Spinning: What it is and what factors into calorie burn.

Spinning: What it is and what factors into calorie burn.
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What is Spinning?

Spinning is an intense and vigorous workout that involves cycling with an instructor and a group of people inside a studio. There are normally various lights and music settings that are used to create an energized atmosphere to keep the excitement level high. The instructor takes the cyclists through different workout phases such as the warm-up, steady up-tempo cadences, sprints, climbs and cool-downs. The cyclist is able to adjust the resistance throughout the routine to control of the intensity of the workout. The classes typically run anywhere from 30 to 75 minutes. These classes always leave the participants sweaty yet satisfied and the calories burned make it all worth it.

What Factors Influence Calorie Burn?

There are many factors that will influence how many calories a person can burn in a spinning class. These include the duration of the exercise session, the intensity, the weight of the individual (heavier people burn more calories) and the experience level of the individual (beginners burn more calories).

Many of these factors can be altered in order to make the session more challenging and to calorie burn. For example, someone who has mastered a 30 minute spinning class could either increase the time to 45 minutes or increase the resistance and/or speed (together making up intensity) for 30 minutes. An experienced spinner could change up the routine, the cadences, how many sprints performed, etc.

Pros and Cons

There are some pros and cons to doing a spinning class.

Pros

  • Spinning is an intense, vigorous and effective workout.
  • Having an instructor that changes up and varies the routine will keep things fresh.
  • Allows for experienced cyclists to train offseason.
  • There is less chance for injuries on stationary bikes (plus no helmet).

Cons

  • It is not a real bike and doesn’t accurately simulate the real experience.
  • The cyclist must really push themselves to get maximum calorie burn.
  • The classes can become monotonous over time.

How to Estimate Calorie Burn

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If you want some sure-fire ways to figure out how many calories you’ll burn during a spinning class, there are a few options. For example, check out HealthStatus.com’s Calorie Burn Estimator. All you have to do is click on the spinning section and put in your weight and duration and it will give you an estimate of your calorie burn.

You can also head over to My-Calorie-Counter.com and use their Spinning Calorie Estimator. For this calculator, you must also put in your weight and duration. Whatever road you choose, don’t get too caught up in the calorie number and enjoy a different sort of cardiovascular experience with spinning.

Sources

HealthStatus.com (2011, February 15). Calorie Burn Estimator. Retrieved from https://www.healthstatus.com/calculate/cbc

My-Calorie-Counter.com (2011, February 15). Calories Burned For Spinning Class. Retrieved from https://www.my-calorie-counter.com/Calories_Burned/spinning-class.asp

About.com (2011, February 15). What Happens in a Spinning Class? Retrieved https://bicycling.about.com/od/trainingandfitness/gr/spinning.htm

Buzzle.com (2011, February 15). Spinning Class: Calories Burned at Spinning Class. Retrieved https://www.buzzle.com/articles/spinning-class-calories-burned-at-spin-class.html