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Spinning Starts New Cycle in Aerobics | |
By IRA DREYFUSS WASHINGTON - Stationary biking, which has been spinning its wheels, may be poised for a new growth cycle. Trainers are promoting studio cycling, in which participants go to a studio and pedal as a pack, encouraged by an aerobics-style class leader. It's a change in style from traditional on-your-own stationary cycling, which has been slumping in participation. Several firms are involved in the new development - among them, the Schwinn and LifeCycle bike companies. Supporters of studio cycling see a potential market in the uncoordinated and out of shape - people who don't go to aerobics classes because they are afraid of not being able to do the steps. Stationary biking has no steps to learn and requires almost no coordination. Beginners and elite riders twirl pedals in just about the same way. "You don't have to know anything to get on a bike," said Tricia Thurm, who co-owns BeFitting Bodies, a newly opened 15-cycle studio in Voorhees Township, N.J., with her husband, Arthur. "No one decides how fast you go; it's up to you," said Robert Sherman, owner of F.I.T. (Focused Individual Training) Inc., a studio in Bethesda, Md. "That's what really turns people on." To make the bike feel comfortable to a new rider, the instructor can easily teach seat adjustment, pedal placement and handlebar height, so the bike is tailored for the rider, Thurm said. Studio cycling should also attract men, for whom riding is cool but the dance-class feel of aerobics is not, Thurm said. "Cycling is a unisex and acceptable sport," she said. And it should give regular aerobics participants something different to try, as a way to avoid burnout, Thurm said. And high-pedal-revolution types of programs, called "spinning," are attracting strong bikers who want to burn a lot of energy, said Kathie Davis, executive director of IDEA, a San Diego-based association of exercise professionals. Keeping the program varied is largely the instructor's job, said Sherman, a master trainer for Reebok, which has a studio cycling program that includes its own bike. To keep interest up, the instructor essentially has to star in theater of the mind. In the Reebok program, riders wear headsets through which they hear the instructor describing imaginary landscapes. "Ninety percent of the time, you have your eyes closed, focusing on your breathing and any image in your mind," Sherman said. In easy-resistance pedaling, for instance, the rider might be asked to picture a favorite beach, hearing the waves and smelling the salt air, Sherman said. When the rider has to raise the bike's resistance, the instructor might talk about snow-capped mountains -and encourage the rider to keep going, he said. Stationary bike interest has been flat in recent years, according to figures from American Sports Data of Hartsdale, N.Y., which tracks exercise trends. In 1995, 37.4 million Americans ages 6 and older participated at least once in stationary cycling. But 39.1 million did in 1993. "It's still a major category, but it's not one of these hot, trendy things like treadmills," said Harvey Lauer, the survey firm's president. But studio cycling might spur more interest in stationary bikes, said exercise physiologist Richard Cotton, a spokesman for the American Council on Exercise, a San Diego-based fitness professionals' group. "It's much more fun for most people than simply riding an exercise bike." And people who don't like to bike during the winter may find studio cycling a good way to keep going through the cold and dark months, even if the scenery is in their heads, Cotton said. Copyright 1996 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. | |