My Spin Bike Workout
Cross trainers, treadmills, stair climbers, rowers... there's an endless number of cardio contraptions out there that promise, provided you put the effort in that they'll burn off that unwanted fat you've been carrying around.
If you're after a cardio machine for home workouts, you can't go past the spin bike in my opinion.
"Hey SJ, why the spin bike over a treadmill or rower?"
6 Reasons Why I Recommend The Spin Bike
Relatively Inexpensive
In comparison to a decent quality rower, treadmill or elliptical the spin bike wins when it comes to price.
That said, I recommend spending the slight bit extra to get yourself a belt driven spin bike as opposed to a chain driven spin bike.
No maintenance and no noise are the two biggest benefits you'll find by choosing belt driven over chain driven.
Silent
If you live in a shared house or condo your neighbours probably wouldn't appreciate being woken by your 5am interval workout on the treadmill or rower.
Rowers, particularly in condos are extremely noisy (I've lived next to someone who used a C2 rower daily!).
The spin bike is silent.
Consumes Minimal Space
If real estate in your house or condo is in high demand you'll find a spin bike takes up far less space than a elliptical, treadmill or rower.
I pack my spin bike in a corner after I've finished my morning cardio and it's out of the way.
Treadmills and the elliptical both consume far more space length and width wise, while a rower requires a lot of length to be set up properly (you'd want to allow a bit more than 3 metres).
Low Impact
High impact cardio, particularly when performed intensely in interval form is a killer on the joints.
Sore ankles, knees and shin splints are all too common from jump rope and treadmill sprints - as you're bounding up and down - placing constant pressure on your joints.
The spin bike has literally no impact.
You're clipped in for the duration of your workout and your joints remain fine.
You may not see this as being a big deal but when you're performing intense cardio workouts 3x+ per week the extended recovery times from high impact cardio are a killer.
Reduced Risk Of Injury By Comparison
We've established that high impact cardio, although fun and effective for fat loss increases pressure on your joints as well as your risk of injury.
The spin bike is, in my opinion the safest form of cardio.
"SJ, the rower is low impact too though, isn't rowing the best form of cardio?"
You're right, rowing is an extremely effective form of cardio for conditioning and burning calories - rowers are some of the fittest athletes out there.
The biggest problem with rowing is the process of learning correct rowing form.
Most people never do it.
They see a rower, and they buy it or they merely jump onto it at the gym.
Not long after they complain about sore shoulders and an injured lower back.
The spin bike is more 'fool-proof' - provided you've got your handlebars and seat adjusted to the right height for you then you're good to go.
Endless Progression
The resistance on a spin bike is extremely easy to adjust with thousands of minor adjustments allowing the difficulty of spinning to be increased and decreased regardless of your cardio capabilities or leg strength you'll be able to get in a challenging workout...
And as it gets easier you can easily adjust the resistance, once again applying progressive overload and continuing to burn calories and build cardio endurance and leg strength.
The HIIT Spin Bike Workout Regime
Your spin bike workout doesn't have to take hours, hell - it doesn't even have to take half an hour!
Before starting your spin bike workout spend 10~ minutes warming up.
If you've got a foam roller I recommend rolling your lower body - focus on your ITB, quads and calves.
Do a few ankle dorsiflexion stretches to and work on your hip flexors.
If you don't perform a basic warm-up your body will remind you the following day!
Now, here's the workout I've used to increase my cardio conditioning and shred down into single digit body fat:
HIIT Spin Bike Workout #1 - 30/30
2 minute warm-up spinning at a low to moderate pace
10 rounds of:
30 seconds all out effort standing up
30 seconds of recovery, spinning at a low to moderate pace while sitting down
3 minute cool down spinning at a low pace
HIIT Spin Bike Workout #2 - 20/20
2 minute warm-up spinning at a low to moderate pace
15 rounds of:
20 seconds all out effort standing up
20 seconds of recovery, spinning at a low to moderate pace while sitting down
3 minute cool down spinning at a low pace
HIIT Spin Bike Workout #3 - Tabata
2 minute warm-up spinning at a low to moderate pace
4 minute tabata comprising of:
20 seconds all out effort standing up
10 seconds recovery
Take a 1 minute break after 4 minutes (8 Tabata rounds)
repeat two more times
3 minute cool down spinning at a low pace
