cycling. Challenges can sometimes even stop you from cycling on a particular day or week. But indoor cycling is different; 365 days a year, you can practice it without issue.
· Great Stress-Reliever: Spinning classes can be as good as hot chocolate to let go of stress and tension on a cold day. Not only that, but the music and class instructors are there to help motivate you throughout the training. A motivation that stays as you progress through your week. As if that’s not enough, spinning, like other moderate and intense physical activities, can help fight off mental illnesses like depression.
· Your progress is easily tracked: This is because most bikes have a built-in counter with statistics like how many miles/kilometers you’ve run and how fast you are. This can significantly help get more motivation, as you can see your work and how much you’ve progressed over time.
· You can easily adjust the spinning bike and equipment according to your measurements and needs, so you can exercise more comfortably and have the necessary support for any particular or peculiar needs.
Extra Tips
· Wear Comfortable Clothes: so that you can guarantee full performance throughout the class and that you won’t feel discomfort, itches, or other issues caused by uncomfortable clothes.
· Comfortable Shoes: These are a must. They can improve your form and position, make the entire workout much more satisfying, reduce the risk of accidents, and help you maintain the pace throughout the session.
· A Good Room: Be mindful of your desired place of practice and seek it. Different classes, gyms, and home bikes have various advantages and disadvantages. One such example is whether the indoor cycling room has an air conditioner or not – if you value comfort, having an air conditioner can be a big plus. But, as mentioned previously, embracing the heat can be more effective if you want to burn even more calories.
· Seek a Good Class Instructor: Look for references and evaluations on the qualifications of the class instructor responsible for the classes. It is essential that you feel safe before the sessions. The instructor must be experienced and trained to assist and answer any questions that may arise so that you know which attitudes to take for your body to stay healthy and fit to remain evolving in the following classes and to reduce the risk of injury or overextension.
· Take a towel with you: If face (or other body parts) sweat gets too bad, you can quickly wipe it away. Simple but important.
· Don’t Overwork Yourself: There’s nothing wrong with starting small and increasing the intensity and length of the session as you become more comfortable with this new exercise. Recognize your fitness level. This is particularly true for your joints – be careful you’re not too hard on them.
Hi, my name is Jim Yi and I am a Registered Respiratory Therapist / Respiratory Care Practitioner.
I have been earning experience within these fields for over a decade, learning all there is to know about cardio-pulmonary medicine and how to care properly for the body. Alongside my studies, I also trained to become a Fitness and Weight Management Expert.
I have created ShapeDown.com to teach anyone who is willing to listen how to take care of their body. This can be through exercise, nutrition, lifestyle changes, or supplements. We’ll look through it all here.
You can strengthen your body, enrich it, improve your energy levels, and boost your immune system by making some simple lifestyle changes. If you want to make a change and start honoring your body instead of weakening it, let’s start right now. I promise you won’t regret it!
