Why You Shouldn’t do an Upper-Body Workout While Pedaling in Your Indoor Cycling Class
(INDOOR CYCLING ASSOCIATION) Jennifer Sage — Suppose you hired a personal trainer. At your first session, your trainer, Jack, hands you 1 lb weights. You look at him doubtfully, but he smiles and says, “Trust me!” So you do biceps curls and shoulder presses and a few other exercises until your shoulder muscles are burning so much you can barely lift your arms.
Jack then sits you down with your hands on a table in front of you and has you do push-ups. Yes, it feels and looks silly, but you do them because, well, he’s the “expert,” isn’t he? Next, Jack tells you to “crunch” while sitting upright at that table. First you do traditional crunches by sucking in your abs and driving your ribcage downward, and next oblique crunches by pulling your ribcage down to the left and right…all while sitting upright with your hands on the table. He tells you he is giving you a solid upper-body and core workout, and you believe him and pay him your money and set your next appointment.
You, my friend, have just been swindled.
Most people with any fitness knowledge would read this and agree that Jack should be fired as a personal trainer. When you hire a personal trainer, you trust that he or she has obtained a reputable certification. That trainer must have an understanding how muscles and joints work. She must know anatomy, physiology, biomechanics, and physics. You believe that your trainer knows the muscle attachments and insertions and knows what “lines of pull” means. A personal trainer must know on a cellular level how a muscle gets stronger in order to devise a training program that is effective.
Jack is an example of a trainer who does not know his profession. So I think we all agree that his techniques would be unacceptable in any weight room…
But Why is This Acceptable in an Indoor Cycling Class?