Spinning on Your Own

If you have ever stepped foot into a gym or taken a spin class you may have found it difficult to always get in. In my experience spin classes have become much more popular then in the past. If you find that you cannot get into a class, its fine. Do it on your own. Today I'm going to outline the basic moves to spinning so you too can enjoy it on your own.

Warm Up and Stretch

Before starting any exercise problem you should also do a proper warm up and stretch routine. Make sure your resistance is all the way off and your legs are moving and a steady pace. Bring your right arm across your chest and circle your wrist to the right and left, then repeat with your left arm. Clasp your arms in front of your chest and then push your arms out for a good stretch. Make sure to breath and open up the chest by sitting up straight during the warm up.

Slides and Hovers

We are going to want to bring it out of the saddle and into the second position. The second position is simply standing straight up with your hands loosely on the handlebars for support only. Make sure while you are standing up, there is enough resistance on the wheel to keep your legs from moving out of control. After about 20 seconds change into the third position, hands in the furthest position on the handlebars, butt pushed back and back flat. Alternate between the second and third position using only your core muscles to switch positions. I like to do this for the duration of the song adding hovers during the chorus. During the chorus is a perfect time to add a hover; a hover simply means to peddle in the second position while keeping your torso still. Pretend that you are balancing a book on your head, all the energy moves into the legs and the torso will remain calm. It might take a couple tries to get the hang of a hover, but soon your will feel the benefits.

Hill Climb

The hill climb is a great move to work your long or endurance muscles, the muscles used for long distances. For a hill climb we are going to be in the third position. Fell free to close your eyes, imagine somewhere you would love to be, feel the sun on your back and enjoy the ride. Start at about a five on the resistance wheel, one would be no resistance and ten would be so hard to peddle it would take all your body weight. You will want to ride at a five for about a minute and then take it up to about a six for another minute. You might find that your hill climb takes two songs and that's fine. You're going to want to keep increasing your resistance till you get to a ten.

Speed and Down Hill

Well in the last song we went up, so we must come down. Were going to get back into the saddle and lower the resistance to about a four. You're going to want to peddle fast and brisk as we make our way down the hill. If you prefer you may also take this time to do some speed races. Speed will work out your twitch and short muscles the ones used for sprinting and other short distances. During a speed race you will want to spend about 30 seconds on and 30 seconds off. Meaning for the 30 seconds on your going to sprint as fast as you can and use the other 30 seconds to recover. You can alternate between sitting in the saddle and standing in the third position.

Jumps

Jumps can be a lot of fun, make sure you are using a song with a good beat and one that your enjoy. During jumps you will be alternating between the saddle and second position. Choose the resistance that gives you a good workout. We will start with counts of eight, meaning eight in the saddle and eight out of the saddle, do this for about 10 rounds and decrease it to counts of four, and then to counts of one. This is a great all over exercise and can be a lot of fun.

Cool Down

As with any exercise program you always want to make sure you properly cool down. You don't want the blood cooling in any of your extremities. Take the resistance all the way off and keep your legs moving. This is a good time for some stretches and deep breaths. Once you have cooled down stand in the second position with your feet even on the pedals. Push your back heel down to get a great calf stretch and repeat on the other leg. Be careful getting off, take a deep breath reaching into the sky and enjoy your day.