Louisa's Weight Loss Blog

I had a rare day off today and decided to visit a lunch time spinning class at my gym. It was great, I left the class covered in sweat, glowing and cheerful after such a heavy but rewarding workout.

Spinning is a really hard going, high energy workout involving a big heavy bike and adjustable settings that can make your workout harder or easier. A group of people will get together and cycle to the music and turn the settings up and down as the instructor tells you to. The higher the settings, the heavier your legs get, but if you can build a speed up, it actually feels like the pedals have taken over your feet and the bike is cycling for you. This is SO not as painless as it sounds!

Even though it is heavy going, spinning is a great class to start with if you’re getting into fitness. You’ve got the group setting, so you have other people and an instructor to spur you on, the music is high octane and banging, you’re not forced to balance with your knees on a Swiss ball or obliged to squat into a pose with foot cramp. You can only do your best with what you can do, so you might not turn that quarter turn or sit down and pedal for a few moments while everyone else is stood up. Of course you can only get out of it what you put in, but I couldn’t run for 45 minutes, but I can cycle with no break damned hard for 45 minutes so I leave the class feeling well worked out.

Spinning is great if you don't feel comfortable cycling outside in any weather.

Spin classes at the gym are often very popular and at peak times after work, you will need to book, I think this is a great motivator to go, book a class or two a week and you pretty much have to go otherwise you’re denying someone else a place. My gym also does 7am and 12.45pm classes, so you can go first thing in the morning or in your lunch hour. It’s a very popular class that encourages a lot of regulars so it’s a great opportunity to meet other people, get tips, encourage each other and maybe even make fitness friends.

Spinning has had some common misconceptions, like you will still burn fat for up to two days after a class. It is true, the more exercise you do, the more your metabolism will continue to burn fat, but two days is too good to be true. However, you do burn a lot of calories in a class, so twice weekly classes on top of your diet is going to see results. No one exercise is going to change your body completely, so you will need other cardio, resistance and toning exercises, but I would recommend spinning every time as a great fat burner!