Esporta, the premium UK health club operator, has established a new Guinness World Record™ for the largest indoor spinning class. The record involved 323 employees cycling simultaneously in an organised class and took place on 28 February, 2008 at the company’s annual conference which was held at the spectacular Concept Centre in Bedford.
Esporta’s CEO, Glenn Timms, who led the class together with fitness instructor Winston Stephenson said: “Spinning is very popular among the 3500 classes that are organised each week in Esporta’s 55 clubs across the UK – its high-tempo, instructor-led classroom format, creates a very conducive environment to help people get the most out of their workout. We are delighted to have established this Guinness World Record which is a demonstration of our drive to encourage all our employees to ‘live the dream’, regularly experiencing and replicating the benefits that our members enjoy participating in group exercise classes.”
According to Guinness World Records, the previous record took place at the Great Speed Stick Marathon, Santafe de Bogota, Colombia on 10 March 2001 and comprised 300 people cycling simultaneously.
Notes:
Spinning is an aerobic exercise that takes place in a classroom setting on specially designed stationary bicycles called spinning bikes. It is led by an instructor that uses music and enthusiastic coaching to motivate the participants, typically following routines that are designed to simulate terrain and situations encountered in actual bicycle rides, including hill climbs, sprints and interval training. Participants set goals based on their heart rate, which can be measured by hand or using a heart rate monitor and each person in the class can choose their own goals for the session. Besides being a great form of low impact aerobic activity (burning between 400-600 calories in 40 minutes), spinning is also beneficial in strengthening the muscles of the lower body.
