Spinning Hand and Body Positions Explained

Wondering what hand position and body positions you should use for all the different sitting climbs, standing flats, jumps, etc.? Look no further!

Hand position 1

• This hand position is used for seated positions, when the intensity is easy or moderate. Rest your hands on the center of the handlebars with your weight on the outer edges of your hands to maintain circulation to your wrist and palms.

• Keep your elbows slightly bent and shoulders relaxed, with your eyes facing forward. Only use this position when sitting on recovery or in warm-up or cooldown sessions.

Hand position 2

• This hand position is used for stability and opens up your chest for the best air exchange. The majority of your time is spent in this position, and you can use it if your doing anything sitting and in most standing positions too. You can use it for seated flats, standing flats, seated climbs, jumps, running on a hill, jumps on a hill, and sprints on both flats and hills.

• Place your palms over the hand bars with thumbs resting on the top or inside of the curve. Point your fingers down, point the knuckles forward and keep wrists neutral. Maintain a soft bend in the elbows, keeping shoulders relaxed and eyes forward.

Hand Position 2.5

• This position is often used by people with longer arms, and is an extended version of hand position two.

• Keep shoulders relaxed, elbows softly bent, wrists in neutral alignment, shoulders back and eyes forward. Lightly grip fingers with the thumbs toward the inside of the bars, maintaining neutral wrists.

Hand position 3

• This is used for standing and heavy resistance or exertion, when the intensity is hard to very hard. It is used for standing climbs and during the standing portions of jumps on a hill, sprints on a flat and sprints on a hill.

• Increase your resistance to heavy. Stand up and grasp the end of the bullhorns with the palms inwards and knuckles out. Wrap fingers lightly around the bars with thumbs over the ends. Adjust your resistance as you need, making sure to maintain a smooth pedal stroke both down and back up.

• If you have a shorter reach, you can use the upward curve of the bars of the bike to maintain hand position 3, instead of the bull horns.

RPM

• Revolutions per minute. The indoor bike that you are riding should report RPM to you, which a majority of my workouts are based on.

Saddle

• This is the seat of the bike

Down Pedal/Down Stroke

• Pushing your foot down on the pedal of the bike, down the the bottom of the circular pedal stroke.

Upstroke

• Bringing your pedal back up to the top of the circular pedal stroke.

Seated Flat

• This when you are seated on the bike and hands are in position 1, 2 or 2.5. It is used for recovery, warmup and cooldown mainly, and helps to teach the basic core stability and pedal stroke techniques. Place your butt near the widest part of the saddle and lean slightly forward to hold hand positions 1, 2 or 2.5.

Standing Flat/Running

• This position requires a bit more balance. Start in the seated position with hand position 2 or 2.5 and rise up and out of the saddle, shifting your weight forwards onto your feet as you continue to pedal. Your upper body should be slightly bent, with face forward and arms putting pressure on the bars of the bike.

  • Note: Swaying from side to side as you bike prevents your legs from working efficiently. Correct this by making sure to slightly bend your elbows, shoulders in front of your hips, and weight centered over the pedals. Avoid excessive bouncing (the resistance may be too light for you) or dipping the hips to the right or left on the downstroke.

Jumps

• Jumps are rhythmic transitions between seated and standing positions. It gets you moving in and out of the saddle, and teaches the movement of a transition from a seated position to a standing position. They also feel like they require more work to sustain an RPM than a singular seated or standing position. Start by following the cues for a seated position, then transition to a standing position, then transition back into a seated position. During this, it’s going to feel like you push your hips diagonally out of the saddle, towards the bars of the bike, and then bring the hips back to the saddle.

Seated climb

• Basically a seated flat, just with more resistance added to the pedals. Hand positions 2 or 2.5 for more air exchange and more stability as you climb. This simulates the hill climbs you often run into while out riding on roads or trails. Your RPM will be slower here.

Standing climb

• Also just a standing flat, but with resistance. Your RPm will be slower here. Hand position 2 or 2.5.

Running on a hill

• This is a more advanced movement, where the RPM is increased from a standing climb. Keep your body stable so that your legs have a smooth transition from the down pedal to the upstroke. Hand position 2 or 2.5.

Jumps on a hill

• Just a more intense version of the Jumps, nothing changes for your position, you just increase the resistance and/or speed (RPM).

Sprints on a flat/hill

• Sprints are considered to be more advanced, but again they are basically the same seated flat or standing flat position, but with heavier resistance and higher speed (RPM). I use this for HIIT, intervals, etc. The goal of sprints is to push the biggest gear possible (the heaviest resistance) within the cadence range given.

• After adding the resistance, you can lift out of the saddle to put more power into your pedal strokes, then return to the saddle once you achieve the cadence (usually after 3-5 seconds). Hands stay in position 2 or 2.5. The progression is seated on a hill > standing on a hill > seated on a hill.

Want to see the positions in action? Follow this link.

Want to know how to setup your bike? Follow this link.

References

My Spinning Instructor Manual, second edition. Copywright 2017.