Burn 600 Calories in 40 Minutes

Exercise gadgets and gizmos are in no short supply. You're constantly being inundated with fitness products to pull, push or pedal that are touting to melt away fat. To save you the time and money of weeding out the junk, I’ve highlighted an option that’s guaranteed to be effective for burning calories and optimizing your training time.

Spin Your Wheels

You too can get legs like cyclist Lance Armstrong without spending six hours a day on a bike. When in Dallas, Texas a few years ago I had the pleasure of taking a spin class with one of Lance Armstrong’s training partners. His thighs were like pistons firing at a surreal speed. His legs became a blur when he went into a sprint.

At the time, I had been teaching spinning for several years and of all the types of classes I taught, it was the first time I could actually see the participants bodies changing in front of my eyes.

Through cycling, Lance’s physiology has evolved to blow the minds of our country’s greatest coaches and doctors. Cycling can help you improve endurance, burn fat and give definition to your lower body.

Introduced in the '80s by ultra-endurance athlete Johnny Goldberg (aka Johnny G), spinning brings the elements of athletic training to people of all fitness levels. It's not just a "hardcore" fitness program for elite athletes. Instead, this high-energy group exercise integrates music, camaraderie and visualization in a complete mind/body exercise program.

Individualized for participants of any age or ability, spinning uses a simple set of movements, hand positions, and heart rate training to deliver unparalleled fitness results.

Participants can expect to burn an average of 500-700 calories in a 40 minute class and it’s a fantastic way for cyclists to maintain and improve their aerobic conditioning. Once you're warmed up the music takes over your body and before you know it the endorphins kick in and 40 minutes goes by in a snap.

Due to its roots in athletic training, spinning is the only indoor cycling workout to offer a varied range of classes that are based on heart rate parameters, including endurance, interval, strength, recovery and race day. If you're a beginner, you may want to start out with a recovery or endurance ride, then progress to strength, interval and race day rides. Each ride has a different purpose and will help you steer clear of a plateau. Cross training is built into the Spin program.

Spin classes can be taken 2–3 times weekly and should be complimented with a strength training workout for a balanced exercise plan. The only drawback is that it does take some time to get used to sitting in the saddle for 40 minutes, but once you invest in the padded shorts and gel seat you’ll be hooked.

You will truly realize the pay off of spin training when you hit the road or trails on your bike and find the energy and power to climb mountains like you could only dream of in the past.

For more information on spinning or to find a licensed spinning facility, call 800-847-SPIN (7746) or e-mail info@spinning.com.

Kelli Calabrese – MS, CSCS, 2004 Personal Trainer of the Year. Kelli is a Clinical Exercise Physiologist and 20 year fitness industry leader. She is the author of Feminine, Firm & Fit – Building A Lean Strong Body in 12 Weeks. She has 23 fitness, nutrition and lifestyle related certifications and is available for personal training, online training, iPod workouts, phone coaching, grocery shopping tours, seminars and media appearances. Kelli’s personal mission is to provide individuals with the tools to make health, fitness and wellness a permanent part of their lives.

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