Indoor cycling has firmly secured its spot as one of the most popular fitness trends in Singapore. With the rise of boutique studios and high-energy classes, more fitness enthusiasts are discovering the versatility of an indoor spin class. While many hop onto the bike hoping to burn calories, the beauty of spin classes lies in their adaptability. Whether you aim to slim down, build strength, or boost endurance, you can fine-tune your ride to meet your goals. This guide explores how you can customise your spin sessions for maximum results.

Understanding the Basics of an Indoor Spin Class

At its core, an indoor spin class revolves around a stationary bike designed for simulated cycling workouts. Classes usually involve a combination of climbs, sprints, and intervals, often set to music. The instructor guides participants through different resistance levels, speeds, and body positions to mimic outdoor terrain variations.

However, what many do not realise is that an indoor spin session is not a “one-size-fits-all” workout. Every adjustment—from the resistance knob to your cadence—can dramatically change the outcome of your training session. Understanding these variables is the first step towards making your rides more purposeful.

Setting Your Fitness Goal: Clarity Is Key

Before adjusting your ride, you need to define your goal. Are you riding primarily to shed kilos, improve cardiovascular fitness, or strengthen your muscles? Each objective demands a different training approach:

• Weight loss: Focus on maximising calorie burn through high-intensity intervals.
• Endurance building: Sustain longer rides at moderate intensity levels.
• Strength development: Increase resistance to simulate uphill climbs and build lower body power.

Once your goal is crystal clear, customising your ride becomes a strategic process rather than guesswork.

Customising for Weight Loss: High-Intensity Intervals

For those targeting fat loss, incorporating high-intensity interval training (HIIT) into your spin class can be highly effective. In a HIIT-style spin session, you alternate between short bursts of maximum effort and periods of active recovery.

Key Tactics for Weight Loss:

• Short, explosive sprints at low resistance to spike your heart rate.
• Heavy-resistance hill climbs for muscular endurance and calorie burn.
• Frequent intensity shifts to keep the body adapting and torching calories.

Research shows that HIIT not only burns more calories during the workout but also triggers the “afterburn effect,” where the body continues to burn calories even after the class ends.

Tip: Focus on maintaining a cadence of around 90–110 RPM (revolutions per minute) during sprints and lowering it to 60–70 RPM during heavy climbs.

Customising for Endurance: Steady-State Training

If your goal is to build endurance, such as preparing for longer rides or simply improving heart health, you will need to design your indoor spin rides with a focus on steady-state training.

Key Tactics for Endurance:

• Moderate resistance that challenges but does not exhaust you.
• Consistent pedalling for extended periods (20–40 minutes without major breaks).
• Maintaining heart rate within the aerobic zone (approximately 70–80% of maximum heart rate).

In this setup, it’s not about going “all out” but rather sustaining effort over time. Such training strengthens the heart muscle, improves lung capacity, and enhances overall stamina.

Tip: Aim for a cadence of 70–90 RPM while keeping your breathing controlled but challenged.

Customising for Strength: Power-Packed Rides

Strength-focused riders should pay special attention to the bike’s resistance dial. Cranking up resistance simulates steep climbs and trains your glutes, hamstrings, quads, and calves, much like weightlifting.

Key Tactics for Strength:

• Heavy resistance settings that make pedalling slow and deliberate.
• Extended climbs lasting 2–5 minutes.
• Standing climbs to engage core muscles and upper body stabilisers.

Building strength on the bike not only sculpts lean muscle but also boosts metabolism, helping in long-term fat management.

Tip: Your cadence for strength training should typically drop to around 50–70 RPM, focusing on pushing through resistance rather than speed.

The Importance of Bike Setup

No matter your goal, optimising your bike setup is essential to performance and injury prevention. A poor setup can strain your knees, hips, or lower back, limiting the effectiveness of your training.

Here’s a basic checklist:

• Seat height: When pedalling, your knee should be slightly bent at the bottom of the stroke.
• Handlebar height: Set it level with or slightly above your seat to reduce lower back strain.
• Foot position: Ensure your feet are snug in the pedals to avoid ankle instability.

Before your next session at TFX, spend a few minutes adjusting your setup properly or ask a coach for guidance—it makes a significant difference.

Tracking Progress and Making Adjustments

Consistency is important, but so is adaptability. As you progress, your original settings and targets may need tweaking to avoid plateaus.

Here’s how to monitor and adjust:

• Track your heart rate: Ensure you are hitting the intended zones for your specific goal.
• Monitor perceived exertion: Rate your effort from 1–10 after each class to assess if you are pushing yourself appropriately.
• Incremental resistance changes: Slightly increase resistance every few weeks to keep building strength or endurance.

Adopting a flexible but structured approach ensures continued improvement without burnout.

Nutrition and Recovery: The Unsung Heroes

Customising your indoor spin class does not stop at the bike. Supporting your rides with proper nutrition and recovery is equally crucial.

• Pre-ride: Consume a light meal with carbohydrates and protein about 60–90 minutes before your class.
• Post-ride: Refuel with a balanced meal to replenish glycogen stores and aid muscle repair.
• Hydration: Drink water consistently before, during, and after your ride to prevent dehydration.

Proper fuelling and recovery not only optimise performance but also prevent fatigue and injuries over the long term.

Mental Strategies for Staying Consistent

While the physical aspect of indoor spin classes is well understood, mental resilience often determines success. Staying motivated and consistent requires deliberate mental strategies:

• Set mini-goals for each session (e.g., “hold resistance for 30 more seconds”).
• Visualise success during tough intervals.
• Celebrate milestones, no matter how small, to keep morale high.

Consistency breeds results, and a strong mind complements a strong body.

Conclusion: Ride Your Way to Your Goals

An indoor spin class is far more than just an intense cardio workout—it is a fully adaptable fitness tool. Whether you aim to torch fat, outlast endurance rides, or build athletic power, understanding how to manipulate resistance, cadence, and duration can set you up for success.

Take charge of your spin sessions, set specific goals, and ride with purpose. In doing so, you’ll discover that every turn of the pedal brings you closer to the healthiest, strongest version of yourself.