5 Reasons Spin Classes Will Help You Beat the Winter Cycling Blues

Winter can be a miserable time for fans of the outdoors, especially avid cyclists. Many will persevere and ride through wind, hail, dark and bitter temperatures but others put cycling on hold until the weather and light improves. Spinning classes can help you keep up your cycling passion all year long and provide some extra benefits too.

Social

Cycling can be a solitary activity and even if you are part of a club, pedalling along busy roads can hamper conversation. Despite leaving you out of breath spin classes have a much bigger social element, from chatting to fellow cyclists while exercising, to being entertained by the instructor. That’s much more fun than riding alone down a dark, damp alley.

Motivation

Having an instructor leading you and being surrounded by others pedalling for their life means you end up pushing yourself to the limit no matter what. The thought of cycling along wet roads and dodging cars may not be appealing but using an indoor spinning bike and having fun with fellow fitness enthusiasts should be all the cycling motivation you need.

Music

Listening to music while riding outside is ill advised for obvious safety reasons. One advantage of a spin class is that there are no vehicles, animals or humans likely to appear from nowhere and knock you off, mainly as you’re not actually going anywhere. Music adds further motivation and enjoyment to each session and has also been shown to help increase athletes work rate.

Prepare for spring

Staying fit over winter can be a challenge, especially if cycling is your only form of exercise. Spin classes will keep you in shape and mean you won’t get saddle sore when you get back on the bike outside. Some spin classes combine cycling with other exercises, such as weights while cycling, so you may even come back fitter than ever and shave minutes off that commute to work come spring. It also reduces the risk of injury when you return.

Relieve Stress

Winter is also a stressful time for a lot of people and getting regular exercise is a great antidote. Combined with the social aspect, the release of endorphins provides a good feeling during and after each session. The light atmosphere inside should also help banish any thoughts of the cold, dark weather outside as the music helps clear your head too.