Revamp your running routine with a perfect complement: indoor cycling (spinning)! While running offers excellent cardiovascular benefits and an uplifted mood, its high-impact nature can strain your body and lead to injuries. Enter spinning, a joint-friendly workout that targets the same muscle groups, enhances aerobic fitness and adds a refreshing twist to your fitness regime.
Whether you’re a devoted runner or simply enjoy running for fun, discover how incorporating just one or two spin sessions a week can revolutionise your running experience.
Both running a spinning use the quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, calves, hip flexors and the core. Adding in a spin session a week, on top of your running, is a great way to improve the strength and endurance of these muscles, which will gear you up for a stronger running stride.
As spin and running use the muscles in the lower body slightly differently, adding in a weekly spin session can also help to reduce any muscular imbalances developed by running.
There’s no two ways about it – running is high impact, taking a toll on our bodies and joints. Spinning is low-impact and is much kinder to the joints, tendons and muscles. By integrating a couple of weekly spin sessions, you can maintain the same training intensity and volume while minimising the risk of injuries – a win-win for your fitness journey.
And, if you’re a runner already nursing injuries, fret not! Regular spin classes are a great way to keep your fitness on top form whilst allowing those aches and niggles to heal.
In a 2013 study, researchers compared the effects of 3 days of increased training volume (2.5hrs a day) in cyclists and runners. Runners experienced more muscle damage, soreness and inflammation. This inflammation, the enemy of speedy recoveries and running progress, can put a real damper on running performance.
If you’re looking to improve your running performance without pounding your feet on the pavement for hundreds of miles, spin is a gentler alternative that won’t disrupt your recovery or progression. With regular spinning, you can tackle high training volumes without feeling over fatigued, putting you on the ultimate path to peak performance!
I can admit that the December snow, followed by weeks of black ice, put me a little behind on my half marathon training. And, a scorching heatwave in August (if we’re lucky) will be enough to push my current marathon training back a few weeks as those “I’ll try again next week” thoughts creep in at 5am.
Yet, ClubCycle is inside, meaning it is shielded from the elements of British weather! With air conditioning and ventilation, it’s the perfect way to get in a workout over summer. Fear not the dark and miserable winter months, for ClubCycle boasts walls, a ceiling and heating to protect you from the wind, snow and rain. With ClubCycle spin classes, you can keep your race day training consistent all year round.
To improve your running, you need to improve your aerobic fitness. A key factor in improving aerobic fitness is the volume of training, and specifically the volume of high intensity training.
Running is undoubtably very effective for developing aerobic fitness. However, running high intensity intervals or adding in more running volume is fatiguing on the body. Adding in spin sessions allows you to get in low-impact yet hard intervals, as they are commonly practiced in a spin class.
As spinning is less fatiguing and carries less risk of injury, you can also train more often, helping to increase the volume of your training and therefore giving you a greater aerobic benefit.
So, whether you’re training for your first 5k or your 10th marathon, it is evident that a spin session a week can put you on the right track. Book your ClubCycle spin session here.
