Making Your Spinning Class More Effective

Question:

How can I make my spinning class more effective? I spin 3 to 4 times a week and love it, but want to keep improving cardio-wise and fat-burning wise.

Answer:

Spinning is a great way to do cardio work on the stationary bike, especially if you’re looking for fat loss. Here are some recommendations for your goals.

Fat Burning:

1. Do your spinning class on a fasting state. What this means is that you shouldn’t eat or drink anything (with calories in it) for a few hours before your spinning class. The absolute best example of this is first thing in the morning. You can burn about 300% more fat if you do your cardio first thing in the morning before eating or drinking anything (except water). If your class is later in the day, be sure to have your closest meal before it at least 2 to 3 hours prior to the class or in at least enough time for it to be fully digested.

What this fasting state does is put you in a state of low and stable blood sugar. If your body doesn’t have much blood sugar (carbohydrates) to fuel your exercise, it will dip into your fat stores much sooner. Be aware, however, that you may not feel as though you have as much energy to train when you first start doing this, especially if you are used to eating right before you train.

2. Do not eat anything right away after the spinning class. Your body will keep burning fat after the class because you have increased your metabolism. Wait around an hour, then eat quality protein (like whey) and carbs to help fuel your recovery.

Cardio:

1. The frequency of classes that you’re doing is good. I wouldn’t recommend going much over 3 to 4 times per week. This gives your body time to recover. You didn’t mention how long your spinning classes were but a good option to increase your endurance may be to get there a little early and stay a few minutes late doing some low-intensity pedaling.

2. Increasing the resistance on the bike, naturally, will make the workload harder and build leg strength as well.

3. Increasing your cadence (leg speed/r.p.m.’s) will also increase your workload.

4. I am assuming that your class consists of interval training where the resistance and speed is varied during the workout. One thing you might want to try at the end of your spinning class is one all out sprint with everything you’ve got on a high resistance until you feel you can’t go any more…then go five more seconds. Not only has an all-out, lactic-acid building sprint like this been shown to increase growth hormone levels in your body, it will build up your wind and give you a good challenge. Keep track of how long that final sprint lasts and try to increase the time each session you do it.

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