30mins spin everyday?

Rsrs35 · January 2022

Hey everyone, so I’m wondering what everyone’s thoughts are on choosing to spin for 30mins everyday…. I warm up for 5mins go hard 20mins and then ease off for 5mins. So it’s not full 30mins hard. I’m 175lbs at the moment and need to lose over 30lbs.
My plan is to do cardio for 30mins a day and try and burn 300kcals a day at least…. However, with the extra weight I’m carrying I do struggle with running / dancing, but find spinning is just perfect as no impact but still intense. I also really enjoy half an hour of listening to invigorating music!

Lietchi · January 2022

So what are you hoping to accomplish by doing this?

If it's weight-loss: weight-loss is the result of being in a calorie deficit. Exercise can make it easier to be in a deficit, but it isn't strictly required. 300 calories in half an hour sounds quite steep (but I know nothing of cycling or spinning). If your spin bike shows your power output in watts, you can use that to calculate your calorie burn.

If it's increased fitness, it will certainly increase your cardiovascular fitness. As you get fitter, you'll be able to go harder (and burn more calories) for the same perceived fitness level. I would recommend also doing some form of strength training, good for health and also to help preserve muscle mass while you lose weight.

Where exercise is concerned, the best exercise is the exercise you enjoy and actually do. Doing the same exercise 6 days a week sounds like a way to burn yourself out (it would bore me), but perhaps it's just for a while until you get more fit and lighter and you can diversify? Or perhaps it won't burn you out, you'll know better than me what you enjoy 🙂 perhaps just varying the duration and intensity could mix things up enough.

Rsrs35 · January 2022

@Lietchi
I felt pretty knackered this morning upon waking, and that’s with 3 days of spinning under my belt,

I’m glad you reminded me once again that calorie deficit is key, and there are days when I’m tired I can just choose to be in a deficit that gives me energy and keeps me going but that I will still lose weight from.

I feel curious about how my body will respond to doing 30mins of something whilst eating a deficit - and also 30mins of something I can sort of handle (yes the spin is still probably too hard and having thought about it - every other day would be better than EVERY day).

Strength training is something I absolutely love, but you hit the nail on the head, I really need to build some stamina and lose some of this excess weight that I’m struggling to carry around. So I guess even 10-15lbs off will really help with that.

Im definitely at an age where I understand it needs to be sustainable - so im pretty certain anything I do that might be slightly drastic now is simply to get me to my goal.

Im fact, I guess maintaining is going ti be my next hangout community board once I get there. Because although I have managed (even if it’s a super big slog) to lose the weight I have not yet figured out how to maintain it.

So you are spot on, for that reason alone I should do workouts that I truly love and will become part of the maintain plan.

Spin is high up there but probably not everyday!! Unless it’s a good week

Thanks for your input

))

mowu · January 2022

I spin too - but not every day. I aim to spin with the intention of pushing myself (like you do) 2-3 days a week, this is my anaerobic training. In my opinion going hard like you do every day will not allow your body to recover and you will wear yourself down rather than building yourself up.

My aim is to do 1 hour 2-3 days a week and am building up to that by increasing the amount of time on the bike by 5 minutes per session until I am at that goal - then I can start build intensity and/or sprint intervals into the session.

On the days that I do not spin I walk for 45-60 minutes - it is a low impact aerobic that allows my muscles to recover while still doing "some" excercise.

Also I know that weight training is good and has a lot of benefits....I just don't find it fun. But at some point I will give it a shot again to see if it is getting better as my general fitness becomes better.

Djproulx · January 2022

I ride outdoors most of the year (80-120miles/wk) and ride indoors on my bike trainer and in spin classes 5- 6hrs/week in winter to maintain fitness. Regarding your goal of 300 cal/30 minutes - that is a fairly high intensity effort. I'll burn 600/hr during high intensity intervals, but it may be overstated for you unless your bike has a power meter.

More importantly, as others note, you'll gain fitness faster while reducing the chance of injury or burnout, if you build recovery sessions into your training week. Maybe spin every other day, with a lower intensity activity on your off days? As you get fitter, you'll be able to enjoy longer spin classes, say 50-60 minutes or more. Being able to push hard for a 50 minute class is a great indicator of improved fitness.

Finally, if you are doing this to support weight loss and improve your quality of life, my best suggestion is to find activities that you love (like spinning) and do them in a way that leads to a fitness habit. If you do exercise activities you enjoy, you stick with them. If you start out too hard and/or too often, it often leads to injury or burnout and will derail your efforts. Best of luck.

AnnPT77 · January 2022

I endorse pretty much what everyone's said above: It's not the 30 minutes per se, it's the "intense every time" and (maybe) the question of whether your current fitness level is such that daily spin is a moderate and achievable exercise, vs. not giving you enough recovery.

Why I'm posting: You say you're knackered after 3 days of this routine. That should highlight the way in which over-exercising for your current fitness level can be counterproductive for weight loss. Repeat: Counterproductive.

Think about it: What happens when we're tired? We drag through our day, fidget less, maybe put off some chores or errands, possibly sit more through the day, maybe even go to bed early . . . all of which burns fewer calories than if we'd felt peppy, and acted it. It's pretty easy to cancel out a fair fraction of exercise calories this way. (For many of us, our daily life activity - above and beyond the bare basal metabolic rate (BMR) calories it costs just be be alive, breathing, with a heartbeat - represents quite a few more calories than our exercise calories, just from things like our job and home chores.)

The sweet spot for exercise is IMO that intensity/duration/frequency/type of activity that is manageably challenging, yet leaves us feeling energetic for the rest of our day (maybe after a few minutes of "whew" feeling right after the exercise), not feeling exhausted or knackered. As we get fitter the specific intensity/duration/frequency will change - we can do more, with less fatigue penalty.

On top of that, fitness is better built by starting with lower intensity cardiovascular exercise, to create a base, then adding a mix of intensities later on. Elite athletes don't go at maximum intensity (for them) every minute of their training time, either, not even close. (Yes, they go at a pace that would probably kill me, because they're much fitter than me . . . but it's not intense to them, for the largest fraction of their training time.) If they don't go full out all the time, why would us duffers do so?

All of that's without even getting into the potential for overuse injuries (or injuries from fatigue-induced sloppy technique), if overdoing.

Finally, a cranky comment: I'm wondering how old "definitely at an age where I understand it needs to be sustainable" is? For a huge range of ages, fitness level is the really important variable in designing a sensible routine, not age. Mr. @Djproulx up there with the impressive workout routine . . . well, I shouldn't out him, but he's almost as old as I am, IIRC, and I'm 66. I'm a snail by contrast, and even more so in Winter (my off season), but in season I'm rowing on water an hour+ 4 days a week, usually biking for an hour or so on 2 other days, and most of the time walking 5 miles for fun on the rowing days. Winter, it's more like 30-45 minutes of stationary bike or rowing machine, often some strength training or floor exercises too, 6 days most weeks.

But both of us have been active for a long time. Age is not a firm obstacle. I know I've worked up gradually, and I'm betting he has, too. You can, too. You will, if you plan a sensible, fun, energizing approach to exercise that keeps a nice little bit of challenge always in the picture. The activity that represents that manageable challenge will just keep getting a little more objectively intense, longer, or more frequent, maybe involve different activity types, as you get fitter.

Best wishes for progress!

Djproulx · January 2022

OP,
@Ann's post frames the issue nicely then describes an approach that has produced long term benefits for many.

(Including this 64 year old,lol)

Rsrs35 · January 2022

@AnnPT77

100% you’ve definitely challenged my thought process on my personal “age” related comment.
Which was, in no way directed at anyone else, be they in there 20s or 60s.

I will definitely challenge myself to look at this from a perspective that allows me to not limit myself just because of my age. I wonder if at the time I was feeling jarred because of an ankle sprain and a niggly I going knee issue (over 20 years) that I felt I needed to share that I need to make sure it’s sustainable to get the right advice.

Of course, we naturally build up strength and stamina so inevitably once I start I would adjust my plan accordingly.

I do enjoy spinning, mainly because it’s 30mins switch off time from work and I get to listen to music and rock out!

Let see how this goes xxx.

30mins spin everyday?

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