19 Apr Is a 20 Minute Spin Class Good for You?

Spinning, also known as indoor cycling, is an exercise system that utilises stationary bikes, known as spin bikes, to work through a high-intensity interval training session, often led by a trained spin class instructor.

During a spin class, your fitness is often put to the test. A typical spin session involves a pre-planned exercise session focusing on:

• Endurance
• Strength
• Stamina
• Recovery

Throughout a spin session, a rider will be taken through various intervals of cycling simulation that imitate an endurance rider’s environment, Which includes different levels of resistance from the bike, simulating inclines, declines and flat road cycling.

The many health benefits of spinning

A spin class offers participants a full-body workout, engaging a wide range of muscle groups while testing and developing cardiovascular fitness and endurance.

Low impact exercise

One of the main benefits of spinning is that it is considered a low-impact exercise. A low-impact exercise means you can provide your body with an effective workout without heavily impacting joints, muscles and tissues, like what often occurs during exercises like running or lifting heavy weights.

Performing low-impact exercises like spin class can also help with range of movement by warming up and working joints and stabiliser muscles without putting them into protection mode by heavy impacts and adverse pressure and stress.

Builds muscle

The various changes in resistance while spinning help produce muscular hypertrophy, which is the breaking down and rebuilding of muscle tissue that creates muscle growth, strength and endurance.

Although spin is heavily focused on the legs, it produces muscle growth through the lower, mid and upper body, including core muscles essential for a stable spine and healthy skeletal armature.

Some of the major muscle groups engaged and worked in a typical spin class include, but are not limited to:

• Quadriceps
• Calves
• Hamstrings
• Psoas
• Hip flexors
• Glutes
• Lower back muscles
• Abdominals
• Shoulders
• Lats
• Upper arms
• Forearms
• Hand and wrists
• Upper back
• Neck muscles and more

Spinning really does provide a full-body workout. In addition, because spin is a low impact exercise, these muscle groups are getting a solid workout without being damaged by heavy impacts that put negative pressure on joints and spinal discs.

Mental endurance

Spin classes can get tough, pushing you to your limits of endurance and willpower. However, the ability to continue cycling through muscle burn and cardiovascular fatigue helps develop mental endurance.

Neuroplasticity and development, translate to more mental endurance in day-to-day life, be it at work, during athletic competition, or in intense situations like emergencies and other life stressors.

High-calorie burn

Spin class is a form of high-intensity interval training, often referred to as HIIT, which burns a considerable amount of calories compared to other exercise forms. Spinning achieves this by working for multiple muscle groups and pushing cardiovascular endurance to the limit. Read on below to learn more about EPOC and the afterburn effect.

 Heart and lung health

Spinning provides intense aerobic activity, pushing your lungs to work harder and increasing your heart rate. Regular aerobic exercise, like spin classes, has a positive effect on cardiovascular health and can assist in preventing a range of adverse health conditions, including:

• Heart disease
• High blood pressure
• Diabetes
• Blood clots
• Stroke and more

The best part about a spin class is that you do not need to be peddling for hours to reap the reward of all these health benefits. You can receive all these health benefits and more in as little as 20 minutes of spin class interval training two to three times a week.

Is a 20-minute spin class good for you?

To stay fit and healthy, physicians and fitness professionals often recommend that a person engages in 30-60 minutes of exercise per day as a minimum. However, not all activities offer equal benefits.

High-intensity interval training, like spinning, has been proven to be one of the most effective ways to burn fat, promote cardiovascular health, provide muscle growth, and other significant health benefits unique to HIIT.

One unique benefit is EPOC, which stands for excess post-exercise oxygen consumption, more commonly known as the afterburn effect. EPOC refers to how much oxygen the body consumes post-exercise, above the pre-exercise oxygen consumption baseline.

A spin session already burns a significant amount of calories in a 20-minute session. While the amount burnt can depend on age, fitness levels, current BMI, and other factors, a 20-minute high-intensity spin class can burn between 170 to 300-calories.

However, that burn is just during the class. Because spin is a form of afterburn-inducing HIIT, your body will initiate the afterburn effect long after your session has expired.

While ongoing studies are being conducted to determine how long EPOC can last post-exercise, the consensus is that although your afterburn may peak within the first hour, the continued calorie burn from EPOC could be as long as 24 to 72-hours after your spin session.

Depending on your fitness level, body composition, and natural metabolic rate, you could burn between approximately 50 to 200 extra calories post-spin class.

In conclusion

A 20-minute spin class offers a high return on investment, giving you a full-body workout and an effective aerobic exercise in as little as 20 to 30 minutes.

in summary, a 20-minute spin class can:

• Improve cardiovascular fitness
• Promote muscle growth and endurance
• Burn significant calories
• Metabolic afterburn (EPOC)
• Improve metabolic rate
• Reduce body fat
• Improve heart and lung health
• Regulate blood sugar
• Reduce blood pressure
• Improve sleep and exercise recovery
• Help develop mental clarity and endurance

With so many benefits in as little as 20 minutes, booking a spin class two to three times a week can significantly improve your fitness levels and general health. So, what are you waiting for? Contact your local spin class facilitator and start peddling your way to better health today.

Cycle Collective: Cycling class in Melbourne

Cycle Collective is spin class instructors based in Richmond, just Northeast of Melbourne’s CBD, are some of the best in the business, motivating our students to transcend their exercise goals and achieve peak fitness

If you are looking for elite spin classes surrounded by a positive community of passionate spinners, contact us today on 03 94259319, or send your inquiry via our online contact form, and one of our spin staff will respond promptly.