Raising Concern Without the Proper Research – A Response to “In-Your-Face Fitness” in the LA Times
Everyone has their own definition of “crazy.” When I first became a certified spin instructor, some friends were supportive while others said “really? That seems crazy.” When I started teaching 5x/week I was called “intense” or even told I was “overdoing it.” When friends and family have visited and I tell them to come into the studio for a class, I’m often told “oh no. I don’t do those crazy classes.”
But when they finally muster up the courage to come in for a ride, they see it ain’t so crazy after all. It is just a community of dedicated, motivated individuals who have found a common ground of arm pumps, jumps, and geared sprints. And while we may look a bit funny holding 3 minute standing isolations, we indoor spinners are just doing what we love for our bodies and minds.
So when a friend forwarded me an article targeting spin studios from the LA Times column “In-Your-Face Fitness,” I immediately distributed it to my friends in the spin community, steeled myself with a glass of wine, and saddled up to read the negative review.
Now, every journalist is welcome to his or her own opinion (thankfully, or blogging would hardly exist!) and news stories require sensationalized headlines, but the article, targeting famous NY-based spin studio SoulCycle, wasn’t just sensationalized, it was plain bad reporting. Some highlights:
- Author James Fell writes that, although he has “pedaled his way through [] indoor cycling classes before,” he has in fact never attended a SoulCycle class, or any other class that incorporates an upper and lower body workout. However, he goes on to report that “the whole idea of working one’s upper body while pedaling a stationary bike is not only counterproductive, it can be physically detrimental over time.”
Let’s start there. Although I don’t incorporate arms into my rides, other instructors at Recycle do, and I have attended their classes as well as classes at SoulCycle, Flywheel, and JoyRide and I can tell you firsthand – “counterproductive” is not a word that comes to mind. At the end of a sweaty 4-minute arm set last Friday, another Recycle instructor, who was taking the class beside me, leaned over and said “whoever says this doesn’t work is crazy.” Ironically, it was Rachele Pojednic, our resident outdoor enthusiast who also holds a BS in Cardiopulmonary and Exercise Science from Northeastern University, an M.Ed from Boston University in Physical Education in Coaching, and is currently working on a PhD at Tufts University in Biochemical and Molecular Nutrition & Exercise Physiology.
I had previously talked to Rachele about Fell’s opinions on incorporating upper and lower body exercise, particularly his statement that caloric output will be less in a class where you incorporate upper body exercises. According to Rachele:
“using light weights is going to use your slow twitch muscles (which are smaller and will definitely require that you back down on the power your legs are producing). That being said, they are also aerobic, which means that your body still needs to use fuel (usually fat at submaximal levels) to make them go. It may be that you’re using less total calories than you would be if you were maxing out your legs, but you would also be using just your legs in that scenario – which is why Lance Armstrong and other pro cyclists have practically no upper body muscles. While you won’t see major hypertrophy with very light weights, every time a bout of exercise is completed there is certainly an adaptation by that specific muscle. Adding upper body exercises, even with just a small amount of weight, is going to elicit a beneficial effect to those muscles, no doubt. Saying that “…it doesn’t accomplish anything” by using these light weights is like saying going for a walk – when you could be running – “doesn’t accomplish anything.”
In other words, might your heart rate go down when you slow the legs and lift weights? Yes. But you’re lifting weights, and therefore benefiting the muscles using to lift them, making this an exercise that is beneficial to both upper and lower body. Two birds with one stone is exactly the opposite of counterproductive in my book.
Fell quotes 12-year Master Indoor Cycling Instructor Jennifer Sage (who also has never taken a SoulCycle class) as stating “lifting a 1-pound weight isn’t going to do anything. It’s useless.” I think Fell and Sage might both feel differently after 4 minutes of shoulder lifts paired with constant pedaling.
- Fell continues on too state that his “primary concern” with the classes is safety. He quotes numerous sources, including Sage, who states that “when you start bobbing and weaving and doing push-ups on a bike while your legs are spinning, you risk hurting your low back,” and that “shifting in the saddle keeps changing the angle of the knee joint while pedaling.”
While I agree with Fell that safety is always the primary concern in a class, I believe any class can be run safely. I consulted with Rachele and she provided the following feedback:
“Whether or not you are a professional athlete or an indoor cyclist, it seems as though somewhere between 30-70% of cyclists experience back pain from overuse. It also seems to be that this is dependent largely upon the set-up of the bike. From experience, I know that raising and tilting the seat really makes a difference on my back pain. This isn’t isolated to back pain, either. Doing something as simple as changing the angle on your cleats can create or eliminate IT band pain.” http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/
Rachele is right – many indoor cyclists, whether traditional or of the SoulCycle variety, experience lower back pain due to the position of the body while riding. The angle of the knee joint can be equally damaging, which is why most studios recommend using clips instead of running sneakers to ensure the foot is locked in place. But the idea that adding arm pumps while on the bike will lead to more injury is just plain wrong. Injury on the bike comes from improper form, low quality equipment, and bad instruction, and you can find that in a traditional indoor cycling class as easily as a non-traditional one.
So, considering that Fell and most of his experts have never been to a mixed (upper and lower body) cycling class, what’s the drive behind the article? A couple thoughts…
- Traditional “spin” is losing momentum. Fell’s “expert” is a 12-year Master Indoor Cycling Instructor and part of a different crowd of indoor riders than SoulCycle and others like it attract. I am a certified Mad Dogg Spinning Instructor but I have developed beyond the formulaic system that you learn in your initial training (which by the way, is one day long, making Fell’s criticisms of SoulCycle’s “untrained” owners a bit extreme). Why have I broken away from the mold? Because it becomes boring. What Fell and I do agree about is the fact that exercise shouldn’t be a means to an end, it should be an enjoyable experience throughout. And coming in every day to take the same, structured, choreographed class is monotonous. So I am going to kick it up with some double-time jumps and some tap backs. And those are moves that you aren’t going to see in the spinning manual.
- People seem confused about the difference between indoor spin and outdoor cycling. Think of them as two different sports. Fell’s statement that “a bicycle is no place to attempt an upper-body workout” is absolutely true – it would be very dangerous to take your hands off the handlebars of an actual bike and try to lift weights. But an indoor spin bike with a flywheel is not a bicycle. And indoor spin classes are not the same as outdoor cycling. So we can play around indoors in ways that you might not play around outdoors. Just like outdoor cyclists wear helmets and we don’t. Two different sports.
- Everyone loves to hate. The most frustrating part of this article was that only 1 of the experts quoted had ever taken a SoulCycle class. Why not give it a try? Maybe it is a different experience than what you’ve come to know as traditional indoor cycling. Maybe you’ll hate it. But maybe you’ll find a community that motivates you to “put down the doughnut and unglue your ass from the couch” – Fell’s words, not mine. The point is, I don’t criticize my friends who choose running shoes over SPDs or yoga over pilates – I applaud them for finding what works for them.
And this works for me.
All I’m saying is before you knock it, try it.
- The Aspiring RD
~sigh~ i hate when people do this. and i hate when instructors don’t correct form in any sort of class exercise situation. i can just see people hurting their knees or whatever. My fav instructor at fitcorp/bodyscapes actually does some work with a weight bar for one song during class. Sometimes I’d rather just keep spinning, but other days I enjoy the mix-up
Definitely didn’t think it was doing nothing!
You know, it’s funny. I was thinking, while Xtina was killing me with her 1lb weights the other night at Recycle, that her routine was much more isometric than dynamic (hold your arm up @90degrees for this entire Rihanna song…). Her moves are very similar to rehab exercises for people with rotator cuff issues (which use very low weights or light elastics). These exercises create a stimulus and they work! A recent article in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research showed that a BodyPump(R) class using at 1kg bar (2.2lbs, or approximately 1lb per hand) shows that this type of training improves strength and decreases metabolic stress (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22080312) after 12 weeks of training. The researchers state that this is not transferrable to running aerobic fitness (obvi), but as the ARD points out, indoor cycling is just that – cycling on a stationary bike in an inspiring studio, working it out with your buds! Seriously people….in a country where ~2/3 of our people are overweight or obese, sweat whatever way makes you happy! Just do it!
I think these are valid and interesting points. I was curious on rachel p’s opinion on the high cadences like 110-130 often done in these classes or the very slow like below 50. Would love some insight coming from an outdoor rider pov – Thanks!
Spinning aspect of class is great metabolic (cardiovascular) training. The upper body work with 1-2 pound weights is pitiful. Of course you are going to feel a burn; you are decreasing blood and oxygen to the muscle while you are holding the weights. The light weights are good for really weak people or rehab patients, but do little to stimulate toning or muscle growth. Simple science (Kinesiology) states that there are one of two ways to increase muscle tension or more muscle fibers firing: 1. Increase the number of motor units firing, or 2. Increase the rate of motor units firing. A Motor Unit is the functional unit of muscle movement. The greater the weight, the greater number of motor units and therefore, muscle fibers, firing. Also, a fundamental law of physiology is the greater the weight, the greater the neural stimulation and muscle fibers firing, the greater the strength gain and muscle tone. For years, trainers have said high rep/low weight is the way to train women for toning. This fallacy continues, because the general public is naive when it comes to fitness and strength training. Is doing 1 lb. weights on the bike useless? No. Is it very inefficient and can possibly lead to overuse when done with a high rep count? Yes. Crunches on the bike… Really? Push ups on the bike… Really? Neither of these “exercises” actually use body weight, and the spinner is working with gravity rather than against it, and as a result, the resistance is negligent.