Barring professionals who use the spinning class as part of their daily training routine, most spinning enthusiasts typically take classes only 2-3 times a week. Such classes are held at intervals of 1-2 days so as to allow the body to “repair” itself. Quite obviously, such repair implies lack of fatigue-inducing workouts during “off” days. What it does not imply is that you collapse on the bed after class and spend the workout intervals on the couch. Doing so would cause you to lose the momentum – and thus the benefits – created by the last class. Below we provide some tips to ensure that your muscles assimilate the benefits of the spinning class even as they rejuvenate themselves in preparation for the next class.
Eat Balanced Meals with High Carb Content
Muscles require both proteins and carbohydrates to become workout-ready again. Therefore, if you are following a diet that included low calorific and protein content, you should change it to one that contains sufficient amounts of both types of nutrients. Further, you should increase the amount of water you consume during the day, since water is vital to removing various wastes from the body and thus ensuring better oxygen and nutrient circulation.
What you should avoid are foods that take a long time to digest, as having these will extend the “resting time” that follows a full meal. Further, one should avoid foods that cause the body to heat up. If the internal body temperature is high, one will tend to sweat excessively and become tired easily.
Lastly, one should consume lots of electrolytes to ensure that the salts lost in sweating are adequately compensated. In fact, given that the best spin bikes have bottle holders, one can carry a bottle filled with an electrolyte solution to the spinning class to ensure that the body is not deprived of these vital nutrients when it needs them most.
Workouts After Spinning Class: Stretch Exercises
While many of the best classes incorporate them into the workout routine, there is always a chance that you didn’t have the time to complete the stretch exercises because of some urgent commitment or in the case of less reputed trainers, the instructor simply skipped this last section. As fitness experts would tell you, specific stretch exercises are used to ensure that the benefits of using a spin bike are “locked in” even as the muscles are gradually relaxed.
The five essential stretch exercises are:
Chest Opener
- With both legs locked into the pedals, raise your hips out of the seat and move them towards the handlebars.
- Proceed until the legs are straight and knees are locked.
- Spread your shoulders and arch your spine as tilt your head upwards.
- Hold this position as long as it is convenient.
- Rotate the flywheel as you lower your hips.
Forward Fold
- With both legs locked into the pedals, lower your arms till the elbows are at handlebar level.
- Raise hips upwards and out of the seat as your heels point downwards at the ground.
- Use your hip muscles to create an L-shape with your torso causing your head and shoulders to fall towards the ground.
- Maintain the head and shoulders at an angle parallel to the ground. Now spread your shoulders.
- Hold for as long as possible.
- Relax your spine and rotate your feet.
- Repeat
4-Figure Stretch
- Unlock the pedals and step out of the spin bike. Stand straight with your arms by your side.
- Raise them and hold the edge of the handlebars with one and the top of the seat with the other. As we noted while discussing common spin bike mistakes, the handlebars and seat should be level with each other. Misaligned handlebars/seats will not only cause problems during workouts but can ruin this particular stretch exercise as well.
- Raise the left foot and curl it sideways such that it forms a figure of four with your other foot.
- Holding the spin bike, gently lower yourself till you reach a “sitting” position.
- Hold for as long as possible before raising yourself. Lower your left leg and raise the right one into similar position.
- Repeat the remaining steps.
Hamstring Stretch
- Stand on one side of the indoor cycle and raise your left leg.
- Swing it over the handlebars and place the heel of your left foot on the handlebars.
- Hold the inside of the foot. Stretch your chest and bend forward. Ensure that the knees do not bend or that the body does not tilt to one side. Aim to place your head on the foot without bending it. This may not be possible initially so hold your chest and head at the most acute angle possible.
- Raise your chest and lower your leg.
- Raise the other leg and hold it with your left hand.
- Repeat the next steps.
Stretching Quads
- Stand on one side of the spin bike and hold the handlebars with the hand closer to the cycle.
- Fold your other leg such that the knee is pointing towards the floor and the ankle is near your glutes.
- Hold your left leg from the outside and press it towards your glutes.
- Hold this position for a few moments.
- Lower the left leg and shift to other side of the machine.
- Proceed with the right leg and left arm.
Workout During Off Days
If you have a spin bike at home, you can try out some gentle routines to ensure that your training does not rust in between classes. However, such workout must never be intense and in case you’re enrolled in evening classes, the home workout must precede the class by at least 8-10 hours.
Apart from spin bike workouts, you can try out simple yoga and aerobic workouts if you prefer to keep your regimen home-bound. If you prefer to go outside, you can try gentle jogging and swimming. It is best not to hit a gym in between spinning classes as this may drain too much energy and thus deprive the muscles of necessary rest and repair.
Conclusion
Along with sufficient nutrition and decent (but not excessive) workout, you would also require adequate sleep. Hence, it is important to plan out your daily schedule such that the “off days” are not drastically different from the days when classes are scheduled. Once you’ve factored in enough sleep, it is very likely that no matter the intensity of your spinning class, the above steps would help you return to the next class ready to give your 100% and thus obtain all of the benefits that the class has to offer.