Spin Bike Workouts vs HIIT: Which Is Better For Weight Loss?

Over the past year, home gym equipment has surged in popularity, especially with the Covid-19 pandemic closing gyms and studios. Enforced restrictions on personal movement have led people to seek alternative ways of exercising, such as Spin Bike Workouts vs HIIT.

Thus, the home gym became a more commonplace feature of many homes. This benefit is significant because only a few items of equipment cannot be successfully installed in a garage, basement, or spare room. Most basic and even advanced equipment can easily fit into a home setup.

In this article we will be looking at two methods of working out to lose weight: the spin bike workout, and HIIT training. Which is best for you? Let’s get started.

What are the Benefits of Spin Bike Workouts?

So, what is a spin bike exactly? If you’ve seen adverts on TV in the past few years you will have seen one for a product called ‘Peloton’. It was the first of a breed of connected cycling machines. Connected, that is, to the internet and able to record and analyze data from your performance.

The success of Peloton, who capitalized cleverly on the pandemic, led to further brands entering the market. Fit Healthy Momma wrote a vs. article comparing Stryde to MYX and Echelon that tells you a lot about three new models that each have their own features and functions that make them stand out. But is a spin bike a great way to lose weight?

Consider the contrast between spin bike sessions and outdoor cycling: the former offers an intense, shorter workout targeting specific levels, while the latter provides longer but less intense exercise. An average 45-minute spin session can burn 400 to 600 calories, boost metabolism, and tone muscles.

Enhance your spin session’s effectiveness by consuming a banana pre-workout to maximize calorie burn through the thermic effect. Post-workout, eating supports your metabolism for continued calorie burn. Varying pace and intensity during the session improves post-workout oxygen consumption and calorie burn, akin to interval training. While spin bike training aids weight loss, it’s advisable not to rely solely on it due to its targeted effects on certain body parts.

What are the Benefits of HIIT Training?

If you’re not familiar with HIIT here’s our brief explanation of what it’s all about. HIIT is ‘High-Intensity Interval Training’. It is a cardiovascular workout technique that involves highly intense, yet short bursts of exercise followed by less intense workouts, or even a short rest period. Continue the entire HIIT routine until you feel you’ve reached your limit.

This is largely because they have! Most HIIT training workouts are designed for weight loss and muscle gain. The similarities between HIIT and spin bike workouts in which the rider performs alternating short sessions of first high speed and then slower and more relaxed sessions mixed, the effect is the more effective release of oxygen into the bloodstream and burning of calories.

A HIIT session usually consists of a series of different exercises that are put together by a trainer specifically for an individual, and thanks to the aim of burning calories and the effects of increasing oxygen flow to the blood, the metabolism will continue to burn calories after the event, so adding to the effectiveness of the HIIT routine as a weight loss regime.

It’s also worth noting that HIIT training will work on different muscles in the body to the spin bike routine. That’s why experts don’t recommend sticking exclusively to one method. A mix of spin bike training and HIIT could be the best regular choice for you.

So what do we think is the answer to the question in the title? Honestly, we believe we’ve addressed this in the preceding paragraph. In conclusion, let’s briefly revisit each method regarding their performance at home, which might assist you in making a decision.

Which is Best for Weight Loss: HIIT or Spin Bikes?

As we mentioned above, both HIIT training and spin bike sessions make a great choice of effective and attainable weight loss routines. However, for the home, we believe the spin bike is a better option. If you are on a limited budget and want to equip a home gym, there is no doubt that a spin bike will be a good investment. The whole family can use this device, not just for intense sessions but also for other exercises like resistance training, aiding in weight loss, and maintaining fitness.

Each of the spin bikes in the review we linked to offers great capability and takes up little space, so check them out in more detail now and buy an exercise machine that you will benefit from.