Spinning is the workout that pedalled its way into UK gyms in the late 1990s and has never disappeared. As fitness trends have come and gone, the gruelling indoor bike workout that is guaranteed to leave you in puddles of sweat has remained a constant. And a new study is the latest to endorse the health benefits of spinning classes. In the study, funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and published in Lancet Rheumatology, researchers from Bournemouth University and University Hospitals Dorset revealed that regular spinning could be more beneficial than physiotherapy for patients with hip osteoarthritis, a condition that the NHS says affects 11 per cent of over-45s.
Tom Wainwright, professor of orthopaedics at BU and a physiotherapist at UHD, says his study of 221 people in their early forties to late seventies with diagnosed hip osteoarthritis showed that introducing weekly indoor bike classes at a local leisure centre transformed their recovery by reducing pain, improving function and motivating people to manage their hip pain going forward. Participants in the study were split into two groups: the first was prescribed weekly group cycling sessions — 30-minute classes in the early weeks, progressing to 40 minutes by week six — in combination with a brief physio-led education talk before they started pedalling; the other was just offered a standard one-on-one physiotherapy appointment.
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After two months it was the spinning group that reported the best outcomes. In an earlier study by Wainwright, published in Healthcare journal in 2020, a five-year follow-up showed that, of 83 people with hip osteoarthritis who were introduced to a weekly spinning class for six weeks and encouraged to carry on themselves, most were still using self-management strategies to manage their hip pain five years later. Almost half (45 per cent) had not returned to their GP for further treatment of their hip pain once they started spinning, and 57 per cent had not undergone hip replacement surgery.
“The instinct is to stop exercising when something hurts,” Wainwright says. “But with osteoarthritis you need to do the opposite and keep using your joints in the right way.” Exercise will help osteoarthritis joint pain only for as long as you keep it up. “If you do spinning for six weeks and then stop you’ll go back to how you were,” Wainwright says. “So we helped people to prepare how they would continue with their activity when the study was over.”
Spinning can be better for joint problems than physio
Hip joints respond well to spinning because they are continually mobilised. “Your good hip is helping to push through your weaker hip in a cyclical motion,” Wainwright says. “Typically people do between 60-100 revolutions per minute, which is a lot higher movement dose than exercises traditionally recommended as part of physiotherapy rehab.”
He adds that even people who hadn’t exercised for years were not put off trying it. “Spinning is very inclusive — nobody knows what resistance your bike is set at or your cadence [revolutions per minute] so it removes comparisons that create barriers for some people,” he says. “Swimming and aqua aerobic classes have been advocated for people with joint problems in the past, but not everyone wants to put on a swimsuit or trunks and get in a pool, whereas with spinning you can wear what you like within reason.”
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Spinning can be a gateway class to many other forms of exercise
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It can burn as many calories as running — but without the impact on bones
It was the South African cyclist Jonathan “Jonny G” Goldberg who came up with the idea of spinning classes and who first lured a wave of body-conscious gymgoers to studios with the promise they could burn up to 600 calories an hour by bobbing up and down in unison to music led by an enthusiastic instructor on custom-designed stationary bikes. A 1997 study commissioned by the American Council on Exercise found that the calories per minute burnt in an indoor cycling class ranged from 7.5 to 19, or “equal to a 150-pound (10.5st) person running a seven-minute mile”. However, the report highlighted that “compared to running or step aerobics, indoor cycling is a considerably lower-impact exercise” — suggesting that even back then it was considered good news for those with joint problems. I was an early convert — I tried my first class in 1998 and still do a spin-style session at least once a week and more often in the winter.
You can set your own pace — perfect for beginners
Spinning is “a gateway class to many other forms of exercise”, says Steve Barrett, head of global fitness for Matrix Fitness and a fitness trends analyst, who was a personal trainer in the 1990s when spinning arrived on the gym scene. Over the decades there have been many spin-offs (excuse the pun) including SoulCycle, 1Rebel and Psycle studios, rebranded classes at gym chains and home versions of bike workouts such as Peloton, but the premise of these remains rooted in the original concept. Barrett believes it has stood the test of time because although the premise is simple it has evolved with fitness technology. “You can now track metrics such as heart rate, watts, distance and calories used in a session and there’s added entertainment value such as in-class leaderboards that connect to bikes and wearables.”
That said, you can still go at your own pace. “You can hold back in your first few sessions and be next to someone who has been doing group cycle classes for 20 years,” he says. Follow your instructor’s lead, but adjust intensity as required to stay within your comfort zone as you get used to classes. “Nobody will be any the wiser if you are easing back a bit — you are in total control of your own bike. If it is your first time you can be really gentle with your resistance and build up in the next class.”
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Regular sessions can boost heart and brain health
Spinning really does get you fit. In the original ACE study, sports scientists found the heart rates of each spinning class participant to be between 75 per cent and 96 per cent of age-predicted heart-rate maximum, with most of the time spent at the higher end of the range that, they reported, is “what makes [it] an effective, rewarding exercise”.
What’s more, Wainwright’s study isn’t the first to confirm spinning is good for wider health. A review of health benefits by Spanish exercise scientists reporting in Medicina journal revealed that spinning classes and sessions “may improve aerobic capacity, blood pressure, lipid profile and body composition” whether they were a standalone intervention or performed in conjunction with other exercise and diet changes. And plenty of research has shown that both regular cycling and intervals on an indoor bike are powerful tools for long-term brain protection.
I am certainly still a fan. For me, at 56, spinning offers an unrivalled high-intensity workout that complements my regular running. And Barrett says he can’t see it disappearing any time soon. “There are so many new variables in the group cycle genre and as you get better at it and more powerful, there are performance options for real fans,” he says. “You are never too old to try it and it’s not going away.”
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Don’t use heavy weights as you cycle
Some spin classes incorporate hand weights, adding moves that are specifically designed to work your biceps, triceps, back and chest at the same time as your legs and glutes, but a report by the US Indoor Cycling Association suggested lifting weights as you pedal “impedes your ability to pedal while reducing your power output”, which ultimately means fewer calories burnt. The heavier the weight, the greater the adverse effect. Given weights of 1-3lb don’t add much advantage to a spinning class anyway, consider giving them a miss if you are new to spinning and do a separate resistance session instead.
Do stretch when you finish
Phil Burt, a cycling physiotherapist and author of Bike Fit, says because of the time spent in one or two positions, “indoor riding potentially exacerbates any imbalances or tightness” in your muscles and joints. “Get out of your sweaty kit straight after the session and dedicate some time to flexibility and mobility exercises,” he says.