Spinning class for Fitness not weight loss.

lubie76

I done my first spinning class today and felt it was pretty intense compared to the other cardio I do (crosstrainer, rower etc.). I want to up my fitness not lose weight as I am the correct weight for my height. I'm only going to do one class a week for now but in general does spinning make you lose weight as compared to other cardio workouts of the same length.

blorg

Any exercise will make you lose weight in the sense that it burns calories. If you are specifically looking for "fitness" rather than weight loss and only going to do one a week then the more intensity the better I would imagine. I have heard spinning is quite intense all right, my own cycling club organises classes in a local gym to maintain fitness over the winter.

Could the intensity be more to do with the idea that you have an instructor telling you how hard to push, the music, atmosphere etc. You are probably more motivated to go hard than on your own on another machine.

I suspect it does very little for the upper body compared to a cross trainer or rower. Certainly cycling does little. Worth bearing in mind if that is important to you.

Lumen

lubie76 wrote: »

I done my first spinning class today and felt it was pretty intense compared to the other cardio I do (crosstrainer, rower etc.). I want to up my fitness not lose weight as I am the correct weight for my height. I'm only going to do one class a week for now but in general does spinning make you lose weight as compared to other cardio workouts of the same length.

Crosstrainers, rowers, spinning. Concerns about being too thin. What are you trying to achieve?

There is no correct weight for your height, and fitness is specific.

Perhaps you should channel your enthusiasms towards something a bit more fun, like cycling. You might even enjoy yourself.

Dr_Colossus

In terms of intensity I don't think you can get anything tougher than the rower, absolutely destroying and works the whole body. For good endurance/fitness aim to do 5k on the rower maintaining a rate of 1:55 per 500m with a drag factor of 30 which most simulates actual water. To get the drag factor on Concept rowers hit the Rest and OK buttons simulataneously and make a few strokes to get the reading, usually it's about level 6 or 7. If you can do 5k in under 19mins you won't be complaining it's not intense enough and you should have a pretty elevated heart rate which works your fitness and VO2 max.
Spinning is great exercise also and most simulates actual road cycling, well more so than the exercise bikes you usually get in the gym. It is intense but again intense is all relative as to how hard you push yourself, I find it intense more from an overheating/sweating perspective as you're in an enclosed room in close proximity with others all working hard and I suppose this is what's motivational. My one fault with spinning is that there isn't any sort of digital readout to compare with fellow spinners as to who actually cycled/pushed the most. As such you really need to wear a HRM to monitor your progress/exertion.
Generally if your aim is to burn fat you need to maintain a relatively low heart rate for an extended period of time, this is why alot of overweight people favour walking for hours on end. If your main aim is to improve actual fitness then you should be aiming to maintain a high heart rate (usually about 80-90+% of max) for as long as you can sustain. I think I'd favour rowing over spinning for this in general.

JacksonHeightsOwn

blorg wrote: »

Any exercise will make you lose weight in the sense that it burns calories. If you are specifically looking for "fitness" rather than weight loss and only going to do one a week then the more intensity the better I would imagine. I have heard spinning is quite intense all right, my own cycling club organises classes in a local gym to maintain fitness over the winter.

Could the intensity be more to do with the idea that you have an instructor telling you how hard to push, the music, atmosphere etc. You are probably more motivated to go hard than on your own on another machine.

I suspect it does very little for the upper body compared to a cross trainer or rower. Certainly cycling does little. Worth bearing in mind if that is important to you.

interesting blorg, when and where is that spinning class situated?

c0rk3r

Just eat the calories you burn ?

blorg

chrisbonnie wrote: »

interesting blorg, when and where is that spinning class situated?

I think it was in a TotalFitness last year, remains to be seen if they organise something again this year, not sure if it was a club-specific thing or a discount on another class but I believe there were a fair few doing it.

c0rk3r wrote: »

Just eat the calories you burn ?

Good point, I find it difficult to understand people who are worried about weight loss from moderate exercise, it is not difficult to replace the calories. If you were doing the Tour, might be another story.

Lumen

blorg wrote: »

I find it difficult to understand people who are worried about weight loss from moderate exercise, it is not difficult to replace the calories. If you were doing the Tour, might be another story.

Well, I find it quite difficult to get enough calories in, and I'm only cycling a few hours a week.

It seems like I'm always hitting the limits of my apetitite (I feel well stuffed at the end of each meal), yet I can't hit 70kgs @ 6ft.

I eat a proper breakfast (a few slices of buttered brown soda toast), a typical lunch is about 3 plates at an all-you-can-eat buffet, followed by a twix and a snickers, bananas and maybe protein shake when I get home and a decent sized meal for dinner, followed by the odd chocolate/sweets binge.

blorg

Lumen wrote: »

Well, I find it quite difficult to get enough calories in, and I'm only cycling a few hours a week.

It seems like I'm always hitting the limits of my apetitite (I feel well stuffed at the end of each meal), yet I can't hit 70kgs @ 6ft.

I eat a proper breakfast (a few slices of buttered brown soda toast), a typical lunch is about 3 plates at an all-you-can-eat buffet, followed by a twix and a snickers, bananas and maybe protein shake when I get home and a decent sized meal for dinner, followed by the odd chocolate/sweets binge.

People like you make me sick.

bcmf

Lumen wrote: »

It seems like I'm always hitting the limits of my apetitite (I feel well stuffed at the end of each meal), yet I can't hit 70kgs @ 6ft.

I eat a proper breakfast (a few slices of buttered brown soda toast), a typical lunch is about 3 plates at an all-you-can-eat buffet, followed by a twix and a snickers, bananas and maybe protein shake when I get home and a decent sized meal for dinner, followed by the odd chocolate/sweets binge.

I hate you

Beasty

blorg wrote: »

People like you make me sick.

Not sure we should be promoting bulemia as a weight control technique:D

Dr_Colossus

Lumen wrote: »

Well, I find it quite difficult to get enough calories in, and I'm only cycling a few hours a week.

It seems like I'm always hitting the limits of my apetitite (I feel well stuffed at the end of each meal), yet I can't hit 70kgs @ 6ft.

I eat a proper breakfast (a few slices of buttered brown soda toast), a typical lunch is about 3 plates at an all-you-can-eat buffet, followed by a twix and a snickers, bananas and maybe protein shake when I get home and a decent sized meal for dinner, followed by the odd chocolate/sweets binge.

Unreal Lumen, your metabolism must be sky high. 70kgs @ 6ft is pretty light. What age are you, maybe when you hit 30 your metabolism will start to slow down and you'll be more like the rest of us. I'm 6ft also but struggle to get under 95kgs.

Diarmuid

c0rk3r wrote: »

Just eat the calories you burn ?

where's the fun in that ?

Lumen

Dr_Colossus wrote: »

Unreal Lumen, your metabolism must be sky high. 70kgs @ 6ft is pretty light. What age are you, maybe when you hit 30 your metabolism will start to slow down and you'll be more like the rest of us. I'm 6ft also but struggle to get under 95kgs.

I'm 35. I started getting fatter around 30, peaked at about 78kg a couple of years ago then started cycling and dropped 10kg. I'm generally pretty weedy though (40cm handlebars).

I've read that the variable metabolism idea is a myth. Unless you have some sort of hormone problem (e.g. overactive thyroid), you burn whatever it takes to move yourself around. Energy in, energy out.

I think it probably boils down to appetite and portion control. I was never very good at eating competitions.

Perhaps I'm missing meals, or sleep cycling (although I'd expect better performance).

Dr_Colossus

Lumen wrote: »

I've read that the variable metabolism idea is a myth. Unless you have some sort of hormone problem (e.g. overactive thyroid), you burn whatever it takes to move yourself around. Energy in, energy out.

I think it probably boils down to appetite and portion control. I was never very good at eating competitions.

Perhaps I'm missing meals, or sleep cycling (although I'd expect better performance).

Had to laugh, very funny, sleep cycling - a new phase of training while benefiting from sleep at the same time. Very interesting all the same, will have to read up on metabolisms and what governs a high or low rate. What's your resting heart rate, perhaps a high heart rate indicates a high metabolism since you'd be working proportionately harder for the same relative amount of effort?

On the energy in and energy out side of things though I should burn more calories per hour than you especially for hill cycling since I'd have to expel more effort in getting the extra 25kgs up the hill. Jees just thinking of that, to make things proportional you'd have to carry a bag of cement on your back to even things out.

I'd definitely agree on the portion control in general though, overweight people who don't bother with exercise don't seem to have much self discipline in either their choice of food or portion size. However given that your portions seem rather large plus with the high calorie snickers and twix you just seem to have a naturally high metabolism. Lucky you really is all I can say, you can eat your fill of cake and ice cream and not worry about the expanding waist line.

Raam

blorg wrote: »

People like you make me sick.

I dunno, he sounds a little fat to me.

blorg

Lumen wrote: »

I think it probably boils down to appetite and portion control. I was never very good at eating competitions.

Like anything you can improve that with the right attitude and proper training.

Esroh

Lumen wrote: »

Well, I find it quite difficult to get enough calories in, and I'm only cycling a few hours a week.

It seems like I'm always hitting the limits of my apetitite (I feel well stuffed at the end of each meal), yet I can't hit 70kgs @ 6ft.

I eat a proper breakfast (a few slices of buttered brown soda toast), a typical lunch is about 3 plates at an all-you-can-eat buffet, followed by a twix and a snickers, bananas and maybe protein shake when I get home and a decent sized meal for dinner, followed by the odd chocolate/sweets binge.[/quote]

At last someone who eats like me though I would add a bowl of Cereal and a Mars into the daily intake:D
And I have never gone over 80kg in my 45 years and am 6'4". Been sitting on 76 all summer after going down to 72 after TOIChal.

dave2pvd

Lumen,

How about nixing the protein and upping your carbs? White bread toast in the morning, no protein drink. A pint with your dinner.....

If all that fails, consider taking up another expensive hobby: hashish. You will soon snack your way to rotund happiness. Then you can try your hand at track racing.

brianthebard

Lumen wrote: »

Well, I find it quite difficult to get enough calories in, and I'm only cycling a few hours a week.

It seems like I'm always hitting the limits of my apetitite (I feel well stuffed at the end of each meal), yet I can't hit 70kgs @ 6ft.

I eat a proper breakfast (a few slices of buttered brown soda toast), a typical lunch is about 3 plates at an all-you-can-eat buffet, followed by a twix and a snickers, bananas and maybe protein shake when I get home and a decent sized meal for dinner, followed by the odd chocolate/sweets binge.

Don't mean to be rude but you're not eating a proper breakfast, far from it. Haven't a clue how many calories are in your 3 plates lunch or decent dinner, so that's pretty meaningless, its entirely possible that you only take in about 2000 calories daily based on the above. If you want to check how you can increase your weight healthily there are stickies in the fitness and nutrition forums. If you don't that's fine too, I just find it a little amusing when people marvel at the amount of food another person is supposedly putting away, then when you add it up its actually not that much.

ballsymchugh

Lumen wrote: »

Crosstrainers, rowers, spinning. Concerns about being too thin. What are you trying to achieve?

There is no correct weight for your height, and fitness is specific.

bmi?? from my old physiology lectures, someone who is 6ft should be on average 70kg. male that is!!

Lumen

brianthebard wrote: »

Don't mean to be rude but you're not eating a proper breakfast, far from it. Haven't a clue how many calories are in your 3 plates lunch or decent dinner, so that's pretty meaningless, its entirely possible that you only take in about 2000 calories daily based on the above.

It's OK, I'm not offended by your opinion of my breakfast.

I'm sure you're right about the calories, and no doubt I could "fix" my need to stuff my face with crap with dietary changes, but that's irrelevant to the issue, which is that with a few hours of cycling a week and eating what feels like large portions of food I find it difficult to maintain a "normal" weight. When I eat normally (i.e. cut out the crap) my weight drops to 66-67kg and I look skeletal (according to my non-cycling friends, some of whom are not fat).

Anyway, apologies for turning this into a thread about me, it wasn't my intention.

ballsymchugh wrote: »

bmi?? from my old physiology lectures, someone who is 6ft should be on average 70kg. male that is!!

BMI is a gross oversimplification which ignores lots of factors like build and muscle mass. Fabian Cancellara is about 80kg @ 6ft 1, and I wouldn't call him fat.

Vélo

Raam wrote: »

I dunno, he sounds a little fat to me.

Jesus, I was just thinking the same thing.:p

bcmf

with regard to portion size.
For breakfast cereal the small packets of cereal you can buy in a multi pack is the right sized portion.Not loading the bowl up to the top (unless there is a ww200 style to be done).
In general meal portions are almost always too big. Think of plate plate of pasta
then put half it in the bin.
LAst night we got a chinese (one of the nicer ones in Balbriggan). It was a set meal for 2. It fed myself,Mrs bcmf, and the 2 mini bcmf's with a full portion of rice and at least half of a portion of main meal left.(there were no prawn crackers left ).
Portion size gone out the window.


Now to put theory into pratice. errrrr maybe tomorrow.