Cycling, bike riding, or spinning: whatever term one uses to describe the sport, the mechanics and movements are similar. Considered a phenomenal form of cardiovascular exercise, cycling offers the rider an opportunity to push themselves to their limits or simply enjoy the great outdoors. This article explores the differences and similarities between the two, the multitude of benefits and drawbacks, and the psychological/mental health aspects each can hold for the rider.
The Versatility of a Bicycle
One of the most compelling reasons that so many individuals worldwide choose cycling as their sport of choice lies in its versatility. Some athletes thrive on road adventures, bracing the wind and other elements with confidence, while others prefer the camaraderie, instruction, and controlled environment of an indoor spinning class at the gym. While these activities share some common health benefits, they can feel like completely different experiences.
Indoor cycling offers the rider an opportunity to reap the benefits of an intense, stress-free workout in an hour, without the hassle of ever having to change a flat tire or stop at a railroad crossing. However, taking to the open road allows the rider to commune with nature, ride with other like-minded individuals, and challenge each other to see who will reach the top of a hill the fastest.
Does the choice of the optimal cycling experience rest solely on preference? Let’s look at some more detailed comparisons to help clarify any confusion one may have on the most suitable way to utilize a set of wheels.
The Ultimate Caloric Burn?
Many avid cyclists find themselves curious about which workout might burn more calories, riding indoors or outside. According to Harvard Medical School, stationary biking ranks as one of the best calorie-burners, but the main factors that dictate calories burned have little to do with the studio versus the park, but rather the rider’s body weight and the intensity of the cycle.
For a 125-pound individual, stationary biking burns 210 to 315 calories in 30 minutes (depending on the intensity of the exercise), whereas outdoor cycling ranges from 240 to 495 calories burned in 30 minutes, based on speed. Larger cyclists will, of course, burn more calories.
This data does not paint a complete scientific picture, however. Differences also exist based on the type of bicycle one chooses. A CAROL cycle, for example, the only bike of its kind, boasts a unique design fully optimized for Reduced Exertion HIIT (REHIT), which experts consider the shortest, most effective workout. Just 2×20-second sprints can create a powerful training stimulus with tremendous results.
As with any cardio-related workout, high-intensity interval training (HIIT) will provide a massive calorie burn. Due to Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption (EPOC), a cyclist will continue to burn calories for hours after the HIIT training on a stationary bike. REHIT triggers an even more powerful EPOC, with 66% of calories burned after the workout.
Another aspect of riding indoors relates to body temperature rising higher and a decrease in cooling through sweat, due to reduced airflow in a closed spinning studio. This accelerates calorie burn, and leads to an increased sweat rate, but in the process also leads to faster dehydration. Increased dehydration results in a higher heart rate, the reason why indoor cycling feels like a more intense workout.
Body Composition and Health Metrics
A research study done in 2010 revealed that, following a 12-week indoor cycling program, riders’ cholesterol levels dropped, leading scientists to conclude that indoor cycling could potentially help with weight loss.
Another study conducted in Seoul, South Korea, involved assessing 24 female students in middle school who participated in 16 weeks of cycling. The groups consisted of 12 indoor cyclists and 12 outdoor cyclists. At the conclusion of the program, the subjects who cycled indoors showed positive changes in fitness levels, body composition, and blood parameters. However, no significant weight loss difference existed between the two groups.
Cycling Towards Better Mental Health
The broadly-defined concept of mental health can span quite a spectrum, ranging from basic emotional well-being to disorders like anxiety and depression. Scientists have found a dedicated link between endurance sports such as cycling and overall mental wellness.
As we often observe with scientific research, supporting evidence exists at both ends of the continuum. Cycling can have positive effects on mental health, but high-level endurance athletes sometimes suffer mental health challenges from the pressures of sustained training.
When participating in a spinning class, one might choose to let their mind settle by closing their eyes, listening to the instructor, and simply allowing their legs to do the hard work. According to Emily Southworth, spinning instructor at ReCycle Studio in Boston, MA, “Indoor cycling is the closest I can get to meditating.” She goes on to explain, “You can really clear your head in a class. You’re working your ass off, but you can zone out and decompress.”
One avid cyclist shared their observations over the course of several months of training. He reported the following mental health improvements:
- Better mood regulation
- Getting a solid night’s rest
- Improved self-esteem/body image
- Reduced social isolation/anxiety
In a research study entitled Effects of Exercise and Physical Activity on Anxiety, conducted by Elizabeth Anderson and Geetha Shivakumar, data revealed how exercise can reduce anxiety and depression. Endurance exercise like cycling releases mood-enhancing brain chemicals, promotes self-esteem, and increases the body’s ability to adapt to physical and emotional stress. While debate still exists on an exact mechanism, professionals agree on the fact that an intense aerobic activity, such as cycling, indoor or outdoor, can reduce anxiety and depression.
Mindfulness Through the Miles
Mindfulness and staying present both resonate as essential aspects of mental health. Can a rider truly achieve a mindful meditative state while cycling? Biking with a group on the open road can enhance one’s sense of community; however, a solo bike ride on a traffic-free country road can help one clarify one’s thoughts. In the absence of the need to focus on cars, other bikers, and street signs, the mind can wander, and negative thoughts can fade into the air. The repetitive nature of cycling, from one’s breathing to their pace and the cadence of pedaling, creates a sensation of flow and promotes a peaceful mindset.
Benefits of Indoor Cycling
When trying to fit exercise into an already packed schedule, indoor cycling definitely proves more time-efficient. An indoor cycling class typically lasts anywhere from 45-60 minutes, guaranteeing an efficient and powerful caloric burn in a short period of time. Unless the weather conditions temporarily close the spinning studio, riders do not have to depend upon Mother Nature or worry about air quality in order to get in their daily workout.
We have discussed the notion of HIIT on an indoor cycle. Taking this to the next level, a spinning class might end up feeling more consistent and more measurable. Indoor cycling gives the rider control over each aspect of their ride, including resistance, power zones, intervals, and cadence. In this fashion, one can begin to create a structured workout plan, track progress in real time, and gradually build up toward even higher performance goals.
Indoor Cycling Taps into Different Muscles
The effects of gravity during an outdoor ride, especially on steeper climbs, coupled with rolling resistance, end up requiring greater amounts of force production compared to indoor cycling. The more force an action requires, the more muscle fibers get recruited. Indoors, one can create greater amounts of force, especially with smart trainers, but with less overall body movement compared to riding outdoors. This places a greater load on the prime movers to get the job done: the quadriceps, glutes, hamstrings, and calf muscle.
Using less muscle need not always mean less power when spinning; rather, it means that the cyclist will use less muscle fibers to achieve peak power numbers.
Tips on Maximizing Indoor Cycling Benefits
Armed with the knowledge of peak muscular power output, indoor cyclists need to know how to get the most out of an hour in a spin class. Stretching the quads, glutes, calves, and hamstrings in various yoga poses can work wonders. Experts suggest focusing on stretching the lower body at least 2x/week, holding each stretch for 30-60 seconds.
Stressing more muscles before or after indoor cycling sessions will increase overall training stress, leading to greater aerobic adaptations. Many options exist to make these workouts cycling-specific. For example, running stairs emphasizes the front of the foot, much like a pedal stroke, and handlebar balance pushups and bent-over rows with weights will engage the upper core and arms. Work 15 or more reps/set with 20-30 seconds of rest in between sets to keep these exercises aerobic.
Advantages of the Great Outdoors
On the other side of the coin, dedicated outdoor cycling enthusiasts boast their own list of advantages. For many reasons, outdoor cycling feels easier. A study conducted in 2014 asked cyclists to rate their level of perceived exertion while biking both indoors and outdoors. Although their outdoor workout ranked as more intense, the participants’ perception of the workouts did not differ at all.
Why does one fatigue more slowly when riding outdoors? With the rider’s body position constantly changing, he naturally breathes in more oxygenated air. At the same time, he loses less water through dehydration. Some studies show that riders produce anywhere from 11- 70% more mean power when cycling outdoors as compared to a spinning class.
For some avid cycling enthusiasts, creating a social aspect tops their list of priorities. Outdoor cycling offers an opportunity to belong to a community of like-minded individuals. Racing with other cyclists can help address one’s competitive spirit, if that aspect arises.
Unlike a class, where an instructor constantly announces when to go hard and how much resistance to add, riding outside allows the cyclist to choose their own pace, as well as which route offers the desired resistance. In addition, the entire body works harder when riding outdoors; the core engages to foster better balance, the upper body gets challenged when riding out of the saddle, and the glutes kick in when on a steep climb.
When riding indoors on a trainer, the cyclist’s body remains in a fixed position, which means pedaling with less side-to-side movement, no forward momentum, and without random hills that can alter the pitch of the bike and hence one’s pedaling position. Stationary bikes do allow for side-to-side movement, but compared to an outdoor ride, these movements are not as encompassing or as random. Climbing out of the saddle happens at a greater range of motion when cycling outside. Long descents, especially on gravel or trail, require lower body isometric contractions while the upper body strives to maneuver around obstacles — movements that one cannot easily replicate indoors.
Using the Outdoor Ride as a Mode of Transportation
Stepping away from the recreational aspect for a moment, consider the time efficiency of cycling to work, to the grocery store, or when running errands. For individuals already on a tight schedule, using a bike to get from point A to point B makes getting exercise convenient as well as efficient.
As an aside, science has shown that commuting to work by bike can actually increase one’s job satisfaction as well as one’s productivity. This translates to an overall more efficient day, leaving the cyclist with more time to relax at home in the evening, knowing he has checked the daily workout box.
Final Thoughts
Indoor training brings year-round consistency that will lead to long-term gains in cycling performance. For those seeking to use spinning classes as a training ground for outdoor cycling, consider allowing four to six weeks of increased volume outdoors to make full-body, cycling-specific adaptations. This period will essentially bring the rest of the body up to speed, able to appreciate the strength gains made indoors. Personal trainers may wish to remind cycling clients that strength gains from training indoors will carry over to outdoor training, but only to the muscles trained (mainly the prime movers).
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