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Do you want to push your state of fitness in the right direction spending a minimum amount of time? Maybe you would be interested in indoor team cycling? Cycle training is one of the big calorie eaters within training and is readily accessible to everybody.There are quite a number of names of indoor team cycling. Among the most common names are Spinning, Cycling, Bodybike, FitnessBike, Spinning and Indoor Cycling. They all cover the same thing: indoor team cycling on special-made bikes that are adjusted to the individual users. Cycling is done by intervals where you stand, sit, spurt, go up-hill, go straight ahead, tread heavily, tread lightly etc. Focus is on the music and you are guided by a coach. I have chosen to use the name Indoor Cycling in this article.Indoor Cycling primarily trains your circulatory system. The training increases and improves the transportation of oxygen and nutrients in your body and strengthens the function of your heart and lungs as well as your circulatory system.Indoor Cycling has become very popular, and not without reason. Very few types of fitness require as many calories as Indoor Cycling. One of the reasons why its efficiency is so great is that the movements do not require much coordination ability. All your energy may therefore be focused on working hard.
Besides the coach, the central element of Indoor Cycling is the music that sounds while cycling is done by short and long intervals at different paces and loads. Intervals are done standing up or sitting on the bike while the participants follow the instructions given by the coach who guide them through the training lesson. Training is composed in accordance with the individual coach style and choice of music and in consideration of participants' levels. The type of training mostly used for Indoor Cycling is interval training, but long training sessions focusing on endurance are also used. The coach's possibility of varying lessons lies in the music, the pulse, a slow or rapid cadence, an increased or decreased load, a standing or sitting position. It is up to the coach to use his or her imagination, temperament and common sense to build a lesson within the limits of what is secure, reasonable and correct from a technical point of view on cycling.
Indoor Cycling history
Over the last couple of years, Indoor Cycling has become a very popular type of training. Ex-world-class racer Johnny G. Spinner, alias Jonathan Goldberg, built the first indoor cycle in the early 80s. The idea was to build an indoor cycle functioning as closely to an ordinary racer bike as possible. He intended to use it as a supplement to his outdoor training during winter time. That was the beginning of the megatrend of Indoor Cycling. Denmark quickly picked up the trend, being in the lead of the production of indoor cycles right from the beginning.A completely new generation of cycles, "BodyBike" designed by Danish Steen Isaaksen, was launched in the mid 90s. The new thing about this Danish cycle compared to other cycles at that time was that the handlebars and the seat could be adjusted not only up and down, but also backwards and forwards for easy and quick adjustment to the individual users. BodyBike soon became one of the leading market brands. Today there are a huge number of different brands of indoor cycles whose functions are almost all alike.
Indoor Cycling is a certain way to weight loss
Indoor Cycling has become a hit for quite simple reasons: It creates results in the form of an improved state of fitness, a greater oxygen uptake and a consequently improved metabolism, a higher lactic acid level (anaerobic threshold), and, as a consequence of those effects, a considerable weight loss - that is, if you do not reward yourself with a coke and a chocolate bar after training.Contrary to aerobic, Indoor Cycling is a hit with men - possibly because there are no extreme demands for coordination ability. No left or right, just straight ahead. And both men and women are attracted by Indoor Cycling also because it makes such heavy demands on you and is a quick and efficient way of fat burning.
Equipment
If you are hooked on Indoor Cycling you should first of all buy a pair of cycling shorts with a seat pad with extra padding and no seams in the areas on which you sit. Do not wear anything under the cycling shorts. You may grease the pad with vaseline or cycling cream if the shorts irritate your skin, but most people who do Indoor Cycling do not find it necessary. Your next investment should be a sweat transporting T-shirt that fits tightly to your body. A loose-fitting T-shirt may be in the way when your legs are whirling away, and your movements may be hampered when the T-shirt gets wet from your sweat. Next thing to get is a pair of cycling shoes. Two different cycle pedals are used on indoor cycles: the SPD system and the LOOK system. The SPD system is the same as used for mountain bikes and the LOOK system is the system mostly used for road cycling. Check the cycles in the fitness centre and find out which system is used. Cycle shoes for Indoor Cycling need not cost a lot as they are not worn in the same way as shoes for outdoor use. Also, they need not be weatherproof or aerodynamic in the same way as shoes for outdoor use. As a last gift for yourself you can buy a pulse monitor to check work intensity.
Cycle adjustment
Adjusting your cycle is of great importance to the training outcome and to prevent overuse injuries in the long term. The height of the saddle is found, more or less, by standing sideward to the cycle while lifting one leg till your thigh is in horizontal position. That indicates the correct saddle height. The handlebars should be adjusted to the level of the saddle or possibly to a higher level. Road racers' handlebars are adjusted below saddle level, but that is just to ensure a more aerodynamic body position which is important outdoors. This position demands a lot from your back muscles and back thighs regarding suppleness, something which is uncharacteristic of most people. At the same time, that position does not give a more powerful output than with the handlebars placed at saddle level or even higher. And - Indoor Cycling being performed indoors, there is every reason to adjust the cycle to obtain a nice and comfortable seating position. With a proper adjustment of the handlebars, there will also be ample room for your breathing on which heavy demands are made when you wheel away. The team coach will of course assist you in getting started.
Cycling technique
- keep your back slightly bent
- lower your shoulders
- bend your elbows a little
- keep your feet straight forward
- keep your knees straight forward in feet direction
How hard should it be?
In Indoor Cycling, a so-called physiological scale is used. This scale tells something about how hard you work - compared to your state of fitness. Using this physiological scale to determine how hard you work is popular because it gives the individual user an indication of how hard he or she is working compared to his or her present state of fitness. And it assists the coach in determining how hard he or she wants his or her team to work. The better the coach, the better guidance on using the physiological scale - and the better you will get through Indoor Cycling, safe and sound.
Level Work Breathing Speech
- Inactive Steady, deep Normal
- Very light Steady, deep Normal
- Light Steady, deep Normal
- Relatively light Steady, deep Normal
- Moderate Less deep, slightly faster Normal
- Slight effort Moderate Conversation with small breaks
- Strenuous Fast Breathless conversation
- Hard Heavy Short sentences
- Very hard Very short of breath Few words
- Maximum Panting Speech almost impossible
A good Indoor Cycling lesson contains intervals at:
- For beginners: 4-8
- For slightly experienced users: 5-9
- For experienced users: 5-10
Where can you do Indoor Cycling:
- in almost all fitness centres
- many gymnastics and sports organisations also offer Indoor Cycling
Get well started:
- Start in a beginner team if you have not tried it before - also if you think you are fit.
- Listen to your body - and press yourself as hard as you can without losing control.
- Drink water before, during and after the lesson - also if you are not thirsty.
- Train 1-2 times a week.
For the training, remember to bring:
- a water bottle
- a towel
- dry spare clothes if you are not going to shower at the centre