Cycling outside vs. Spinning

Ok so I am a certified Spinning instructor and work my ass off when I SPIN (I am pretty bad about wearing my heart rate monitor) and when I run, ellipticize, climb steps, lift etc I do very very high intensity, I do 45-60 minutes 5 days a week minimum and probably lift every other day. Now my question is, is cycling outside better for you? Just like running outside is actually better than an elliptical? I feel like I sweat a LOT more in spinning.

 

Today I road for like 2.5 hours, and i'd say 30 minutes or so was pretty challenging (climbed 3 bridges two times each). I was panting at the top of every bridge and sucking wind but I feel like I probably did not burn as many calories. Does anyone have any say on the matter?

I've done a lot of spinning this past year and just started taking cycling outside more seriously. I feel like I push myself faster in spinning at the moment because I'd be scared about falling off to sprint as fast on my road bike as I would in spinning and also today I had big issues with hills. I kept getting panicky that I would get tired going up the hill before I was remotely tired and that when I got tired I'd be unable to unclip my feet and would topple over in the road so unclipping and walking up the hills.  A fear I need to get over but I did topple over today once when I wasn't able to unclip - just wasn't on the road at that point luckily (I'm new to clips!)

In outdoor cycling you are more likely to intersperse your pedaling with periods of coasting -- been a while since I took a class, but I don't remember being allowed to coast (LOL).

You probably will burn more calories spinning, at least to begin with, until your body adjusts to the exercise (and it will), or it probably already has.  You may find you are not burning as many calories as you once did. 

 

today i biked 50 miles, pretty flat slight inclines. 2.5 hours 1366 calories. spin class one hour 575 calories. on that note your calories burned though from the outside ride have a higher fat burned rate than the spin class. on my high incline rides i burn 1900+ calories in the same amount of time.

When you cycle outdoors there are hills, trees, flowers, varied landscape, and fresh air.  So I find cycling outside a lot more fun, unless it's pouring rain or otherwise nasty outside. If you want to optimize cycling outdoors, do races, or hill repeats, or use your HRM to train for numbers. Or just have fun while getting a good workout!

I don't know if "spinning" is the same as riding on a stationary bike.  But I find there is a lot more give and take when riding outside in the Real World, there are stop lights, times you have speed up, inclines, declines, a natural breeze, weather events.  On a stationary bike, there is just this steady, hard pace that concentrates a lot of the work in one section of your body and that's it. 

I know I don't go nearly as fast outside but I feel like I"m getting a real cardio workout, especially with inclines. 

What mrsdagle said. Riding indoors is pretty monotonous for the body and the mind. I find it more difficult, and more painful, than riding outdoors, as when I'm outside, the effort level (and the muscles recruited) is almost constantly changing.

I dread the winter. I've resolved to put in 250-300 miles per week as a base for next season, and that's going to suck if I'm on the trainer all the time.

Hi, I've been doing spinning for a few months now and recently gave mountain biking a go and I must say, I absolutely loved it. Just getting out in the world and having the fresh air was amazing but also felt like a bit of an adventure. It was such a sociable occasion too and everyone was so friendly and chatty.

We went on a purpose built cycle route but it was by no means easy. Theres a beginners, intermediates and expert run. I wanted to try the intermediates thinking my gym sessions who have me well prepared but the beginners route was more then enough.

At 7.5 miles long it took just less than 1.5 hr to get round and afterwards I was exhausted. There were good inclines which had me gasping for air and fun declines to scream down. Yes you can coast at times but during these times you're trying to keep your balance by weaving in and out of trees, logs and stones. This gave my core, arms and back a great workout and I was aching for the rest of the night! You're constantly changing gears too so have a large variety of workouts. In the gym I felt like I was only working out my legs as you're stationary so not trying to keep yourself and the bike upright. I'm not sure riding on roads or pathways would have the same effect as the mountain biking though.

I've done it a few times now and yes I've fallen off but I was expecting it so as long as you dont mind the odd bruise I'd definitely give it a go. Plus there's plenty of protective gear you can get. Hope this helps!