I get a lot of inquires about the specifics of various workouts, most frequently: “What the heck is a Power 10?!” On this page I provide details about the various spinning sets that I note in short-hand on the main blog page.

Hopefully most of your questions will be answered on this page. But if not, feel free to leave a comment or email me at jasonatwood [at] gmail [dot] com.

Oh, and for the spinning newbie, be sure to check out this short article, which explains that when it comes to spin cycling, there is nothing to fear but padded Lycra shorts.

Happy Spinning!

General spinning form and technique

Proper spinning form is essential to get the most of your workouts and to ensure safety. Working from head-to-toe, keep this in mind… (There’s a lot here, but it is very much worth noting.)

• Keep your head up and looking forward, 5-7 yards ahead of you on the “road.” Check yourself out in the mirror, too, every once in a while, not only to see how awesome your legs look in Spandex, but to also check your form.

• Breathe deep and slow! Too many riders take shallow, quick breaths in-and-out through the mouth. No no no! Instead, breathe in through the nose, filling-up your lungs. I hold my breath for the slightest half-a-second before breathing out — slowly, always slowly and fully — from my mouth. You need to pump a lot of oxygen through your body while working at near maximum heart rate for the better side of an hour. Slow, deep, deep, deep breathing is the best way to perform at an optimal level. Slow breathing also helps to keep your upper body relaxed. Which brings me to…

• Keep your upper body relaxed. Very important!

• If your hands get numb, if you feel stress in your shoulders, if your forearms get sore, or if your triceps are tight, you are probably leaning too far forward and using your upper-body to support your weight. No good! Spinning is a leg and lung workout. Your arms should be loose and relaxed, your hands just barely resting on your handlebars. They are there for balance and support, not to squeeze the sweat out of the rubber cover of your handlebars. I try to move my hands in various positions on the handlebars and keep my fingers dancing to make sure I don’t white-knuckle while riding.

• Suck in your belly, pulling your navel towards your back. This helps strengthen your core and keeps your hips in the proper position.

• When climbing in the saddle, or spinning with moderate to heavy tension, I scoot my bootie towards the back of the seat. When sprinting, I’ll scoot up on the nose of the seat and get into a quasi-aero position.

• One of the most important things to think about when spinning: high knees! If you think of nothing else (besides slow and deep breathing), think of this. Lift your knees up to your chest. Too many riders think only of pushing down on the pedals, which is inefficient riding. Your legs will instinctively push down; to strengthen your legs and to spin faster, bring your knees up to the chest. Mentally, I think of trying to lift so high and hard that my foot will slide out of my shoe. It won’t, but this helps helps to maximize leg turnover and propels you forward faster.

• Keep your knees every so slightly bent inwards, towards each other. I see a lot of newbie riders that ride knees out. No good! This will really tear-up and hurt your knees, besides being an inefficient riding form. You want your body to be in a nice, compact, but loose and relaxed aerodynamic riding position.

• Try to kick your butt with your heels. This, too, will improve leg turnover and maximize the amount of torque you can put into the pedals. Trying to kick your butt with your heels will also help you lift your knees to your chest.

• Dance on your toes. As soon as your toes “touch the ground,” push off with them and lift those knees to your chest, kicking your butt with your heels. Think quick, light, dancing-on-hot-coals feet.

• Breathe deep and slow.

Power 10s & Power 20s

Essentially, these are double-time, all-out, warp-speed sprints. Increase the tension/resistance a notch or two before starting them. And then, hammer! I count down real slow from 10 to 0 (usually taking 15-20 seconds to do so). For Power 20s, I count up to 10 then back down to 0 (usually taking 20-40 seconds).

I cannot emphasize this enough: these are everything you have, no-holds-barred sprints. Exhaust yourself. Your heart rate should jump pretty radically during the sprint sessions. But also, while the legs are moving uber-fast, try to keep your upper body relaxed and breathe deeply and slowly. This is especially important on Power 20s — the only way to survive these speed sessions is to carry fresh oxygen to your legs.

Note, these can be done sitting in the saddle, on the flats — or, while standing up and attacking/charging up a hill.

Out-of-saddle/standing climbs

Most of the notes from above about form and technique apply here. But there are a few other things to note:

• If starting from a seated or in-the-saddle position, and before standing or getting out of the saddle, add a bit of resistance/tension to your bike. This will help you maintain balance when you transition from a seated to a standing position.

• Keep your hips and butt back! This is the most important thing when climbing. All your weight should be supported by your legs with no weight being supported by your arms. A lot of riders will lean forward and try to rest or support themselves with their arms when climbing. No no no! Thrust those hips back. You should feel it in the quads, glutes, and hamstrings. If you get at all tight or sore in your shoulders, backs, or arms and hands, you are leaning too far forward. Get those hips back. Your butt should be so far back that it is only 1-2 inches above the nose of your seat. And if you are climbing properly, you should be able to — for a very brief second; seasoned riders, maybe for a second or two — lift your hands off the handlebars. Just lift them up a few inches off the handlebars and be ready to catch yourself in case you fall forward. If you can’t do this (and be very careful when you do), then you need get more of your body to be supported by your legs.

• No bouncing! Keep your upper light, relaxed, and completely still. You should be in one geometric plane; the only thing moving is your legs. (High knees, kick your bootie with your heels.) Remember to breathe slow and deep. If you are bouncing, you need thrust your hips back; also, try slowing your leg turnover to isolate those quads and hamstrings and add a bit of tension/resistance.

Stair climber exercise

Just as it sounds — a modified climb position that works the calves and lower quads, right above the knee-caps. Imagine you are on a stair climbing machine. How? Add lots of tension/resistance. Stand-up on your bike. Rather than thrusting your hips and butt backwards, as in a regular climb (noted above), try to stand erect. Keep your fingers gently, gently, gently resting on your handlebars. Keep your head up, chin up. Breathe deep and slow. And then dance on your toes! Light, quick feet. As soon as your toes touch the ground, lift those knees to your chest. Imagine running stadiums or racing your buddies up the stairwell of a high-rise hotel. Last one to the top buys room service. This is a very tiring set, especially after a minute or so. Stay strong, stay tall, and push through the discomfort. Your calf muscles will be screaming after this!

High-tension sprints

If all you have is 5 minutes in a day, this is the best exercise you can do! It spikes the heart rate like nothing else. Usually 3 sets are done in a song. Here we go:

Before you start sprinting, add as much tension as you possibly can: 3, 4, maybe even 5 turns to the right, as much as if you were going into an Everest-like climb. Stay seated and then start pounding on those pedals.

There is sooooo much tension/resistance on your bike that your butt and legs are going to want to stand up. Don’t give into this impulse. Stay seated! (If you don’t have enough tension that your butt starts to rise out of the seat and the legs want to stand-up, then add some more!)

Your legs will be moving very slow for a sprint, but your legs are getting the best workout. Think of sprinting through quicksand or waist-high wet cement. Breathe deep and slow and power through!

The first two high-tension sprints in a songs should be around 15 seconds long; for the last one, hang in there for 30 seconds. Crank the music and do the high-tension sprints at the chorus.

Speed bumps

I was very hesitant to do these, first as a student and then as an instructor, because you would never do this exercise on the road. But that’s the beauty of spinning… It’s a great way to strengthen your muscles and cardiovascular system while doing bike-specific-like training. Some hardcore roadies might object at first, but once they do the set, they are hooked

• Find a song with a quick and consistent beat — dance and electronica work well.

• Increase the tension/resistance a few notches.

• For the first half of the song, on counts of 4 — “Up, two, three, four, down, two, three, four…” — we stand-up, then sit-down. Out-of-the-saddle, then back in the saddle

• Note, this is a leg workout. Imagine stepping-up with your legs, and then sitting down. A lot of riders will push off their handlebars for momentum when standing and sitting. No good! This is not an upper-body workout! In fact, you should be able to do this exercise without your arms and hands. Don’t actually do this, because it is unsafe and your might tip over to one side after losing your balance, but think about this while doing the set… Your arms are there to gently, gently, gently rest on the handlebars. If you are getting sore or tight in the shoulders, back, or triceps, you are using your arms. Thrust your hips back and think of stepping up and sitting down. You will feel this immediately in your quads if done right.

• For the second half of the song we go double-time: “Up, two, down, two…” The muscles are a bit sore from the first half; this helps to tax the cardiovascular system.

Random other thoughts and notes

• I do not like to do any kind of upper-body or arm-work in spinning. Spinning is a leg and lung workout. You need your arms and hands free and available for balance. If you want to do curls or other arm workouts, do so before or after class in the weight room.

• The louder the music, the better. Usually.

• Other questions or concerns? Let me know and I’ll address them here.