I have noticed an increase in the number individuals that are posting videos to social media sites showing indoor cycling classes that contain all kinds of dance movements and unsafe, contraindicated movements. Unfortunately, most of these videos also call whatever they are doing on the bike a Spinning® class. The posts are followed with many likes and a slew of comments from their friends that want to know where they can sign up for such a class. I find this recent trend rather disturbing that indoor cycling instructors have taken to using gimmicks to make their classes entertaining and “fun.”
As I watch riders flailing around on the bike, arms flapping like the wings of a wounded bird, legs flailing at speeds that turn them into a blur, squatting between the saddle and handlebars and a plethora of other movements that are contraindicated in the Spinning® program, I cringe that these instructors are putting their students at risk of injury all to become the most popular instructor in their facility. It isn’t a matter of if someone gets seriously hurt, but when. Using such movements puts the rider at risk for a multitude of injuries. These movements place an incredible amount of stress on the knees, hips and lower back and are not biomechanically efficient.
As instructors we owe it to our students to offer a safe and effective training session. Using contraindicated movements violate this principle by putting a student at risk of injury. Keep the program real and follow the movements you were taught in your Spinning® Instructor Training. If it isn’t in your manual, then it is not part of the Spinning® program.