Outdoor vs Indoor Cycling: Room for Both! by Joan Kent, PhD

Several years ago, I stumbled across an online discussion among fitness professionals about the relative merits of indoor cycling. The question that started it was, “What do you like and not like about Group Cycling most?”

 

Yes, I cringed at the bad grammar but cringed even more at the answers. All were variations on a common theme:

 

“I want to be outdoors, but if I’m not I need great music.”

“I hate to sit in one place.”

“I need beautiful scenery.”

“I love fresh air.”

 

And those came from fitness professionals. Sigh.

 

Indoor cycling was the brainchild of Johnny G, who was training for the Race Across America (RAAm) and looking for a way to stay close to home because his wife, Jody, was pregnant.

 

Johnny built some prototypes that were designed to feel like real bicycles. His first prototype was so successful, he built 2 more and invited a couple of friends to train with him.

 

If indoor cycling was able to get Johnny through RAAm, maybe there’s something to it. You think?

 

But Back to the Online Discussion!

 

All answers in the discussion ignored the benefits of riding indoors. So I decided to reply and address a few of them. Below is a summary of what I wrote:

 

Riding outdoors is fantastic. Indoor Cycling (IC) isn’t meant to replace it. But IC does have some definite and serious benefits. Here are a few.

 

Benefit 1

No riding skill is involved, so everyone can participate in the same ride and feel part of a group experience without feeling inferior – or literally being left behind when the group takes off without them.

 

That’s huge. It’s also exactly what Johnny G wanted when he created Spinning®, which started the entire Indoor Cycling movement. Spinning changed the fitness industry dramatically and is still going strong.

 

Benefit 2

Indoor Cycling is safe. That helps people with physical limitations, balance issues, low fitness levels, or no knowledge of how to ride a bike. This, of course, ties in with the first benefit above.

 

Benefit 3

Indoor Cycling allows people with disabilities to participate. That’s also what Kranking® – another Johnny G creation – does. Kranking gives people who can’t ride a bike (those with injuries, obesity, wheelchairs, and so on) a chance to experience the excitement and camaraderie of a cycling class.

 

The concept is known as Inclusive Fitness.

 

At the suggestion and encouragement of the late and very talented coach Jim Karanas, Inclusive Fitness became an important feature of Johnny G’s Kranking. It’s also why EVERY cycling studio should have at least 2 to 4 Krankcycles® in it.

 

If your studio doesn’t, start nagging!

 

And Last but Not Least:

 

Benefit 4

Indoor training has advantages even for the skilled outdoor cyclist because the variables – such as climbing intensity or climbing duration – can be controlled. That allows the training intervals to be as long and as tough as the athlete wants. A knowledgeable cyclist or instructor can design intervals that are extremely difficult and will bring results that transfer to outdoor riding.

 

John Howard, 3-time Olympic cyclist, winner of 14 US national championships, and the man who set a 1985 land speed record of 152.2 mph on a bicycle, says, “Indoor cycling is not a poor substitute for the open roads and trails, but an indispensable ingredient for penetrating deeply into body/mind integration. It can actually bring benefits attainable in no other way.”

 

Obviously, John Howard “gets” indoor cycling. Like Johnny G, he’s absolutely right about its value.

 

For people not to see beyond their personal preferences is myopic. When those people are fitness pros, they may be missing clear-cut advantages for their own class participants or clients.

 

For nutrition tips to boost your workouts and your energy, just visit LastResortNutrition.com and get your free Help Me Last Longer consult.

Brought to you by Dr. Joan Kent, best-selling author of Stronger Than Sugar.