You SPIN me right round baby right round!

Other than running, spin is my absolute favorite cardio activity! And while the first time someone told me they went to spin class, I pictured them with hands stretched wide, wildly twirling circles in the middle of their gym floor, I have come to know and love this exercise routine dearly.

Here is an example of a spin class:

What makes spin so spectacular is the number of calories you burn in a very short workout. You can burn about 450 calories in 45 minutes—talk about bang for your buck! Because it is less weight bearing, it is also great for cross-training with running by toning your quadriceps (front thigh muscles) and outer thigh muscles. And it is all set to a fantastic medley of motivating music!

It is important to know the basics before beginning a spin regimen. Proper seat and handlebar height and depth is vital, so you won’t hurt your knees or back.

This is a great video that explains proper seating and positions:

Riding in different positions helps tone your core and strengthen your back as well:

Position 1: Hands placed in the center of the handles. You can place the hands one on top of the other in this position. This is a good spot when warming up, cooling down, or recovering from a sprint interval.
Position 2: Hands are just inside the upward curve on the handle bars. This is where your hands will most likely be for most of the class.
Position 3: Hands hold on to the top of the handles. This position should really only be used when standing for a climb or riding in a tucked position with your bum as far back over the seat as possible.

The intensity of your workout depends on three different elements:
• rate at which you are pedaling
• resistance of the bike's flywheel, which can be continually adjusted throughout the class to make pedaling easier or more difficult
• your body position (pedaling from a seated position or up from the saddle in either standing jog/sprint or tucked jog/sprint)

Things to know about a spin class:
1) For goodness sake don’t forget your water! You will sweat through at least one towel, and it is so important to stay hydrated throughout the class. Make sure you drink plenty of water before and after as well.
2) I mentioned the sweat (which is my favorite part of this class—I find it so cathartic and rejuvenating to sweat through two towels in 45 minutes), so don’t forget to grab a towel for your face. An extra towel to drape over the bike handles is a good idea, too, because your sweaty mitts will cause slippage.
3) Get there early to get set up. Follow the instructions in the video above to learn how to set up your bike. Lots of other people ride your bike, so you will likely have to reposition it every time you ride. You also want to get there early to warm your legs up a bit with zero resistance on the bike.
4) Challenge yourself with resistance. If you have an instructor who gives you an option to turn up your resistance by one or two turns, don’t take one when you KNOW you can comfortably take two. While the flight of the bumblebee your legs are doing during sprints burn a lot of calories, riding with increasing resistance burns even more.

And although it hasn’t made it to the great state of Mississippi, look out for a Karaoke spin class near you!!! Can you believe it?! Just when you thought spinning couldn’t get any better, they went and added America’s favorite self-indulgent pastime to it. It could be because a lot of people who spin sing along with the music anyway, so some smart gym marketing executive decided to make it a selling point. Karaoke spin is huge on the West coast and is slowly making its way across the rest of the country: