Aerobics vs. Spinning

You’re new to the gym perhaps, and studying the group exercise schedule. An active, sizable health club may have classes called Cardio Mix, Aerobics 101, Step Class, or Water Aerobics. Your gym will probably also have a room outfitted with spin bicycles, where you’ll see classes offered such as Spin 45, Spin 60 -- for the class length in minutes -- and Rip ’n’ Ride, mixing spin and strength work. Both spinning and aerobics provide a solid cardio challenge, and your fitness level and proclivities will determine which becomes your favorite.

  1. Calorie Burn

    • Those sweat-soaked tech shirts and reddened faces in the spin room result from the all-out effort in music-jammin’ classes that typically last at least 45 minutes. The calorie burn can readily reach 600 in that time for a participant of around 150 pounds fully participating in the instructor’s directions for virtual jumps, hill climbs and sprints. According to Harvard Medical School, the same amount of time spent in water aerobics would burn around 225 calories; low-impact step aerobics, 300 calories; and high-impact step aerobics, about 550 calories. So if you want maximum burn, spinning comes out ahead.

    Joint Impact

    • Water aerobics certainly protects the joints, but step aerobics involves repetitive movements atop the bench, which could aggravate back, hip, knee or ankle problems. If you are healthy and female, though, you’ll benefit from the weight-bearing aspect of step aerobics, which can improve bone density. With spinning, as with stationary and outdoor cycling, your seated position in the saddle as you stroke the pedals allows you to avoid jarring the joints. This may free you to devote more pain-free energy to pedaling faster and harder.

    Classes and Equipment

    • Spinning continues to enjoy massive popularity, with classes widely available but often heavily subscribed to, especially when the weather is poor outside. You may have to line up well before class starts. Aerobics classes are becoming harder to find as health clubs migrate to more Latin dance-inspired and high-intensity interval training offerings for group cardio exercise. While you can wear regular workout gear to aerobics, for spinning, wear biking shorts or pants and bring one or two bottles of water. If you love spinning, you’ll want to eventually get clipless bike shoes.

    The Winner

    • Pro sports teams turn to spinning to develop cardio endurance, so indoor cycling is the choice of many serious athletes. But whatever group exercise modalities you like are the ones you should attend, since you’re more likely to stick with what you enjoy. And given the importance of variety, you can feel free to rotate through everything your health club has to offer, including the various forms of aerobics if you find spinning to be too arduous.