Indoor Cycling @ Spinning Quest, Singapore

The moment I entered the Spinning Quest indoor cycling studio, a friendly receptionist greeted me personally.

I had figured out that they must have remembered my name from when I had made the booking earlier. But still, I was pleasantly surprised by the personalised service as it made me feel very welcome.

Bikes all ready for action at Spinning Quest.

Spinning Classes

Spinning classes, a type of indoor cycling, which takes place on a fixed wheel bike in the studio, is fast gaining popularity all over the world – including Singapore.

The classes comprise of a small group of cyclists who take instructions from a trainer – with music used to set the pace, tone, speed and rhythm of the cycling.

Preparing for my spinning class

I was subsequently required to fill out some basic information such as my contact details, before being ushered into the spinning studio. This was a darkened room filled with stationary exercise bikes.

As I was still a few minutes early, I was instructed to select a bike and wait for the class to begin. I could already see a few cyclists seated on their bikes. While I was taking a quick look around, more people soon filed into the room. For a weekday morning class, I must admit that I was pretty surprised by the relatively sizable turnout.

At the same time, I also noticed that complimentary towels for our use were provided with each of the spinning bikes. I felt that this was a thoughtful gesture by Spinning Quest.

Participants are cycling furiously. (Image: Spinning Quest)

Good rundown of the main terminology used

Before the class started, the instructor, as if sensing that this was my first time, gave me a rundown with plenty of demonstrations, on the main terminology that would be used in the spinning class.

Prior to the class, he also made sure that I understood the basics. I really appreciated this rather personalised service, as it meant I would not be grasping at thin air to figure out what was going on – in class.

Cycling according to the rhythm of the music

When everyone had turned up, the class started and the music began to play loudly. It began with slow, casual cycling on the spinning bikes before becoming more vigorous.

As the music played, instructions were bellowed out according to the rhythm and beats of the songs. I later found out that music was specially selected by the instructor and was supposed to be in sync with the rhythm and speed of the cycling.

A tough interval-based cycling workout

This spinning workout was mainly an interval-based one, where we would alternate between easy pedalling, sprinting without resistance, and also cycling and sprinting with resistance.

At first, I found the workout quite okay, but soon I began to tire and the workout became a struggle – especially during the standing climb segments. During these parts of the workout, we were required to ramp up the resistance as much as possible, and pedal while standing. The purpose of these segments was to train our balance and core strength. I admit that I was tempted to take it easy and lower the level of resistance, but I didn’t.

Ready, get set, and spin! (Image: Spinning Quest).

And during the easy cycling segments of the workout, I allowed myself to wipe my perspiration and drink a few sips of water from the bottle that I had brought along and this helped to keep me going.

Performing stretching exercises to end it off

After what had felt like eternity, the workout finished with slow pedalling and then we were instructed to get off our bikes and perform stretching exercises, under the guidance of the spinning instructor.

I thought this was quite beneficial, because going through the stretches would definitely help to reduce the soreness, which could occur the next morning.

Relieved that it was all over

My muscles definitely felt quite relieved when the workout was finally over – in one hour.

But it was certainly a good workout. In fact, I could already feel the strain in my upper leg muscles, as I pushed open the doors and exited the spinning studio.