All things indoor cycling
Whether you are new to cycling, new to GLOW or looking for a refresher on cycling, this post is for you!
Cycling at GLOW is all about inclusivity. Regardless of your experience with cycling, we prioritize creating a positive and welcoming environment for everyone. While our instructors always explain our movements in class, a few terms that you will commonly hear are:
Saddle: This is just a cycling term for your seat!
RPM: When we share RPM numbers in class, this refers to the speed of your legs - aka rotations per minute. At GLOW, we have speed limits that we all can reasonably attain and that also ensure safety!
Resistance: When you think about resistance, think power . Adding resistance is what makes it harder to pedal. Heavier resistance feels like moving up a hill, which really fires up your muscles!
Flat road: At GLOW, we always add at least three turns of baseline resistance in our warm-up song to help you find a safe and supportive flat road that you can come back to throughout class.
First position: In first position, you are seated with your hands on the handlebars right in front of you. Your knees are aiming forward, avoiding letting your knees come in at any point. .
Second position: In second position, you are standing up, out of your seat, and your hands have a light grip on the handlebars in front of you.
Third position: In third position, you are also standing up, but your hands are towards the top of your handlebars. You hinge forward from your hips and you keep your back flat and chest open so you can comfortably breath while you pedal.
Throughout the ride: Your shoulders are down and back while you sit/stand tall, your core is engaged, your pelvic is tucked, and you are keeping your feet pointing straight forward and flat.
While we bring all of those fun, music festival vibes to our cycling classes, we also incorporate a variety of drills to help you have a great workout. The types of cycling drills that we include are:
Sprints: Just as you would if you were running, sprints involve moving your legs quickly. At GLOW, cycling sprints are between 90 and 120 RPMs for safety purposes.
Jumps: Jumps move you between different positions. You could jump between first and second position (i.e. from seated to standing) or jump between second and third position, all while standing. Beginners are encouraged to do what feels comfortable.
Climbs: Envision working your way up a hill - that’s your climb in a cycling class! Resistance can be added while seated or standing to help you strengthen your muscles.
Push-ups: Cycling push-ups are just like traditional pushups, but your legs keep pedaling while you fire up those upper body muscles! Classes may include seated or standing push-ups, to the beat of the music of course!
Distance-based: GLOW bikes have consoles that help you track metrics like your distance. We like to use distance-based drills to help you watch that number increase!
Now that you know about cycling terms and what drills you can expect in class, here are a few of the unique (and awesome!) things about cycling at GLOW:
Community: We have such an incredible community at GLOW who support and encourage each other throughout class. While instructors will always motivate you and offer modifications or challenges, our community is there for each other along the ride.
Music: Music is a huge component of GLOW cycling classes, and we have a blast riding to the beat of the music! Our instructors love making energizing playlists that include a variety of genres like pop, EDM, hip-hop, emo, country and more.
Rainbow Room: GLOW’s cycling classes take place in the Rainbow Room. Not only does this room have high-quality bikes with consoles that can track your metrics the room has colorful lights, plenty of TVs to entertain you while riding and fans for that Raleigh heat!
We hope this post gets you excited about cycling at GLOW and helps you feel confident in your next class. If you want to learn more about our cycling experience, we post videos on Instagram and our instructors are always happy to help you have a great ride!
GLOW Cycle Team
