Is my spin class really making me FAT?

megbee617

Hi guys,

I've gotten into spin the last 2 months and I really really love it. Going 2-3x week right now. I've looked into the benefits of spinning vs. other exercises and looked into the different muscle groups I'm working, just to be curious.

I've stumbled upon a few articles and blog posts about how there's not a lot of benefit to spinning and that it may actually be making me FATTER? I haven't lost much weight since starting, but in 2 months, I've already lost an inch in my hips and my legs are more toned.

I feel like I get such a good workout from it, so how could it do nothing or even hurt my health goals?

ShellyBell999

No, keep spinning and check your calorie intake.

HamsterManV2

As the saying goes, you can never outrun your fork. You can either eat a 250 calorie donut and run for 2 hours, or you can just not eat the donut. In order to lose weight, calculate your TDEE (google search TDEE calculator), then eat -500 calories or -20% of your TDEE for continuous weight loss.

Your spinning class increases your cardiovascular health, and you feel good at the end of it. And you get to eat a little more which the TDEE calculator should account for, depending on how many times you do it a week.

Summary - Go for a steady caloric deficit for weight loss. It's not a sprint, it's a marathon.

BrianSharpe

There are lot of broscience articles warning of the perils of cardio.....it certainly sounds like your BS detector went on high alert.

Eating at a caloric surplus makes us fat (or fatter) eating at a deficit reverses that process and exercise promotes good health and fitness but is not, by itself, the main determinant in terms of fat loss. My wife tells me the only reason I run is so I can eat more.....there may be some truth to that.

Having said that, I would encourage anyone to incorporate strength training into your fitness routine. Muscle is metabolically more "expensive" than fat and strength training can help you avoid overuse injuries (yes, you can injure yourself on a bike - less likely than running but it can happen).

Strength training becomes more important as we age (men typically lose about 1% of their lean muscle mass per year after 40, I'm not sure what the numbers are for women) and maintaining lean muscle mass can help avoid many problems associated with aging (especially maintaining bone density).

professionalHobbyist

Spin classes are good cardio. They burn calories.

The only way to add a spin class and not lose weight is if you add more eating to your day.

If you eat more calories in the days you do spin class to where it is more than you burn off....

It will "appear" spin class is making you gain weight.

Machka9

No ... exercise (such as the spinning class) does not make you fat.

Eating a large muffin with a frothy latte right after the spinning class might ... but the spinning class will have done its part to try to burn that off.

Justthisgirl1994

I've read those same articles too. I absolutely love spin, I go all the time (3-4x/week). It doesn't make you fat. The only thing that makes you fat is eating too much. I've definitely gained muscle on my legs and butt, but I don't look bulky there, I actually look a lot better. Spin is also a great calorie burn.

cwolfman13

yeah...cyclists are so fat...

/commonsense

foursirius

No, your eating habits will make you fat not the exercise.

Mr_Knight

cwolfman13 wrote: »

yeah...cyclists are so fat...

/commonsense

It had to be said....

:drinker:

LKArgh

Eating more than you need affects your weight . So if you are trying to lose and have not lost in two months, you are eating more than you think you are, or at least more than you should, to be losing.
As for spinning, or intense cycling in general, it is cardio, so burns calories, and helps lose weight, if you do not eat these calories back. Really intense cycling (not a spinning class or two per week) can build up impressive quads and cause bulking, but it is not something that will happen to you accidentally.

livingleanlivingclean

cwolfman13 wrote: »

yeah...cyclists are so fat...

/commonsense

Fat cyclists are fat.

markiend

check your calculations for what you are burning too.. there are some horrendously bad examples for calorific burns in the mfp database

as others have said, you can't out cycle your fork. It might be wise to go back to basics with regard to weighing your food and making sure your burns aren't being over stated