Spinning - WOW

[ArcticDiver]

I have a bum left knee and am wondering whether this might work for me....

Depends on what you mean by "a bum left knee". If it is the usual age related, aggravated by trauma knee most likely it will. After all, one of the primary treatments of such knee problems is exercise.

In Spinning the workout is yours and yours alone. A proper instructor will emphasize that fact. Also, spin bikes don't have numbers on the friction knob. So, using the usual 1-10 exertion range, when the instructor calls for a "5" you can set the knob wherever you wish. My 5 will probably not be your 5 and so forth. Talk to the instructor. A good one will tell you that just because the rest of the class is struggling up the hill (high friction) it doesn't mean you have to.

Probably your settings will vary from day to day. I know if due to weather or wildfire smoke I'm inside spinning instead of riding my bike outside and I've had a really tough day my friction settings tend to be lighter than when I haven't been riding outside.

Just keep in mind two things:
If your knees hurt back off the pedal pressure. This is true whether on a real bike or a spin bike. The hurt is coming from more stress on the knee than it wants to take.

Fast spinning at relaively light pedal pressures has a real value. A reasonable goal is to be able to do the entire class, after warmup, at a cadence of 80-90 rpm at a mid-level pedal pressure.

Give it a try. I've found spinning has significantly improved my health and my road biking. A side benefit is that I've made some good friends who relish our time sweating together.

 

[farsidefan1]

My orthopedic (Eric Heiden) surgeon told me that my knee simply lacks significant cartilage and that I will have to live with it till the pain forces me to get a knee replacement. In the meantime he told me that I am pretty much done back packing with heavy backpacks, running and many other activities without experiencing a lot of pain. Cycling is what he recommended. Of course he might be a bit biased as he became a major bike guy after winning 5 gold medals as a speed skater in the olympics. Anyway my point is that biking/cycling is his recommendation for a low impact exercise for my knees (old football injuries). After riding my mountan bike I find minimal discomfort from my knees (in case your wondering, yes, I have already been doing the shots to the knees etc).