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The terminology sheet will help you determine what the coach is telling you at spin workouts or interpret a written workout.

Spin Class terminology

Soft pedal
- pedal with little or no effort (used in recovery)

Bubble Gums
- focus on a dropped heel, pulling back with the heels

Fast Pedal
- increase cadence until legs are spinning quickly

Cadence
- refers to the number of times your pedal goes around, also called RPMs (revolutions per minute)

Pull Ups
- Uses hip flexors and knees to pull pedal upwards while the opposite leg pushes’ down
Spin
- use the entire leg to turn the pedals, push and pull the pedal equally

Stomps
- hard power, pressing down firmly on the pedal using the quads
Single leg
- pedal with only one leg, then repeat time on the opposite leg

Road bikes

Gears

53/39
- 53 refers to the large front chain ring
- 39 refers to the small front chain ring

Triple rings
- smallest ring on the front is usually called the granny gear, used predominately for climbing, or easy spinning
- Big Ring/Small ring (front) are located on the left hand side

Rear cog
- refers to the set of gears at the back of the bike that is fixed to the drive train
- Shifters for this are usually on the right hand side

Pedals/Cranks
- the cranks and the pedals are used to drive the bike forward

RPM
- refers to the revolutions per minute (can also be referred to as cadence)

Seated
- both hips on the saddle, legs pedal around, with no rocking

Standing
- both hips lifted from the saddle, while pedaling

On the hoods
- hands are placed on the handlebars of the bike, where
the brakes are housed.

On the bars
- position hips, flexed forward from the spine, to extend elbows onto the aero bars
- used for long distance riding