I discovered indoor cycling (also called spinning) when I started working at Maersk. In Denmark, almost all major companies have fitness centers inside their buildings, where employees are allowed to go even during working hour to train. These centers are managed by specialized fitness service companies, that arrange fitness classes. Indoor cycling was one of the popular ones at Maersk. I had enrolled for the 245 km bike ride Houston-Austin, which was taking place in the beginning of April, but I was not able to train outdoors in Copenhagen during the winter time! Therefore I was doing 4-6 hours of indoor cycling every week! I loved that it was so convenient, fast and intense and very effective to burn a lot of calories in a short amount of time. This passion was translated in me pursuing a specialized education and becoming an instructor of indoor cycling. I now work in two different locations, at Maersk (Esplanaden 50) and fitnessdk Søborg, where I teach a total of 3 hours a week. fitnessdk is one of the largest fitness franchisers in Denmark.

What is indoor cycling?

Indoor cycling is a type of workout on a specially designed exercise bike, that allows you to adjust the height of the saddle and steering according to your height. It has an adjustable wheel that determines the resistance on the pedals. Basically a program contains various intervals acceleration (high cadence 90-110 RPM) and normal pace (70-90 RPM) sitting, standing while adjusting the resistance and many different variations.

Why indoor cycling?

I have encountered numerous people that either like spinning as much as I do, or hate it. At least give it a try and see if it is something for you or not! I like spinning because: it’s convenient, fast, intensive, burns a lot of calories, safe, no need to know any technique, and no need for any special equipment (only spinning shoes). But most of all, it’s a great conditioning training!

Some specifics on calories,  training with heart rate & WATT, bike types etc.:

I usually burn about 850-1000 calories per 1 hour session at about 2.6- 3.1 WATT/KG. I have been using different bike types. Body Bike is the most common one, a Danish brand, but recently have been working with Tomahawk, which in my opinion is a revolutionary spinning bike. Technogym also has a very good spinning bike (Group Cycle).

I used to train with heart rate HR (in the different zones that are a % of max HR), but nowadays the attention has shifted to WATT training (using % of FTP). FTP is a measure of 85% of the average WATT a cyclist generates in a long interval (20-30 minutes). This is a more accurate measure of the intensity of the workout and it depends on the load that everyone sets in while spinning. There is a test that is conducted to determine you FTP, Functional Threshold Power. Pro cyclists need to have a 400 Watt FTP measured as an average Watt for 1 hour, and that is outdoors (where you need to carry body weight and cycle against wind)! I currently have a 340 Watt FTP calculated from a 20 minutes calculated indoors! There are different variations of how to measure the FTP. Here is one of them: calculating FTP. I find HR not a perfect measure, as it depends on age and some people have too high or too low HR anyway.

I will be sharing some spinning programs and other details in the future, but please feel free to send me inquiries if you need details on a specific topic regarding spinning.

Stay tuned!

For custom advice, workout program and more, please contact me at contact@ledianselimaj.com