Indoor Cycling Spinning Class Drills

A typical spinning class lasts 45-60 minutes. Indoor cycling is mostly cardio interval training – meaning heart rate intervals within your target heart rate zone. Read about the Karvonen Formula to calculate your target heart rate zone. Indoor cycling also focuses on strength training, for example, during a climb using more resistance.

Here is an example of a typical class format of indoor cycling drills. Each drill lasts the duration of one song (approximately 4-5 minutes). 

	SPINNING DRILL	DESCRIPTION	GEAR	RPM
	Warm Up	stretch arms, roll shoulders alternate: 30 seconds seated 30 seconds standing	you choose increase 2-3	80-100 n/a
	Review Pedal Stroke (square cycling)	15-20 seconds each: push fwd - recumbent push down scrape mud off shoes (ham up) pull up / knee up to ceiling	you choose	80-100
1	Gear Practice	20 seconds each RPM range 60-70 move into 3rd position	increase gear with each interval	90-100 80-90 70-80 60-70 50-60 40-50
2	Jumps	With the beat of the music. Duration: 60 seconds STAND 4 beats SIT 4 beats Duration: 30-60 seconds STAND 2 beats SIT 2 beats	mid-range	n/a
3	Sprints	5 seconds - SIT, increase gear, pedal fast 10 seconds - 3rd position, pedal fast 10 seconds - SIT, pedal FASTER	mid-range	90-100 100-120
4	Down and Up Hills	20 seconds - SIT 30 seconds - 3rd position		90-100 45-55
5	Seated Climb	20 seconds each RPM range stay seated	increase gear with each interval	70-80 60-70 50-60 40-50
6	Single Leg Climb	1-leg pedal - alt. 30s ea. side		50-60
	Warm Up	stretch arms, roll shoulders alternate: 30 seconds seated 30 seconds standing
	Repeat intervals 1-6 until ~6 minutes before end of workout.
	Cool Down	pedal at your own pace ~2 minutes		80-100
	Stretch	* calves - stand up on pedals, 1 heel down * quadraceps - sit, grab foot, knee down * ham strings / lower back - foot on bike, bend fwd * hip stretch - ankle above knee & bend * lower back/ham strings - rag doll