The Effectiveness of an Indoor Spin Class

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swagoner94
swagoner94 Posts: 220 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
When I first decided to start exercising intentionally and regularly, I casually consulted a personal trainer I went to college with. He's given me great advice along the way. One comment he once made was one advocating for spin classes and yoga. Since that conversation, I began taking spin classes twice a week (along with other forms of exercise on the other days of the week). MFP clocks in a 50 minute class at about 650 calories burned -- I'm just not sure that's accurate for my height and weight (5'5" 165 lbs).

Moreover, I just read an article completely against spin classes for weight loss! This is the exact opposite of what my friend had told me. The point of the article was that running > spin class. I'd agree. But I can't last an hour running like I can on a bike, and running isn't something I want to do every single day. I'm just curious what people's thoughts on spin classes are? Should I opt for something else on my Tuesdays and Thursdays? How has spin class worked for you and your weight loss goals?

For background: I run on Mondays 3-4 miles, spin on Tuesday, GRIT Strength strength training on Wednesday, spin on Thursday, and use Friday for weight training and some lighter cardio (stairmaster for 10 -15 minutes or a mile jog).
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Replies

  • jdhcm2006
    jdhcm2006 Posts: 2,254 Member
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    Losing weight comes down to calories, not a specific form of exercise. You can lose weight without exercising. You just need to make sure you're burning more calories than you are consuming.

    I personally do enjoy taking a spin class every once in a while. It's a nice form of cardio that's low impact.

    Pick a form of exercise that helps you reach your goals. For instance, I really love pole dancing b/c it's both cario & strength. In order to get better at it, I've taken up lifting to help me reach my pole goals. What are your goals outside of losing weight?
  • sarko15
    sarko15 Posts: 330 Member
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    It doesn't matter, it all depends on the calorie burn. When I run it's for endurance, so high intensity spinning ends up burning more on the whole for me, but it's relatively the same for a 60 minute run vs 60 minute spin class. Personally I enjoy spinning more, especially now since it's cold, and I find that doing something that I WANT to do regularly is better than doing something I don't want to do and will probably end up making excuses not to eventually. I spin 3-4 days a week.
  • raygunn_viola
    raygunn_viola Posts: 88 Member
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    I love my spin class! I do a lot better on that than just running on a treadmill
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
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    You have sort of answered your own question. While running may (and I stress "may") burn more calories per minute than spinning, the impact can sometimes mean you can't do it as long or as often. So doing the lower-calorie-burn-rate exercise might end up burning more total calories per workout.

    I use this all the time when my conditioning is down. If I can only run for 20-25 minutes but want to max my calorie burn, I do an incline walk. Instead of a 350-400 calorie run, I can do an 800-1000 calorie walk.

  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,876 Member
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    swagoner94 wrote: »
    When I first decided to start exercising intentionally and regularly, I casually consulted a personal trainer I went to college with. He's given me great advice along the way. One comment he once made was one advocating for spin classes and yoga. Since that conversation, I began taking spin classes twice a week (along with other forms of exercise on the other days of the week). MFP clocks in a 50 minute class at about 650 calories burned -- I'm just not sure that's accurate for my height and weight (5'5" 165 lbs).

    Moreover, I just read an article completely against spin classes for weight loss! This is the exact opposite of what my friend had told me. The point of the article was that running > spin class. I'd agree. But I can't last an hour running like I can on a bike, and running isn't something I want to do every single day. I'm just curious what people's thoughts on spin classes are? Should I opt for something else on my Tuesdays and Thursdays? How has spin class worked for you and your weight loss goals?

    For background: I run on Mondays 3-4 miles, spin on Tuesday, GRIT Strength strength training on Wednesday, spin on Thursday, and use Friday for weight training and some lighter cardio (stairmaster for 10 -15 minutes or a mile jog).

    The notion that spin classes wouldn't help with weight loss is ridiculous. I'm a cycling enthusiast...I don't run...like ever...I loath it...I cycle and spin and lost plenty of weight doing that while keeping my diet in check. There's no way I could run probably more than about 30 minutes...but I can cycle for hours...as energy expenditure goes, I'm going to personally get more out of cycling. When I'm in season and training I can easily burn upwards of 1,000 - 1,500 calories on a training ride.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,464 Member
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    Exercise is for fitness, calorie deficit is for weight loss. All the spin classes in the world won't make you lose weight if you don't eat at a calorie deficit. Neither will any other exercise.

    Put your stats into MFP, activity level sedentary unless you have a very active job, weight loss to 1 lb per week, weight you food on a digital food scale, log EVERYTHING in MFP, and stay within the calorie goal set by MFP. That is how you lose weight.

    Exercise will burn a few calories and help you become healthier, so it's still a great idea, but most exercises will do. Do what you enjoy! Strength training also is a great idea because it will help you retain muscle so you lose mostly fat.
  • fittocycle
    fittocycle Posts: 825 Member
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    I love spin classes so much that I bought my own spin bike so I can ride at home! I also do strength training 2-3 times a week and yoga 3-4 times a week. Personally, I think yoga helps with weight loss bc it relieves stress. And the stretching aspect is a nice balance to the cardio and weights!
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    Your weight or height when cycling doesn't have a great deal to do with calorie burns (the standing cycling elements of Spinning are a bit different as it then becomes weight bearing) - burns are a function of how much power you can produce and sustain over the period of time, primarily fitness. Without being knowing your fitness levels or power output whether the MFP (very rough) estimate is close or not is impossible to know - it varies too much from individual to individual.
    Finger in the air estimate - it's a pretty high number that's attainable for fit people cycling hard but sounds high if your class includes a warm up / warm down, low intensity elements or you don't have high level fitness.

    I don't do classes but do use an eSpinning and other indoor bikes for training.
    It terms of "effectiveness" for me - my knees only have the capacity for about 2 or 3 miles a week of running but I cycled over 4000 miles last year so guess which is more effective for burning calories for me!

    Do the cardio you enjoy would be my advice.
  • kcjchang
    kcjchang Posts: 709 Member
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    ^ Sounds to high. FWIW, an hour solid tempo (80% of functioal threshold power) using a smart trainer on Zwift (virtual ride) gives me ~600 calories on a fairly flat course (850 feet of elevation gain) over 19.7 miles. My average power is 2.2 watt per kilograms (very out of shape due to shoulder surgery). I think Zwift is over generous on the milage and should be closer to 18 miles.
  • suruda
    suruda Posts: 1,233 Member
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    I think if you are going to a class that you like and keep going to....keep at it. Now you just need to add some yoga or pilates to balance it all out! I love them both but feel like Pilates gives me the stretching benefit of yoga plus an awesome core workout!

    MFP definitely overestimates calories burned while excercising.
  • sarko15
    sarko15 Posts: 330 Member
    edited January 2017
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    suruda wrote: »
    I think if you are going to a class that you like and keep going to....keep at it. Now you just need to add some yoga or pilates to balance it all out! I love them both but feel like Pilates gives me the stretching benefit of yoga plus an awesome core workout!

    MFP definitely overestimates calories burned while excercising.

    Why does she need to add yoga or Pilates? I don't do either and I feel like I'm doing just fine. Most of the time I don't even stretch.
  • jen_092
    jen_092 Posts: 254 Member
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    I felt that spin class was a good workout when I tried it, especially compared to nothing which is what I was doing before I got a Groupon for it ;). Yeah, MFP overestimates calories but you're definitely burning plenty for a short time span. If you like the class, that's really great and you should continue to have fun while burning calories. I personally didn't love it overall and I think it was the studio/instructors. They had us doing things that seemed pointless at best and potentially unsafe, like lifting dumbells with our arms (couldn't focus on peddling) and shifting all of our weight onto one leg. Previous classes I took were more basic, didn't do that stuff and I liked those instructors better. And some of the motivational language being used at the studio I recently went to was body-shame-y which is too bad. But anyway, some people don't like spin for my reasons and others, but if you like it I would keep going, especially if you click with the studio/instructors since that's not guaranteed every time.
  • Missisnotmyfirstname
    Missisnotmyfirstname Posts: 22 Member
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    I love spinning and I'm growing to love running. However, I can spin for longer than I can run therefore it's better for me.
    If you love spinning and don't want to run every day, stick with the spinning
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,970 Member
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    swagoner94 wrote: »
    Moreover, I just read an article completely against spin classes for weight loss! This is the exact opposite of what my friend had told me. The point of the article was that running > spin class. I'd agree. But I can't last an hour running like I can on a bike, and running isn't something I want to do every single day. I'm just curious what people's thoughts on spin classes are? Should I opt for something else on my Tuesdays and Thursdays? How has spin class worked for you and your weight loss goals?

    Running burns more calories than riding a bike, if you do each for an hour. But you can ride a bike for an hour and you can't run for an hour. That means a bike is better for you.

    Also, the bike will strengthen your knees.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,970 Member
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    Azdak wrote: »
    While running may (and I stress "may") burn more calories per minute than spinning

    I agree with your message, but want to share my experience wrt this part.

    Running always burns more calories (per minute) than cycling for me. Always. It's not possible for it to be any other way.

    At my 5K pace, I'm 67 % over my FTP. 10K pace is 55 % over FTP. In theory I can run a hair faster than I walk and then I'm running at my FTP. But the motion of running means jumping up in the air with every step. Even if I'm not making any forward motion (like when I'm waiting at a stop light) I'm still doing a lot of work.

    On the bike, I can exceed my FTP, but not for terribly long; it's the most power I can put out for 60 minutes.

    So, I just can't ride at the intensity that running requires. And I can't run slowly and easily enough to match cycling.

    I don't know how widely applicable this is. Most people who run and ride, run above their FTP. Almost everybody runs at higher HRs than they ride. I know that much is commonplace. On the other hand, I can't run in Z2 and that's a pretty common prescription in running plans, so it might be me.
  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,249 Member
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    If you're looking at it purely in the context of weight loss (ie burning the highest number of calories in a given amount of time) running will usually win out but as NorthCascades correctly pointed out most people can ride for a longer period of time than they can run and, if you're into heart rate training at all, you can ride at lower heart rates more readily that running.

    Add to that the fact that riding (whether it's spinning or riding outside) is great cross training for runners and lots of fun. Its also lower impact than running and recovery times tend to be shorter; most people could safely ride 7 days a week assuming that they're varying intensity whereas running 7 days a week would be ill advised except for seasoned runners (I've been running for almost a decade and would not seriously consider running 7 days a week for an extended period of time).

    Don't overthink it, if you like spinning keep doing it.
  • terrie_k
    terrie_k Posts: 406 Member
    edited January 2018
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    Oops
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 24,841 Member
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    Weight loss is all about calories.

    I don't attribute any of my weight loss to spinning class ... I attribute it to consuming fewer calories than I burn.

    But I do credit my spinning class for helping me retain a fitness level through winter so that I could continue to cycle a century a month (a 100 mile ride each month).
  • PetiteHabanero
    PetiteHabanero Posts: 44 Member
    edited January 2018
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    It's a great low impact workout, maybe increase your time? I have been blessed with god awful knees and sometimes my HIIT and running kill me. I love spin when the elliptical gets old, sometimes (not in a class) I'll alternate between the elliptical and the bike.

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