Spinning

How many times have you been told to pull your shoulders away from your ears in a studio cycling class? Keeping your shoulders down not only makes your neck feel better, it improves overall efficiency, from your posture to your pedal stroke. While spinning my pedals in a studio cycling class at Equinox, instructor Lisa Horowitz reminded us all that the position of the shoulder affects the rest of the body too. The concept, known as joint centration, means what goes on in one joint affects the joints above and below it — what's happening at the shoulder affects the spine and the hips.

When on a bike, whether indoor or out, many people hunch the shoulders up while leaning over the handlebars, which leads to a rounded spine — not the ideal position for cycling. Pulling the shoulder blades down and back opens up your chest and diaphragm: this makes it easier to breathe and helps put the back in a neutral position, which restores the arch to the lumbar spine and corrects the angle of the pelvis. With the spine and pelvis in correct alignment, the hip flexors can fire effectively, improving your pedal stroke. Correct shoulder positioning also engages the lats and turns on the abs to help support the torso.

Lisa also suggested raising the handlebars on a stationary bike a little higher than usual to see if it helps posture and positioning. Try it and let us know how it goes.

Since the new millennium rolled around, it seems like the ancient practice of yoga has been mixed with almost every form of exercise, from the Pilates hybrid Yogalates to kickboxing's Koga. A new yoga mashup is making its way into the fitness world: yoga and spinning. Before your third eye conjures up images of holding a downward-facing dog while clipped in on a stationary bike, let me explain that the 60-minute classes are divided into two half-hour segments: 30 minutes of spin followed by 30 minutes of yoga. After taking a class at YAS Fitness Center in LA recently, I can attest that this blend makes great sense.

Keep reading to learn more about this new hybrid class.

Indoor cycling offers an hour of sweaty cardio goodness. Your legs power this workout, so it’s best to stretch those tired muscles as soon as you hop off your stationary bike. In fact, that stable bike makes for a great stretching partner.

If you only have two minutes to spare on flexibility training, you should focus on your hamstrings and quads. Start with your hamstrings by resting one heel on the crook of the bike and leaning forward with a flat back, doing this basic hamstring stretch. And if you’re super flexible, you can put your foot on the bike seat. Next, you want to stretch your quads by bringing one heel to your bum, like this to stretch the front of your thigh. Squeeze your glutes and bend your standing knee to increase the stretch, and do hold onto that heavy, stable bike for balance. Hold each stretch for 30 seconds.

If you have a bit more time, you should stretch your glutes. Using the bike, you can do this variation of the ultimate booty stretch from yoga — pigeon pose. Moving down the legs, next on the list is your calves. You can stretch them on the bike by bringing the pedals parallel to the ground (one forward and one back), and dropping your heels to lengthen the muscles on the back of the lower leg (be sure to do this stretch once with the right leg forward and once with the left). Or off the bike, flex your foot placing the toes on the base of the bike keeping your heel on the ground similar to the "kiss the wall" stretch. Lean forward to stretch your calf.

I still have a few more stretches to recommend, so keep on reading.

This week's challenge for the Get Fit For 2010 giveaway is to share a workout that works for you. Here's why FitSugar reader acfreema adores morning workouts.

Spinning class is the BEST possible way for me to get my week started. The Monday morning teacher is super tough. I tackle sprints, hills, intervals, standing, sitting, climbing and sweat a ton all before 7 a.m. It makes me feel like anything else I'll encounter during the day will be a piece of cake. After the class, I have to take lots of time to s-t-r-e-t-c-h or I'll be hobbling up the stairs later.

Once it warms up, I change spinning up for nice long sunrise runs. There's a bike trail near my house, and as soon as it's not dark out anymore in the morning I'll be able to head out with a running mix on my iPod. I see the same cute elderly couple walking their dog, a few other runners that I'm on "waving" terms with, and for a special treat I stop at Starbucks for a nice iced latte for my cool-down walk.

For me, heaven = early morning exercise.

I'd love to hear about more readers' workouts, so join our Get Fit For 2010 community group and write a blog post about your favorite workouts. By participating, you'll not only be on your way to a healthier you, but you'll also be entered into the drawing for our weekly giveaway of a $100 Nike gift card as well as an awesome grand prize.

When the ground is covered with snow, getting your fitness on outdoors can be quite a challenge. Spinning is one of the best ways to keep your cardio up during the cold months of Winter without braving the elements, so be sure to check out a class. Like every workout, though, there is some jargon involved, and some spin instructors throw out numbers for the hand positions without explaining exactly where you are supposed to grip the handlebars. Not all classes use these hand positions, but if you take a class trademarked as Spinning, you will likely hear these numbers coming from your spin instructor as she tells you to stand and sprint. Here is a little cheat sheet so you know where your hands go while you pedal away.

• Position 1: Hands placed in the center of the handles. You can place the hands one on top of the other in this position. This is a good spot when warming up, cooling down, or recovering from a sprint interval.
• Position 2: Hands are just inside the upward curve on the handle bars. This is where your hands will most likely be for most of the class.
• Position 3: Hands hold on to the top of the handles. This position should really only be used when standing for a climb. If you use it seated, you can strain your back.

Do you spin? Tell me how you feel about spinning in the comments section below.