Next time you’re at your local gym or fitness centre, poke your head into a spin class and watch the sweaty nutters going at it.
A spin session is one of the best examples of interval training for cyclists – that is, short bursts of very intense peddling followed by slower peddling for recovery – and it’s an absolute fat-blasting bomb.
- If you don’t want to attend a gym, all you need is an exercise bike or a turbo trainer (the latter start at around £70) to interval-train at home
- Failing that, you can always get out on your bike and try it on the open road – just don’t try it in busy city-traffic!
- If you prefer to be motivated by an instructor, The Guardian says during a spinning class, depending on how hard you push yourself, you can expect to burn more than 700 calories
- During a 45 minute class you are going to sweat. Alot. So make sure you are wearing breathable clothing that wicks the sweat away from your body and won’t ride up
- Cycling interval training is an excellent way to gradually build up speed and stamina and can also be used to help improve your running form
This session from the Global Cycling Network doesn’t pretend to be anything but high intensity – this cycling interval traing will have sparks and smoke coming off your turbo trainer by the end… Start with a warm up to get your muscles ready for what’s ahead and then go, go, go. Check out the lady on the far right of the video whose low cut top seems to get a lot of the camera’s attention…
Burn Fat Fast: 20 Minute Spin Class Workout by the Global Cycling Network
Fitness Blender‘s 20-minute indoor workout caters for turbo trainers, spin cycles and the good old-fashioned exercise bike. It starts with a warm up, followed by three cardio intervals and then a cool down and stretch to finish off. Levels increase every 30 seconds so just when you thought you were getting the hang of it, it kicks up a gear.
Free Indoor Cyclcing Workout Video by Fitness Blender
This 40-minute cycling interval training comes with a handy POV mountain-bike video, so you can pretend to pound the trails while sweating your cobs off in the spare room. After a 10 minute warm up, increase to five, 90 second high intensity intervals with three minute recovery periods in-between the intervals. The upbeat soundtrack and real-time video should definitely help to keep you inspired.