Spin Bike
Riding an indoor cycling bike with a heavy flywheel, setting the resistance by hand and switching between seated pedaling and standing climbs.
- Primary muscles
- Quads
- Secondary
- Glutes, Hamstrings, Calves
- Logged as
- Session: time, plus what the machine shows, such as distance and calories
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Why do it
Spin bikes are built to feel like a road bike: a heavy flywheel keeps the pedals turning, and you set the resistance with a knob instead of preset levels. That makes them great for intervals and climbs, but it also means the numbers depend on the bike, so log resistance and cadence to compare sessions on the same one. The flywheel keeps spinning when you stop pedaling, so stop it with the brake, not your legs.
How to do it
Set the saddle to hip height when you stand beside the bike and the handlebars level with it or a little higher, then clip or strap your feet in.
Warm up with light resistance, then add resistance up to a level at which you can still keep a seated cadence of about 80 to 100 per minute.
For climbs, add resistance and stand up with your hips back over the saddle; never spin fast with no resistance.
Turn the resistance down for the last minutes, then stop the flywheel with the brake. Log resistance and cadence as they change and copy watts and distance from the display if it shows them.
Common mistakes
Spinning with no resistance
Fast pedaling with no resistance bounces you in the saddle and strains your knees. Always keep some resistance on.
Saddle at the wrong height
Set the saddle to hip height while standing next to the bike, so your knee stays slightly bent at the bottom.
Stopping with your legs
The flywheel keeps the pedals turning. Use the brake to stop it.
Sets, reps and progression
How many sets you do and how close to failure you take them depend on your goal and your week, not on the exercise. These guides cover it:
Alternatives that train the same thing
Same movement, a different angle or piece of equipment.
