Club Fitness NY is a Licensed Mad Dogg® SPIN® facility. We house the official Star Trac NXT SPINNER® Bicycles.  Our instructors are Mad Dogg®/Johhny G® certified .

Spin® Experience (Begginers): If you love challenges and biking this is the class for you. Spinning® has been around for years however seems to be the latest craze in the fitness world. Burn calories as you tone your legs through various levels of spinning® on a stationary bike with uplifting music. A true challenging workout experience

Super Spin®: For the advanced spinning® audience take your level even higher with this super challenging spinning® session.

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What is it:

Indoor cycling, as an organized activity, is a form of exercise with classes focusing on endurance, strength, intervals, higher intensity (race days) and recovery, that involves using a special stationary exercise bicycle with a weighted flywheel in a classroom setting.

History

Ultra-endurance athlete Jonathan Goldberg developed the concept of indoor cycling classes in the 1980s. Subsequently, a trademarked program (Spinning) was later introduced by Mad Dogg Athletics, Inc., a company founded by Goldberg and John Baudhuin.^[1][2]

 

Classes

Participants set goals based on their heart rate, which can be measured by hand or using a heart rate monitor and ride simulated variations in terrain by altering resistance and cadence. As an alternative, participants can judge their level of exertion on an RPE (relative perceived exertion) scale. This scale has numbers which range from six (no exertion at all) to 20 (maximum exertion). Instructors guide classes by calling out the level of exertion at which participants should be. The instructor can also give a simple exertion scale from 1 (no exertion at all) to 10 (maximum exertion).^{[citation needed]}

A typical class involves a single instructor at the front of the class who leads the participants through routines that are designed to simulate terrain and situations similar to riding a bike outdoors. Some of the movements and positions include hill climbs, sprints and interval training. A well-trained instructor uses music, motivation and enthusiastic coaching to lead students through a ride that best suits their fitness level and goals. Most instructors will lead what is called an interval ride, this is where students will sprint, run, climb, and jump all in the same ride but there will not be definable pattern to the exercises. In the early 2000s, "terrain-based" classes that simulate outdoor conditions (e.g., wind resistance) were introduced. Terrain-based classes are designed to improve a rider's outdoor skill set and increase endurance while providing an intense cardio-based workout.

Each person in the class can choose their own goals for the session. Some participants choose to maintain a moderate, aerobic intensity level, while others drive their heart rates higher in intervals of anaerobic activity. This is a major advantage of indoor cycling: each participant can control his/her level of intensity; the classes can therefore be heterogeneous.

Besides being a great form of aerobic activity (burning between 400-600 calories in 40 minutes)^{[citation needed]}, indoor cycling is also beneficial in strengthening the muscles of the lower body. It tones the quadriceps and hamstrings, along with working the back and hips. It can be difficult to stay at the moderate level in a class that is geared towards more intensity. If the exercise is not done correctly, injuries can occur; problems with the lower back and knees are most common. To avoid injury it is important to make sure the seat position is right for the participant's height. The height of the seat should be in level with the hip when the participant is standing next to the cycle. Horizontally the seat should be set in order for the knee to be straight over the ball of the foot when the pedal is pointing forward.^[3] This results in a position where the knee is slightly bent when the leg is extended with the foot resting at the bottom of the pedal. Handlebar height can be adjusted for comfort; less experienced riders may want to set them higher to ease lower back discomfort. A reasonable reference point is to set it in level with the seat.

Classes generally use specialized stationary bicycles. Features include a mechanical device to modify the difficulty of pedalling, specially-shaped handlebars, and multiple adjustment points to fit the bicycle to a range of riders. Many have a weighted flywheel which simulates the effects of inertia and momentum when riding a real bicycle. The pedals are equipped with toe clips as on sports bicycles to allow one foot to pull up when the other is pushing down. They may alternatively have clipless receptacles for use with cleated cycling shoes. Stationary cycles used in classroom settings often do not have the electronic features found on some models.

The difficulty of the workout is modulated in three ways:

1. By varying the resistance on a flywheel attached to the pedals. The resistance is controlled by a knob, wheel or lever that the rider operates, causing the flywheel brake (a common bicycle brake, a friction wheel, a magnetic eddy-current brake, a viscoelastic fluid brake, or a strap running around the flywheel) to tighten. On most bikes the brake can be adjusted from completely loose, providing no resistance to pedaling beyond the inertia of the flywheel, to so tight that the rider can not move the pedals. Usually riders who can not pedal at the resistance called out by the instructor are encouraged to ride at a level at which they feel comfortable yet challenged.
2. By changing the cadence (the speed at which the pedals turn). Pedaling at a higher rate expends more energy than pedaling at a lower rate with the same resistance.
3. By sitting or standing in various positions:
   • Forward, with hands at the front-most part of the handlebars where the handles are parallel to the sides of the rider's body, used only when out of the saddle. This is hand position 3.
   • Middle, with hands on the 12-14" part of the handlebars that crosses the rider's body. This position can be used when the rider is seated or standing and is known as Hand Position 2. Most class time is in hand position 2.
   • Rear, with hands at the center part of the handlebars. This position should be used only when seated, for warm-up and cool down only. This is Hand Position 1.

Each of these positions works the muscles in slightly different ways. Proper form for standing while pedaling requires the body to be more upright and the back of the legs touching or enveloping the point of the saddle, with the center of gravity directly over the crank. The center of gravity or pressure of body weight should never rest on the handlebars.

The three positions used in indoor cycling each work a different part of the body and it depends on the level of exertion whether or not someone changes position or the instructor can tell the class to change. Position one is when the rider in the saddle (seated) and the hands are resting on the center of the handle bars. Position two is when the rider stands up but can still feel the saddle between their legs and their hands are light on the handle bars. Position three is used for heavy climbing and the body is extended over the handles.

Most indoor cycling classes are coached with music. Riders may synchronize their pedalling to be in time with the rhythm of the music, thus providing an external stimulus to encourage a certain tempo. Often, the music chosen by the instructor is dance music or rock music set to a dance beat (i.e. 4/4 time), but not necessarily. This tends to help motivate participants to work harder than they might otherwise. The instructor also may choose specific song for sprints, climbs, and jumps. While the music provides a tempo cue, the cadence does not need to be a multiple of the beat in order for the rider to feel in rhythm; the music therefore helps a rider maintain any constant cadence, not just a cadence that matches the beat.

It is recommended when riding in a class to bring plenty of water. Indoor cycling is very energetic and causes a lot of sweating, and a person who is near dehydration can easily be dehydrated by the end of an hour of hard riding. One ounce (30 milliliters) of water consumed for each minute of work is the recommended and safest hydration ratio, but this could be varied depending on your weight.

The flywheel resistance control is also used to brake the flywheel. When changing from fast pedalling to slow, the flywheel brake may be used to slow the flywheel rather than allowing the force of the angular momentum to be applied to ones knees and legs.

 References