Bike training vs spinning for 210lb person
whitej1234
Posts: 263 Member
I was enjoying bike rides now and then on leisure trips, unfortunately can't really have access to a bike all the time back home so I thought I will substitute it by a spin class. Went for the first time and discovered that the spin class to be much easier then a bike rides, when going uphill (even slightly) is so much harder then even the 100% resistance. These uphills made me afraid of biking in the first place. Could it be that my weight is just too high for a bike (95kg ~210 lb)? Could be that I didn't go all in (the instructor, very logically, told me to take it easy and explore my limits), nevertheless am hurting all around for the 3rd day now, so I guess I did good. Was never really hurting on quit long (15km-20km) leisure trips. Could it be that it is different muscles? Maybe wasn't pushing too hard on the bike rides? Really short uphills would juts make me stop right on the spot out of breath and powers, so couldn't really push myself in that way.
Any ideas about what am I doing wrong on the bike compared to spin?
Thank you
Any ideas about what am I doing wrong on the bike compared to spin?
Thank you
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Replies
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I found spin classes to be all about how hard you can push with resistance turned up or how fast you can crank the pedals with small breaks in between. But when riding your bike outdoors, it is all about the terrain and if you need to stop for traffic laws or whatever. You are not constantly pushing your bike forward 60 minutes, unless of course, you are in a race.1
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L1zardQueen wrote: »I found spin classes to be all about how hard you can push with resistance turned up or how fast you can crank the pedals with small breaks in between. But when riding your bike outdoors, it is all about the terrain and if you need to stop for traffic laws or whatever. You are not constantly pushing your bike forward 60 minutes, unless of course, you are in a race.
That's what I thought but found the immidiate effort on a bike to be much harder on uphills0 -
Doing hills, especially when overweight is hard. I find a good spin hard, but it's a different kind of hard.3
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cwolfman13 wrote: »Doing hills, especially when overweight is hard. I find a good spin hard, but it's a different kind of hard.
Exactly! Different kind - the one that doesn't make you stop right away but allows you to keep pushing yourself. So glad it is not just me.0 -
Uphill biking is hard! Learn to use your gears. The so called "gears' on spin bikes are completely different than actual gears on real bikes. Losing weigh will help too. Make sure you get a bike rated for your height and weight, for safety and stability.0
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You aren't using different muscles but you are probably using your muscles differently.
Hills can be hard for many reasons.....
Lack of power.
Lack of fitness/endurance.
Too long.
Wrong gears.
Not using the gears you have properly.
Or just that damn thing called gravity.
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whitej1234 wrote: »I was enjoying bike rides now and then on leisure trips, unfortunately can't really have access to a bike all the time back home so I thought I will substitute it by a spin class. Went for the first time and discovered that the spin class to be much easier then a bike rides, when going uphill (even slightly) is so much harder then even the 100% resistance. These uphills made me afraid of biking in the first place. Could it be that my weight is just too high for a bike (95kg ~210 lb)? Could be that I didn't go all in (the instructor, very logically, told me to take it easy and explore my limits), nevertheless am hurting all around for the 3rd day now, so I guess I did good. Was never really hurting on quit long (15km-20km) leisure trips. Could it be that it is different muscles? Maybe wasn't pushing too hard on the bike rides? Really short uphills would juts make me stop right on the spot out of breath and powers, so couldn't really push myself in that way.
Any ideas about what am I doing wrong on the bike compared to spin?
Thank you
gravity is a b*tch. Hills are HARD. Hills are very, very, very hard with additional weight.
It also takes time to get used to it, build those muscles, etc - Hills are generally very hard for any rider that doesn't regularly ride them. (and they are usually also fairly clumsy with changing gears- as they don't do so as much- which makes it harder).0 -
Wow you are lucky !! does the trainer call out the resistance setting. But good on you that's great it's easy for you keep going to keep up your fitness Maybe tell the trainer he's to turn it up a little. Is it a new class group? I know spin bikes can get up there. You are right also there are different muscle groups as well but i would think to much on these unless your a pro cyclist. Just keep that fitness up Good on you!!!0
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Make sure the spin bike (and your bicycle) are set up correctly for you.
Keep up the spin classes.
And you may find that climbing the hills outside isn't so difficult next time.
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I don't know because they both hurt my butt . I could go longer but can't . It's really frustrating knowing you can go more but can't because the pain hurts to much .0
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L1zardQueen wrote: »
That is what everyone says but it still hurts . I been riding for about 2 years .0 -
I have a friend that never got used the bike seat either. Do you wear padded bike shorts?L1zardQueen wrote: »
That is what everyone says but it still hurts . I been riding for about 2 years .
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L1zardQueen wrote: »
I have a friend that never got used the bike seat either. Do you wear padded bike shorts?L1zardQueen wrote: »
That is what everyone says but it still hurts . I been riding for about 2 years .
I have bought them and find them extremely uncomfortable . All I can do is pace myself and take breaks in-between .0 -
L1zardQueen wrote: »
I have a friend that never got used the bike seat either. Do you wear padded bike shorts?L1zardQueen wrote: »
That is what everyone says but it still hurts . I been riding for about 2 years .
I have bought them and find them extremely uncomfortable . All I can do is pace myself and take breaks in-between .
Get your bicycle setup checked.2 -
You have a point, me not changing gears right could actually be a big part of it. Will try watching some instructions in YouTube before next trip.Uphill biking is hard! Learn to use your gears. The so called "gears' on spin bikes are completely different than actual gears on real bikes. Losing weigh will help too. Make sure you get a bike rated for your height and weight, for safety and stability.
As for adjustment, these are usually rented bikes so they should be fitting. I hope.0 -
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Well I wouldn't say it was easy, I had my share of sweat and I will definitely push myself harder next time to get the most out of thee training, now that I am better familiar with my limits. But it is sustainable. I felt the same when moving from a traidmill to a elliptical at the gym. Traidmill was too tough (running....), Elyptical was hard if you up the resistance enough but something I could keep going in.jasonpoihegatama wrote: »Wow you are lucky !! does the trainer call out the resistance setting. But good on you that's great it's easy for you keep going to keep up your fitness Maybe tell the trainer he's to turn it up a little. Is it a new class group? I know spin bikes can get up there. You are right also there are different muscle groups as well but i would think to much on these unless your a pro cyclist. Just keep that fitness up Good on you!!!
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whitej1234 wrote: »
Just losing weight will improve your power to weight ratio and help your hill climbing.
Hills are funny though in that some people are simply better or worse at them despite having very similar performance on the flat.
Best tips I got from two excellent riders I try (and fail...) to keep up with is to get better at hills is simply ride a lot of hills and try hard. I made a big performance jump in my hill climbing last year just by making myself do a lot of hills. As one of those riders says (annoyingly!) as they pull out a huge lead on me - "embrace the hills".
Gearing and using your gears is crucial for anything beyond short bumps. Keep your cadence up so that the strain is taken by your cardiovascular systems and not burning out your muscles with low cadence grinding.
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You must get out of the mind set that you are doing something "wrong". Using an exercise bicycle is only superficially similar to riding a real bicycle outdoors. There is nothing wrong with that - they are just different.
There is no way anybody setting up the resistance on an excercise bicycle can know how you actually feel doing what is supposed to be an equivalent hill. It's all guesswork. Furthermore, some of how hard you find a real hill is psychological. You aren't on a big wide comfy seat, you are painfully aware of slowly you are going (especially if some fit, skinny barstool with his ripped calves cycles past you on his carbon fibre special), you feel less balanced and you lost that cooling breeze when you slowed down. Everything is less consistent and wobbly. Also there is no count down to watch; you are much more likely to sustain an effort if you can watch those seconds tick away to your goal.
If you really are finding it easy, maybe ask the trainer to give you a bit more. It's supposed to make you struggle to some extent because that is what triggers your body to make improvements. But if you are finding it so hard you dread it and avoid doing it, that's counterproductive so you should back off a bit and give your body time to catch up.
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First of all butt pain....it will go away. You are using different butt muscles that once they develop, the pain WILL subside. I spin a couple times a day at my gym and don’t feel a thing anymore but when I hit a spin class at a different gym on a different type of bike, I feel it. Second, spin classes are all about performance; power, cardio, endurance. Hitting your max in each of these areas will kick your butt. I use the numbers to make sure I hit my goals. I watch my watts and wear a heart rate monitor (seems to me more accurate than my Garmin watch). If the instructor tells us what RPM to ride I always adjust my load to make it challenging and hard to reach. I have only been spinning for about 7 months but it is all about refinement and finding the sweet spot of resistance and speed to maximize performance. I LOVE it. I think spinning is harder than riding due to the choreography keeping me on point, no coasting down hill, no stop light breaks. There are breaks but for me, they are active recovery, not all out breaks. Finally, there are so many spin formats out there. I find Les Mills Sprint and RPM and MOi ( heart rate based) are the most challenging in their own right,1
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I will try to cope with my fear of hills, that's indeed the only wayJust losing weight will improve your power to weight ratio and help your hill climbing.
Hills are funny though in that some people are simply better or worse at them despite having very similar performance on the flat.
Best tips I got from two excellent riders I try (and fail...) to keep up with is to get better at hills is simply ride a lot of hills and try hard. I made a big performance jump in my hill climbing last year just by making myself do a lot of hills. As one of those riders says (annoyingly!) as they pull out a huge lead on me - "embrace the hills".
Gearing and using your gears is crucial for anything beyond short bumps. Keep your cadence up so that the strain is taken by your cardiovascular systems and not burning out your muscles with low cadence grinding. Would be nice to try it when a bit more down the weight scale. Though I don't have too much to loose (I'm 178-5'10 so I'm about 15kg-30lb overweight, you would assume this is not what will make such a huge impact).
Haha you got me at that skinny barstoolhypocacculus wrote: »You must get out of the mind set that you are doing something "wrong". Using an exercise bicycle is only superficially similar to riding a real bicycle outdoors. There is nothing wrong with that - they are just different.
There is no way anybody setting up the resistance on an excercise bicycle can know how you actually feel doing what is supposed to be an equivalent hill. It's all guesswork. Furthermore, some of how hard you find a real hill is psychological. You aren't on a big wide comfy seat, you are painfully aware of slowly you are going (especially if some fit, skinny barstool with his ripped calves cycles past you on his carbon fibre special), you feel less balanced and you lost that cooling breeze when you slowed down. Everything is less consistent and wobbly. Also there is no count down to watch; you are much more likely to sustain an effort if you can watch those seconds tick away to your goal.
If you really are finding it easy, maybe ask the trainer to give you a bit more. It's supposed to make you struggle to some extent because that is what triggers your body to make improvements. But if you are finding it so hard you dread it and avoid doing it, that's counterproductive so you should back off a bit and give your body time to catch up.
I don't find the class to be easy, I just as instructed didn't go all in (as in not cranking up the resistance when told or not as much) since it is a group class and not too many newbies were there that day. I did find the class to be sustainable (as in I can go slower/easier if it is too tough, something you can't do on a bike besides just stopping and getting off it). I was though surprised with the *immediate* effort needed when cranking the spin class bike resistance all the way up compared to a very feasible small hill I would probably don't even notice if I would be doing it by foot. It was much easier on the top resistance level then on hills. But I think I got my answers on this thread.First of all butt pain....it will go away. You are using different butt muscles that once they develop, the pain WILL subside. I spin a couple times a day at my gym and don’t feel a thing anymore but when I hit a spin class at a different gym on a different type of bike, I feel it. Second, spin classes are all about performance; power, cardio, endurance. Hitting your max in each of these areas will kick your butt. I use the numbers to make sure I hit my goals. I watch my watts and wear a heart rate monitor (seems to me more accurate than my Garmin watch). If the instructor tells us what RPM to ride I always adjust my load to make it challenging and hard to reach. I have only been spinning for about 7 months but it is all about refinement and finding the sweet spot of resistance and speed to maximize performance. I LOVE it. I think spinning is harder than riding due to the choreography keeping me on point, no coasting down hill, no stop light breaks. There are breaks but for me, they are active recovery, not all out breaks. Finally, there are so many spin formats out there. I find Les Mills Sprint and RPM and MOi ( heart rate based) are the most challenging in their own right,
7 month is a very impressive time to keep doing classes! If I manage to keep doing it I might indeed consider some sort of equipment since the bikes at the studio I went to had no screen info and just a dial for resistance (so no real feedback besides how it burns). Maybe will try a different studio with more advanced equipment.
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L1zardQueen wrote: »
I have a friend that never got used the bike seat either. Do you wear padded bike shorts?L1zardQueen wrote: »
That is what everyone says but it still hurts . I been riding for about 2 years .
I have bought them and find them extremely uncomfortable . All I can do is pace myself and take breaks in-between .
Have you ever been fitted at a bike shop? They can probably get you a proper saddle as well. It's likely that your saddle is just not a good fit...either too wide or too narrow for your sit bones.2 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »L1zardQueen wrote: »
I have a friend that never got used the bike seat either. Do you wear padded bike shorts?L1zardQueen wrote: »
That is what everyone says but it still hurts . I been riding for about 2 years .
I have bought them and find them extremely uncomfortable . All I can do is pace myself and take breaks in-between .
Have you ever been fitted at a bike shop? They can probably get you a proper saddle as well. It's likely that your saddle is just not a good fit...either too wide or too narrow for your sit bones.
Thanks .0 -
whitej1234 wrote: »I was enjoying bike rides now and then on leisure trips, unfortunately can't really have access to a bike all the time back home so I thought I will substitute it by a spin class. Went for the first time and discovered that the spin class to be much easier then a bike rides, when going uphill (even slightly) is so much harder then even the 100% resistance. These uphills made me afraid of biking in the first place. Could it be that my weight is just too high for a bike (95kg ~210 lb)? Could be that I didn't go all in (the instructor, very logically, told me to take it easy and explore my limits), nevertheless am hurting all around for the 3rd day now, so I guess I did good. Was never really hurting on quit long (15km-20km) leisure trips. Could it be that it is different muscles? Maybe wasn't pushing too hard on the bike rides? Really short uphills would juts make me stop right on the spot out of breath and powers, so couldn't really push myself in that way.
Any ideas about what am I doing wrong on the bike compared to spin?
Thank you
It isn't really clear to me whether or not you're asking if you're weight is too high for hills outside or for high resistance spinning. The answer to both is, no it isn't to high. It's really an issue of you not being fit enough. That's especially true if what you're talking about is resistance on a spin bike (the part that I bolded made it seem like that's what you were talking about) where gravity isn't a factor in how long it'll take you to get up a hill.
Yes being heavier will make it take longer for you to get up a hill than someone who is lighter (assuming all other factors are the same), but that doesn't mean you won't be able to do it. And again, indoors on a spinning bike it shouldn't make a difference.1 -
I've taken a few spin classes and the saddle pain sets in within a few minutes, compared to my road bike is tolerable most of the time, even for a couple hours. There are dozens of bike saddles, specific to your anatomy and riding style and some people go through quite a few before finding a desirable fit. For a 4-mile ride it should be easier to find something that those doing Ironman races. Softer saddles tend to be more comfortable for shorter rides, because there isn't as much risk of chafing. For longer rides, a stiffer saddle is needed that supports your sit bones rather than your soft tissue.0
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You aren't using different muscles but you are probably using your muscles differently.
Hills can be hard for many reasons.....
Lack of power.
Lack of fitness/endurance.
Too long.
Wrong gears.
Not using the gears you have properly.
Or just that damn thing called gravity.
That's a nice looking bike! How do you love the wheels?0 -
NorthCascades wrote: »You aren't using different muscles but you are probably using your muscles differently.
Hills can be hard for many reasons.....
Lack of power.
Lack of fitness/endurance.
Too long.
Wrong gears.
Not using the gears you have properly.
Or just that damn thing called gravity.
That's a nice looking bike! How do you love the wheels?
@NorthCascades
They are (deep breath.....) Mavic Cosmic Pro Carbone Exalith 25s (phew!)
Love them, they confirmed what I had been told that wheels are the #1 upgrade. (Apart from putting a better rider on my bike - that would be the biggest improvement!)
Made the bike more responsive, especially acceleration, noticeably faster on the flat and especially on descents. Not a huge improvement in overall ride average speeds but my Strava segment PRs are nearly all on this bike not my other Roubaix with standard wheels.
Downside is that they get a bit scary in strong cross winds.1
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