You know indoor cycling is a great cardio workout, but did you also know you can use the bike to build your glutes and also work your core?
The Basics of Indoor Cycling
Spinning is an awesome workout that combines resistance training with cardio. It is a great way to condition your body, burn a lot of calories and is also a good cross training exercise for runners. There are some basic positions of cycling that are universal and will be helpful to understand if you are not yet familiar with spinning:
• Position 1: Seated flat or climb
• Position 2: Standing flat
• Position 3: Standing climb
• Jumps: Alternating between position 1 and 3
If these do not sound familiar, you can read and see them on the Spinning site. If you are BRAND NEW to a bike and want to just get started, you can check out this video with Victoria’s Secret model Alessandra Ambrosio getting set up on a bike by her trainer:
Now that you are acquainted with the bike, you can incorporate the following tips into your next cycling workout or spinning class to use that time more effectively.
Booty Building Tips
• In Position 3, push your hips back so the seat is right beneath your bum (you might even feel your legs graze the seat), and press your heels down. This will force your body to use your hamstrings and glutes to push the pedals around. To really get a good burn, alternate one minute of high resistance with one minute of lower resistance at a faster pace (a standing sprint).
• During jumps, focus on using your legs and glutes to push you up into position 3 and ease you back down into position 1. Make the transition out to 3 powerful, and the transition back to 1 smooth and graceful. This will really challenge the glute muscles concentrically and eccentrically.
Safety note: If you are ever bouncing on the saddle or if you are in a standing position and feel like you’re bouncing, then add a little resistance because this will save you from injuring your knees.
Ab Flattening Tips:
• In position 2, keep your body in a straight line: your shoulders, hips and knees should all be in line with your foot at the bottom of the pedal stroke. Make sure your hands are on the handle bars, but just for balance purposes. You will be utilizing all of your core muscles to maintain this position and good posture.
• In any position, challenge your core by tightening the ab muscles. To do this, think of pulling your belly button toward your spine as you breathe out. This is also called a vacuum.
Workout
You can use these tips in any indoor cycling workout (on an upright bike). As a spinning instructor, I like to format my 45-minute classes using music. Here are a couple of my favorite playlists with workout notes:
I use “easy, medium, hard” to describe pace and resistance. You can base this on your own perception of your effort. Easy, medium or hard is different for each person and will vary for one person on a daily basis as well.
| Song | Workout |
| “Play Hard” (David Guetta) | Position 1, warm-up at an easy pace. Increase resistance slightly halfway through song. |
| “Focus” (Ariana Grande) | Position 1 on verse at medium pace. On the chorus, switch to position 3 at a medium resistance and pace. |
| “Sorry” (Justin Bieber) | Position 3 on the verse at medium resistance and easy pace. Then Jumps on the chorus at a medium pace. Make the jumps as quickly and smoothly as you can. |
| “Lose Control” (Missy Elliot) | Position 2 at an easy resistance. Increase resistance to medium at halfway point of song, and attempt to keep the same pace. |
| “The Champ” (Nelly) |
Position 1 at medium resistance. Increase resistance at each chorus so you are at a very hard resistance by end of song. |
| “Till the World Ends” (Britney) | Keep the same resistance from the last song and move to position 3. Keep this resistance the whole song. Increase pace during each chorus (standing sprint). |
| “Honey, I’m Good” (Andy Grammer) | Take off all resistance and go to position 1. Maintain a medium pace at an easy resistance. |
| “Sexy People” (Arianna) | Position 1 on verse at medium pace. On the chorus, switch to position 3 at a medium/hard resistance and pace. |
| “Lean On” (Major Lazer & DJ Snake) | Position 3 on the verse at medium resistance and easy pace. Then jumps on the chorus at a medium pace. Make the jumps as quickly and smoothly as you can. |
| “Confident” (Demi Lovato) | Position 1 at medium resistance. Increase resistance at each chorus so you are at a very hard resistance by end of song. |
| “Let’s Go” (Calvin Harris ft. Ne-Yo) |
Keep the same resistance from the last song and move to position 3. Keep this resistance the whole song. Increase pace during each chorus (standing sprint). |
| “John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16” (Keith Urban) | Position 1 at easy resistance and pace. Cool down. |
| Song | Workout |
| “House Party” (Sam Hunt) | Position 1, warm-up at an easy pace. Increase resistance slightly halfway through song. |
| “Worth It” (Fifth Harmony) | Position 1 on the verse at medium resistance and easy pace. Then jumps on the chorus at a medium pace. Make the jumps as quickly and smoothly as you can. |
| “Low” (Flo Rida) | Position 1 at medium resistance. Increase resistance at each chorus so you are at a very hard resistance by end of song. |
| “Back it Up” (Prince Royce, JLo, Pitbull) | Keep the same resistance from the last song and move to position 3, medium pace. Increase resistance with each chorus. |
| “Five More Hours” (Deorro x Chris Brown) |
Take off some resistance and move to position 1. On verses, keep easy/medium pace at the medium resistance. On the chorus, increase to hard/fast pace. |
| “Bailando” (Enrique) | Jumps for the entire song at medium resistance. Challenge yourself to maintain the same pace throughout the song. |
| “We Found Love” (Rihanna) | Position 2 at medium resistance (like you are jogging). Increase your pace on each chorus (like a sprint). |
| “Bad Blood” (Taylor Swift) | Position 1 at easy resistance. Increase resistance at each chorus so you are at a medium/hard resistance by end of song. |
| “Show Me the Money” (Petey Pablo) | Keep resistance from last song and stay in position 1 at medium resistance. Increase resistance at halfway point to very hard. |
| “Timber” (Pitbull ft. Kesha) | Keep resistance and move to position 3. Increase pace on each chorus (standing sprints). |
| “Irreplaceable” Beyonce) | Position 1 at easy resistance and pace. Cool down. |
Additional Workouts:
You can also utilize the following bike workouts to incorporate the booty building and ab flattening tips:
• Spin Your Way To Fat Loss
• Bike Burn
• Get Lean With Polarized Training
Happy Spinning!
