I love spinning and the way I feel when I'm done. I'm drenched in sweat and feel like it's leaning me out especially lower body. However I know I need to lift and lift heavy. I was used to spinning up to 6 days a week. I have heard cardio can eat away lean muscle, but they are only 45 - 60 min classes, so my question is what is more beneficial. Lift 3 days a week with spinning on the days I don't lift? Still spin 6 days a week with the 3 days of lifting? Lift 3 days a week, with 2 days spinning, the rest of the cardio just low intensity? Or lift 5 days a week? Spin 2? or don't spin at all? ect?
A little information I'm tall 5'10 and want to lose alot of body fat around 40 pounds.
Any advice would be great thanks!
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Thread: Lifting vs. spinning
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01-06-2011, 10:13 PM #1
Lifting vs. spinning
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01-06-2011, 10:23 PM #2
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01-07-2011, 12:14 AM #3
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01-07-2011, 12:49 AM #4
I love spin too! (but I have to back away from it now since I'm going on a bulk... *sob*) It's really great for your legs, plus it will burn fat. Make sure you turn up the gears so that they are heavy enough to build those leg muscles! I say go for it but just don't do any lower body work before/after spin because you really should be feeling the burn after a session! Think of it as baking a cake - say the recipe calls for 150 grams of butter and you add 80 grams extra... you're not going to make it any better, just worse.
And if you're doing Spin, you don't need regular cardio. HIIT beats regular cardio any day.
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01-07-2011, 01:13 AM #5
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Leaning out/losing body fat goes back to your eating plan, but you haven't provided any information on that.
When eating in a deficit keep your main focus on the heavy weights. This is what preserves our muscle. You can do cardio, but depending on your deficit, how long you've been dieting, how much cardio you do...yes you can lose muscle if not careful.National Level Competitor (Female BB)
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01-07-2011, 05:41 AM #6
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I honestly think spinning twice a week has seriously hindered my muscle gains over the last 18 months - critically the extremely high intensity of spinning disrupted my hormones and stopped my periods which is never a good thing. I've given up high intensity cardio for at least the next few months to see what effect it has....
"Ain't about how fast I get there.....it's the climb"
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01-07-2011, 09:42 AM #7
Leaning out/losing body fat goes back to your eating plan, but you haven't provided any information on that.
When eating in a deficit keep your main focus on the heavy weights. This is what preserves our muscle. You can do cardio, but depending on your deficit, how long you've been dieting, how much cardio you do...yes you can lose muscle if not careful.
I've been messing with my diet and the number of calories I eat too trying to figure out what works best based on if I'm spinning, lifting, or off day. Typical average day is around 1800 - 2100. I was just spinning 6 days a week with heavy resistance for about 6 weeks. I just started to get back to weights this week. I don't mind spinning and lifting the same days...I just don't want it to be counterproductive!
Thanks everyone for all the suggestions!
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01-07-2011, 09:54 AM #8
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Kimm4's advice is perfect. You need to make sure you eat enough to fuel you through those workouts. Friggin' spinning is grueling. The Saturday AM class at my gym lasts 90min. I have no idea why someone would want to spin for 90min...
I can tell you from experience that when doing lots of cardio my weight training suffered. When I stopped doing cardio (by "stopped doing cardio" I mean I no longer did 60min 6 days a week) and zeroed in on my diet my gains stepped up pretty quickly.
I guess it all depends on your goals and what you want to look like.
So I guess we should ask, what do you want to look like?
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01-07-2011, 10:25 AM #9
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I used to be a 5-6x per week spinner. Loved it. Still miss it at times. Hardly ever do it. Why? Because it didn't help me achieve the physique I wanted.
When I put the emphasis on diet and heavy weights and then threw in the occasional spin class (or not), I became leaner and stronger, something that I never got from spinning. To this day, I walk by the spin room and those girls still look the same. Hey, if I am going to sweat, grunt/groan, and spend time/money, I want something to show for it!!!
You don't have to ditch it completely, just make diet and weights your priority.
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01-07-2011, 10:41 AM #10
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