How to Isolate on a Spinning Bike

Made popular by "Melrose Place," "Sex and the City" and the fitness trends of the 1990s, Spinning classes remain a viable option for staying in shape. Gyms still offer daily cycling sessions for the enthusiastic exerciser, and isolating is a great way to increase strength and muscle mass. Hop on your bike and get healthy with these hints.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

1. Adjust your bike to a safe, comfortable position, and make sure all moving parts of the bike have been tightened. Stand next to the bike. Your seat should be approximately as high as your hips while standing. Although it may seem more comfortable at first, don't raise your handlebars much higher than the seat. They should be even or just slightly higher than the bike seat.
2. Stretch. Perform your preferred leg stretches, paying special attention to the quad muscles (thighs), the gluts (butt) and hamstrings (back of your upper legs).
3. Get a good pace going during warm-up. Isolating muscles when they are not properly warm can be dangerous. Exercise for about five minutes at a quick speed (don't sprint) with little or no resistance.
4. Grip the handlebars of the Spinning bike firmly and lift your bottom off the seat. You may hear an instructor refer to this as "coming out of the saddle." Pedaling out of the saddle is a common form of exercise in Spin class. Keep your body upright with your butt just above the seat. Ideally, you should feel the very tip of the seat in between your legs when you are out of the saddle. Maintain an even cycle.
5. Move in to the isolation by keeping your upper body perfectly still and pedaling only using your legs. This will isolate the muscles in your legs. This is very hard to do at first. Concentrate on stopping the upper body from bouncing. If you are in a class, you may hear the instructor say, "Watch your bounce." You will instantly feel the pressure in your legs and glut muscles. You may have to slow down your pace to keep the isolation in your lower body. The slower the cycling, the more pressure you will feel on your muscles as you isolate (this isn't a bad thing).

Tips & Warnings

• Most Spinning classes are held in exercise rooms with wall-length mirrors. Use these to your advantage. Watch yourself in the mirror to decrease the bounce in the upper body. Remember--the perfect isolation completely freezes the upper body.
• Isolating on a Spin bike is hard on the knees. If you suffer from knee injuries or have weak knees, consider isolating for a shorter period of time or with less frequency. Some with bad knees may find it difficult to isolate at all.