You Need To Fix Your Spin Form » From the Infinite Embers blog

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Your spin form probably sucks.

But it’s okay! Nearly everyone’s does. Mine sucked for a long time, too, before I became an instructor. Even though you’re trying your best and your instructor may (or may not) be giving excellent cues, it’s really challenging to focus on getting through a sprint while also thinking about your spin form.

I mean, I would weep if I ever saw a photo of me in spin class way back when. When I took my first indoor cycling class way back in 2011, spin kicked my ass. And I know I took all my tension straight into my shoulders and was hunched over my handlebars like a tiny gorilla. Yikes.

Whether you do indoor cycling or legit road cycling, having good form on your bike is KEY.

When I teach (and I will be back to guest teach for a week at PURE Indoor Cycling the last week of Oct in San Diego!) I try to talk about form a lot. Like, I maybe talk about it too much. But it’s just the MOST IMPORTANT part of taking a spin class.

If your spin form isn’t correct, the rest of your workout will be negatively affected as well. But when you have good form, you’ll find you get results a lot more quickly, which makes you stronger and can prevent injuries (bonus: you’ll also be in the best shape of your life, especially if you have a strength-training and stretching routine in addition to doing spin).

Let’s break down proper spin form:

You Need To Fix Your Spin Form » From the Infinite Embers blog

Here’s what you should look like, scanning from the base of your body up to the top:

1 » Feet are flat + working with equal force.

As you pedal forward you want to feel your heels pressing down as you lower. Then, focus on pulling your knees up into your chest to bring your feet back up.

Also, press equally into both feet. SO many people in rhythm-style classes develop a horrible habit of pressing down more forcefully with their right foot in order to stay on the beat. This means that as they ride they’re essentially galloping. This both looks funny AND can really cause a lot of problems because it twists and destabilizes the pelvis.

I’m speaking from experience here! I developed some pain around my sacrum for a while before I figured out I was unevenly training my legs that way. So it KILLS ME when I see this.

Seriously.

I DIE INSIDE.

Ideally in these classes we’d all alternate leading with both our right and left foot, but that’s unfortunately just not how most studios teach (it tends to create a disorganized uncoordinated mess). So, you must focus on pushing and pulling equally through both your right and left legs.

And since we’re talking about your feet…

One more thing – you want your feet to point straight ahead. Check your shoe’s clips to make sure they’re on straight and ask the staff at your gym or studio to adjust them if they’re crooked or tighten them if they’re loose. You don’t want to ride with your foot all twisted or unstable! Again — been there, done that, nursed the aching ankle for a week, etc.

And, for the love of your arches, buy or rent spin shoes.

Seriously. Don’t use sneakers in cages. Your feet will feel so much better, I promise. Find out what clips your studio or gym uses – you’ll probably need to buy either the Look Delta or SPD cleats.

I highly recommend buying your own pair of cycling shoes even if your studio offers free shoe rentals. The shoe will be much sturdier and molded to your foot – and also sharing sweaty spin shoes with other people is just disgusting. I mean really. I worked at the front desk at a busy spin studio for a while before I began teaching and I would never, ever wear those shoes. But that’s just me.

These are the Pearl Izumi shoes I use and I LOVE THEM.

2 » When you’re on the downward stroke sitting in the saddle, your knee should be right above your ankle.

You Need To Fix Your Spin Form » From the Infinite Embers blog

It should look like this. You want to avoid your knee pushing forward over your toes as that puts a lot of strain on the knee.

When you’re up out of the saddle, make sure your knees don’t go forward of your toes.

This is often controlled by the set up of your bike, so if you’ve been measured correctly you should be good to go. I’ll go over how to set up your bike in a future post, but for now please ask your instructor or the desk staff at your gym or studio to help you if you’re ever not sure if you’re positioned correctly or don’t feel comfortable as you ride.

3 » Your hips are pulled back.

This will also affect #2 – if you start to bring your hips forward as you ride, your knees will likely start to jut forward of your toes. You want to always think of lining up your hips with the back of the saddle, whether you’re in or out.

The real trick to nailing your spin form when you’re out of the saddle is to think of holding a squat.

Do a little squat right now. Ok, great. That’s exactly what you want on the bike.

Knees are over the centers of your feet, hips are back, and most importantly:

4 » Your pelvis + spine remain in a neutral position.

Think of standing with your absolute best posture. Now stay in the same position from the waist up, but hinge forward at the hips, just like a Barbie doll. Bend your knees. Boom. That’s a squat. And that should be you on a bike. From your tailbone to the top of your head, your back should be nice and long and aligned. Your chest and back should feel broad and relaxed.

In order to keep a strong neutral spine while you spin, you have to engage your core.

To engage your core, picture someone punching you in the stomach. Notice how you brace your abdominal muscles? Try to hold that for a beat every time you exhale to really use your abs during your ride. This makes spin a killer core workout (really! especially in out-of-the-saddle moves) and will help you get more power out of your pedal strokes.

5 » Your shoulders are relaxed + neutral. Your head is up.

Remember, everything is neutral — including your neck. Yeah, it’s hard to understand what to do without looking at the instructor, or maybe you just love watching yourself in the mirror (guilty, I admit it — I’m not even ashamed). But if that means you’re cranking your head up or twisting to one side, you could be setting yourself up for neck pain. So look wherever you must in order to keep your cervical spine happy and neutral, and maybe try closing your eyes.

That’s one of the my favorite parts about spin – the fact that you can close your eyes and go internal while you do the workout. I’ve found it to be super meditative.

6 » Your hands are light on the handlebars.

You Need To Fix Your Spin Form » From the Infinite Embers blog

When you ride out of the saddle, keep a relaxed, light grip on the handlebars. As soon as you start to clench with your hands, tension rides up your arms, into your shoulders and then into your back. Relax.

If you’re pushing yourself to the point of holding a death grip, you might want to use that as a sign that you need to back off and rest a little. It should be a challenging workout, but never to the point where you start to tighten up muscles you’re not supposed to be working.

When you’re in the saddle, push lightly with the palms of your hands into the handlebars. Recruit your abs to help take the weight off your hands. Keep your spine long and neutral and bend your elbows slightly. Don’t curl into yourself – you want to keep your chest open.

» Pro Tip to Nail Your Spin Form: Before you spin, hold a plank for 1 minute, then do at least 15 squats!

This helps you get warmed up AND feel all the necessary muscles engage before you get on the bike so they’re easier to tap into once you start your ride. I love to do this before I get on the bike and highly recommend trying it. Just get to the studio nice and early so you actually have room to throw a plank down somewhere.

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What not to do, haha.

What’s one thing you can improve in your spin form? I still constantly remind myself to keep my upper body relaxed. It’s hard! Share your struggle with me in the Comments below.

xo,
Amy

This post is not sponsored, but there are affiliate links throughout this post. I genuinely love these products and know you will, too. Thanks for supporting the blog!

Photos by Matthew Hanley, edits by me

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