Perhaps you remember Master Cycling Instructor Jennifer Sage, whose high-powered instructional manual about spinning and indoor cycling, called “Keep It Real”, was reviewed on this very website, in the post “Why You’re Not Losing Any Weight in Your Indoor Cycling Class”.
Today Jennifer is back, and she’s on a mission to clean up spinning and indoor cycling around the world…
You see, there are many, many things that happen during indoor spinning classes that people simply should not be doing – spinning moves that can be very dangerous for knees and backs, indoor cycling styles that can be ineffective for weight loss and fitness, and a general lack of good knowledge among certified spinning or fitness instructors about how to actually teach the spinning or indoor cycling class.
Jennifer appears to be quite fed up about these problems, and so she starts her post today by featuring these two YouTube videos…which show some big mistakes made by indoor cycling instructors…
So here’s what Jennifer Sage has to say…
“Don’t think this stuff happens out there? It not only happens, it’s actually prevalent in some places! Sorry, I have to take off my normal diplomatic hat and get downright indignant here. The contraindicated stuff just won’t go away, and as such, I just can’t/won’t shut up! The shananigans in these Youtube videos are not only contraindicated, they’re just plain stupid.
I mean, isn’t a properly conducted Spinning, or any indoor cycle class, hard enough without goofy moves that take away from actually riding the bike? And this class in the first video is only doing some of the most egregious moves; perhaps it saves the others for the next song, the hovers, squats, & isolations. The second video, I’ll leave you to comment (er, gag) on the “Spingasm” hovers, gyrations, hip thrusts and backbends of Angela’s Joyride.
I’m slightly relieved to see that these aren’t real “Spinner” bikes and is not my beloved “Spinning” program. But that doesn’t make it OK or give it credibility. There is not a single indoor cycling program certification worth its salt that condones these outrageous types of class formats. It is bad to a ridiculous degree.
These are instructors who are not certified and/or they are making up stuff because they don’t know how to ride a bike and they think their students need to be entertained by erroneous fluff. They don’t trust that their students are smart enough to know the difference (or maybe, dare I say it, their students aren’t smart enough to know when something hurts it’s not good for you). These instructors feel that every one of their students has a bad case of ADD and cannot sit for more than 15, 30 or even 60 seconds and just pedal a bike correctly, without having to flap their arms.
They probably watch The Biggest Loser and get their class ideas from Jillian. They don’t understand physiology, biomechanics, or the mechanics of pedaling a bike (even if it doesn’t go anywhere, it’s still a bike)!
Common sense would preclude this from taking place, but we’ve all heard that common sense isn’t very common anymore…
Tell me, who will pay for the dental work for that woman in the back when she slams her face into the handlebars in the first video? Or the chiropractor visits many of these students will need over time, from either of these classes? Actually, maybe the students don’t have the sense to put two and two together that it was their cycle class that threw their back out (except that backbend in Angela’s joyride would be a sure culprit for most people in touch with their bodies).
It is my hope that eventually this blog post makes its way around the country until it actually reaches instructors who teach like this so they see the error of their ways. Hey, maybe it will even make it to these particular clubs. The first one is in Italy and the second in Los Angeles not far at all from the Spin Fitness HQ (I guess only in Los Angeles would you find an orgasmic Spin experience!)
Well, maybe that’s a pipe dream that they’d suddenly convert from the dark side…Maybe we can have just a little effect and clean up indoor cycling around the country, maybe even the world!”
Wow! Strong words from Jennifer – but as an “ex-indoor spinning instructor” myself, I’d have to agree with what she has to say. The bottom line is this: make sure your spinning instructor knows how to truly make indoor cycling effective for fitness and weight loss.
Want to learn more about Jennifer and her book “Keep It Real”, a manual for indoor cycling and spinning instructors? Just click here…
{ 45 comments… read them below or add one }
I know nothing about spin classes but these two videos made me a little sick feeling. It reminds me of crappy massage or sexual massage being compared to true sports massage. Very frustrating for Jennifer I’m sure.
I don’t know who is dumber? The “instructor” or the “students”? get them all in line though and you have a wind tunnel.
You know Jennifer, I never heard about you before, but I couldn’t agree more with you, I’m so glad to know that I’m not the only one thinking this way. It is so obvious that these are not actually spinning instructors. But sadly you can see these kind of huge mistakes on certifyed instructors too. There’s also another issue that it’s no mentioned here, and that’s the intensity of the classes. I use to see a great % of instructors who teach every single class like if it was a race day. They don’t have the common sence to think on curves of training or even on the stimulus intensity on each exercise. Meaning, no recovery, no warmup no cooldown. Let’s be honest, a 5 minutes cooldown after an intense hard work out with sprints or even after a long climb it’s not enough to remove the lactic acid on your muscles.
Now, why is that they do that kind of mistakes?
I tend to think it’s a mix of things.
1. There’s a certain number of instructors that doesn’t care…
2. Some times instructors feel the pressure of their bosses to have their classes with no vacants and sadly, people (students) use to think that the only good class is a hard or intense class. So intructors tend to take that way of thinking too.
4. And this I think it’s te most common issue, is that some instructors just DONT know anything about training physiology. Why? and to be honest again with you, spinning program just tells you how they think a training should be but doesnt really teach you how to do it. Yeah sure it’s your responsabilty to keep going to the education courses, but in the meantime between your certification and the moment you’re actually a certified instructor you have 6months wokring and teaching classes without knowing how to apply what you’ve learned.
This of course applyes to instructors that know nothing about physiology or training. Sadly they are a huge number. I can always remember finishing the certification day and thinking, I’ve been all day there and the only thing I’ve learned is how they think you should set up the bike. The rest, on how to make a planification, how to program that planification and how to periodizate it was something I allready knew.
Sorry if my english is not that bright, you can obviously tell that english is not my mother language.
Regards!! and keep up the good work!
wowsers those videos were frightening! i teach cycling full time at equinox. actually have taken some of your classes before and they rock! keep spreading the word!! i did a tour de france ride recently inspired by you (we climbed mont ventoux)
Unbelievable that instructors would put their students at harm doing such incredibly stupid moves. Angela’s joy ride is a mess! I think she thinks she’s riding something else besides a bike! I’ve been a spin instructor for 10 years now and have always cringed at some of the moves I see done by others. If you can’t do the move on a road bike, it shouldn’t be done on a spin bike. Keep up the great job Jennifer!
OMGoodness! I don’t mean no harm but these are a hot mess! I felt like crying through the 1st one and laughed through the 2nd!
I’m shocked !!!! Spinning is supposed to be outdoor cycling simulated inside, not so !?! Imagine if we did some of those moves on the road!?! We’d all land up in hospital !!!!
Holy toledo! I couldn’t even finish watching the second video (no orgasm for me!). As for Angela’s Joyride, I’d walk out very shortly after class started. It was all I could do to refrain from commenting on youtube. As a Spin instructor, who is considered hard but nurturing and has worked with seasoned Spinners and people who had never done spin and didn’t bike, the three hand positions and five moves are all you need for an effective, challenging, fun class. Keep it simple,keep it safe.
We were just talking about this in my spin class yesterday. Most of us all agreed that you shouldn’t do anything in spin class you wouldn’t do on your bike during a real ride.
Jennifer is spot on with her comments. I’ve raced bikes for over 20 years, and I have yet to find a spin class where the instructor knew anything about cycling. It’s just insane what these people do, and more to the point, it’s counterproductive. I have never encountered anything like it and was astounded at how stupid and pointless the workouts were. I tried the spin classes during the winter at the local Y and gave up after trying all three instructors, because it was obvious that they all learn from each other, and not a one of them knew anything. Mostly, they seem to think that redlining your heartrate is the only game in town. And the people in the class just drink the Kool Aid. Nutso. Just give me an old school wind trainer any day!
Ok, those videos are a little retarded, but you guys are crazzy to not want a spin class to be hard all the time. These classes are there for you when you need motivation reaching you max (or 90%) heart rate during high intensity interval training. You don’t need to be in a class seting with lots of suport and encouragment in order to have a proper cool down or a recovery workout. You can do that on your own in front of a tv. I want a spin class to be hard every day of the week. That way I know what it’s going to be and if I need it I’ll use it. Your fitness is still in your own hands spin is just a tool you can use.
Watching these videos made me want to cry. As a seasoned indoor cycle instructor, I find myself competing for prime class times and students against so-called instructors who perform moves similar to Angela’s. The managers of the clubs are all about filling seats and not about fitness. People who go to these classes are there for entertainment. They trust their instructor not to harm them and when they have back, hip, shoulder, knee pain they blame themselves. I get sick and tired of the pressure to compete with this garbage.
As the saying goes, garbage in, garbage out. Those who follow that crazyness over a period of time, will reap those benefits such as knee issue, back issue, carpel tunnel, etc. This is really sad especially since HEALTH FACILITIES allows this to continue.
I'm a avid cyclist, MDA certified and been teaching for 2yrs. I stay true to my certification and whomever doesn't like it, spin elsewhere. I'm not teaching for their entertainment unlike those instructors i the videos.
As the saying goes, garbage in, garbage out. Those who follow that crazyness over a period of time, will reap those benefits such as knee issue, back issue, carpel tunnel, etc. This is really sad especially since HEALTH FACILITIES allows this to continue.
as a long time spin instructor and an educator in the industry I'm appalled by some of the garbage that passes for indoor cycling classes. thanks for taking the initiative to point out how these types of classes are just wrong on so many levels. this will keep me motivated to stay with my current style of work:recovery intervals with a focus on a different energy system in each class. keep fighting the good fight!
Hey Pete – where / who would you recommend getting certified by? I'm looking into becoming a spin instructor and want to do it the right way – Thanks for any feedback you can give.
i have spun for over a year and i have to say these classes look fun. you're not on a real bike, you know, so why not mix it up and have some fun? as for the arm flailing, it can distract you from the tension in your legs as well as help work your core. i'm all for anything that makes a workout interesting and different within reason. i'd sign up for angela's joyride!
I am an instructor over 11 years and Angela's Joyride is a bio-mechanical nightmare…..I've never seen such bull!$#@. Also, why we are on the subject of BAD FORM I went to a training session at Equinox for instructors and my mouth hit the floor when I saw all of the bad form of the instructors that were there. They were bouncing around swinging body parts/etc. and all I could think about is that they were teaching this to members setting them up for injury. I would have to say that in all fairness there were about 4 instructors of the 45+ that were there had good form the rest I was shocked and I was shocked at the person who gave the class because they were supposed to be a master trainer and their form was bad also……..what happen to the quality of classes…………
I just attended the worst 'spinning' class ever! I am Schwinn and Spinning certified and have been teaching for 5 years. I just moved to a new area and thought I'd try out the local gym…has all the bells and whistles and new bikes which are unfamiliar to me. I went in as a newbie and fumbled around with the settings while the instructor stood by and watched. He yelled into his mic that we should have no resistance and just warm up and then, poof…he was on his bike with the resistance cranked up to the top, everyone standing and doing 'no bounce' for at least 10 minutes! People were hanging off of their bikes, leaning on the handle bars and generally riding with terrible form. There was not one suggestion about technique, just encouraging words like 'suck it up'. I could go on but I'm sure you get the idea. I stayed for 30 minutes and sweated my butt off but I am disappointed to think that the other participants think they got a good workout.
Ummmm, a spin bike is not the road people! There are many safe moves that you can do on a spin bike that you can't do on the road. But since there is no need to see the road, watch for pot holes, counter act vibration, fell the flex or stiffness of your bike, you get the luxury of "playing" on the spin bike. So why don't all you sanctimonious asshole just hit the road? Oh that's right, too afraid of getting dropped and your ass handed to you at the finish line?
i don't hate cyclists nor the traditional indoor cycling program but you have a point about "getting real" with your indoor cycling class. these people still doesn't get it! if they want to train for their outdoor cycling then they should attend spinning classes or the traditional outdoor simulated programs. yet, if they just want to burn calories or stay fit, since they pretty know their biomechanics… save the criticism to themselves and just have a good workout. after all, spinning was created by a cyclist for cyclists to train indoor. so what the f*$% is the problem? spinning was marketed to the fitness industry where gym members are not all cyclists? anyway, you're also right about "the spin bike is not the road". how about riding a BMX bike and doing tricks with it compared to riding a spin bike and having fun with it? which is safer and the risk of having an injury is lesser? i'd be happy to hear a quick reply to this. peace!
Who put what in youuuuuur cornflakes? No need to be so rude really about folks who enjoy spinning.
This is someone who should be teaching a step class. If she actually ever road a bike she would have a clue. You shouldn't do anything that you wouldn't do on a real bike. There are some people who think they can teach any form of exercise class. I don't teach kick boxing b/c I don't know anything about martial arts, but I am a triathlete so I feel I am qualified to teach cycle and weight training. This is a problem throughout the entire industry!
I have to agree. It looks like the instructor is trying to motivate the class by keeping things interesting, but it does look like someone is about to flip off their bike doing one of these nutty moves. I am about to become ACE certified and the idea of doing a class that is so out of my personal realm like water aerobics would be aweful to take and possibly dangerous for the students! http://wp.me/23iJB
Okay, lets bust some assumptions. the Maddogg training for certified "spinning instructors" has quite a few things I'd never do on the road nor care to do on a spinning bike. The hand positions are nonsense, and the notion of "running" is ridiculous. I've been on spinning bikes of one form or another for 20 years. My preferred bikes are the LeMond revmasters – and the Maddogg folks say those bikes are horrible. So there's a lot of infighting and territorial bullshit about spinning, which is a term used for a long time in cycling that refers to a high pedal cadence. I agree w/ the post about tings being different on a stationary bike vs. a road bike. I ride 170 miles/week on the road. Indoor cycling is a nice tune up and works to keep my cycling spin in tune, but it just doesn't come close to real road riding. So the notion that things can't be added to indoor cycling w/out being dangerous is bullshit. Oh, BTW, I'm a chiropractor and find the most egregious problems are not fitting the bike right – seat height, fore/aft of saddle, and resistance. It's all about fit and technique. And understanding cadence and resistance.
Hi Jennifer! Im going to be a new instructor! Pretty excited and nervous though. I truely love spinning and the classes I've been to so I don't want to be on your blog ha ha so is there any advice you can give me?!
Meredith, I'm interview Jennifer in February…listen into that interview for some cool details, and check this out: http://tinyurl.com/indoorcycling
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ANDY:
I ride/race as well and I'm a dancer. Spin classes are to improve "fitness".
Instructors who feel the need to entertain their clients to avoid boredom are often the ones who
are afraid of boredom themselves. Creativity, however, is not about being STUPID.
Creativity comes from adherence to the foundations of a safe and effective training program while engaging the rider in an intelligent, emotional dialogue with their own bodies across the topography of the class and the classes that accumulate across the training calendar.
I used to be a spin instructor- a good one. I used to race mountain bikes (mostly DH) I stopped teaching for a while- but recently took a few classes here in my city. I don't think I would fit in as a teacher in this day and age- gone are the days when good pedaling form is taught, or HR is used as a training tool- where the purpose is to simulate training for a real, outdoor ride. (interval training is a lost art form) Classes are taught by fitness and yoga instructors- more core work and pushups than climbing, jumping and dancing to Lady Gaga- the class is taught by instructors who don't seem like they have ever ridden a bike outside before.The body mechanics taught would have you crashing over the bars or developing a knee injury. So sad. I wish I had the energy to fight this, (I am a busy grad student- and I don't feel like butting heads with fitness coordinators) this article gives me hope. Until then- I look for classes taught by real cyclists- maybe I just need to get out of the city.
Deanna, I have to politely ask if you can handle a technical descent or climb on a mountain bike. Or even have the right mechanics to keep it upright on an easy trail. If you can, great, spin is a fun distraction for you. Dance and flap your arms to your heart's content. If not, please don't insult real cyclists/mountain bikers by clinging to the idea that you are going to achieve great strength, endurance, balance, agility, power, and speed in most spin classes. That's like thinking I could defend myself against a real attacker by taking a kickboxing class. Keep it real!
Not trying to be unkind here. Yes, spin classes can help a lot with training if done correctly. And as a side bonus- can burn more calories for those just looking for general fitness than the crap currently being taught. It's sad that it has become so far removed from sports conditioning. Imagine a ski conditioning class that slowly started turning into a Zumba class… hahaha!
Instructors who feel the need to entertain their clients to avoid boredom are often the ones who
are afraid of boredom themselves. Creativity, however, is not about being STUPID.
Creativity comes from adherence to the foundations of a safe and effective training program while engaging the rider in an intelligent, emotional dialogue with their own bodies across the topography of the class and the classes that accumulate across the training calendar.
هوت سبوت شيلد
WOW! I considered my spin class choreographed, but I keep within spinning tradition. My philosophy is, and always will be. if you can't do it on a real road bike then don't do it at all. I have seen instructors pull out weights an have us do shoulder presses while riding and it drives me crazy. The clients that spend half of their time spinning backwards also, and won't budge no matter what you say to them. These videos were definitely insane and I can't wait to share them with my spinning partners.
Finally! Someone who dares point out and address the hazards and errors made by these so called instructors. These very people whom we’re paying hundreds of dollars to attend their classes.
this is rgeat information . first time to see it
this is so helpful thank you
I have heard stories about this stuff going on but still shocked to see it. As a cycling instructor myself I feel like I am daily fighting the battle with people that don't understand the right way to ride (including fellow instructors). It seems like some cycling instructors want the class to be a race day every day then when I come to teach or sub for the class and I try to have a more focused ride thay say I am just to easy. It is nice to know that there are other instructors out there that feel the same way as I do about indoor cycling.
My question is quite simple.
I have never tried the spinbike.
I am a bodybuilder going into my cutting phase. I usually do heavy cardio during this phase,like jogging. But I hate running.
I will like to know if these spinbike workouts are just as good as or better than actually jogging with respect to burning excess calories.
Will appreciate some response.
Thank You.
Yes, you can burn a ton of calories with spinning.
As a Spin(t) Instructor (& ex BB) the answer is yes, if you go to a proper Spin program class, training at the correct %MHR to ensure fat burning. ie aerobic <80% MHR 60min is good, but 90min will burn cal like crazy.
Spinning has the highest MET rating of 10. A fit male could burn up to 1000cal in 60min session. I regularly burn approx 800-850 depending on which zone I'm training in.
This is an excellent article on poor spinning technique.
Spin program has different levels of instructor training from Star 1 to Star 3 instructor then Master instructor.
My instructor is Master instructor Mark Tickner (look him up – it's worth while).
I have read most of the posts here carefully. I am a Pilates Instructor and dance teacher (holistic , we look anatomically how the body is designed to move!) for 10 years and in the fitness industry for nearly 20 years. I used to Mountain bike and road bike many years ago. I am moving into my own studio and became interested in wanting to teach Studio cycling, my interest is now mainly for promoting weight loss. However I remember going to a spinning class over 10 years ago and my reaction was 'what the heck was that!' For me it didnt resemble being on the road and hated it. but then again Im a purist, I also tried Body balance where its pilates and yoga to music choreographed and I walked out!
So now after reading this I am more confused. shall I go to a local spinning class, but that may put me off again.
what training would anyone recommend that is good sound knowledge in proper technique and interval training. (I also like the idea of the peak
I'm just new to wanting to become a spin instructor and was poking around and found this site. I watched the 2 videos before reading the article and was thinking maybe its not for me if this is what spinning was about. Thank goodness watch the gag reel before seeing the movie.
Where's my book I ordered it over 2 weeks ago? Sue Piti 301-706-0996
Sue…you ordered an electronic book…did it deliver OK?