More and more people today are taking health and fitness a little more seriously than a few years ago. This is evident from the number of enrollments that are taking place at various gyms and fitness centers across the country. No matter what your level of fitness, whether you’re completely out of shape or at an advanced level of fitness, spinning classes can help you to maintain your state of health and to improve where possible. Spinning classes consist of people riding exercise cycles together as a group, with a group leader who coordinates the class with lively and interesting music to set the tempo. They are offered in many gyms and health clubs and the smooth rotary nature of the exercise does not damage the muscles as would, say, the jarring of the body caused by running on concrete or asphalt roads.
The pedals of the stationary bike drive a chain that is attached to a flywheel. The flywheel is heavy but spins smoothly when you pedal the exercise bike. The amount of exercise is governed by the resistance against the pedals and not the speed at which you pedal. The exercise is vigorous even if you pedal slowly against hard resistance and not so effective if you pedal very quickly but the resistance is low. The flywheel is attached to a brake and you can use the brake to calibrate the level of the resistance. Normally, rotating the brake clockwise increases resistance while rotating it counterclockwise reduces resistance.
Before you start to workout in earnest, you need to prepare for it by tuning up your body. You should always start by pedaling at zero or very low resistance and stop immediately if your legs feel heavy or start to hurt. You may only be able to last a few minutes in the beginning and require a couple of days to recover. However, if you persist you will soon be able to exercise for longer periods of time and buildup for a full 45 min workout. When you start the class, your spinning instructor will normally ask you to start at zero resistance and pedal until you are sweating. He or she will then increase the resistance a little and ask you to pedal till you feel a burning sensation in your thighs. You will alternate between the two modes and, when your legs start to feel stiff, you should stop for the day.
