#16: Take a Spin Class

Wednesday night Lynda invited me to a spin class at her gym, Worldgate Fitness. I was incredibly excited to have someone to spin with, and to see the gym (it’s much nicer than mine). She arranged to get me a free pass and we showed up for our 6:30 Spin Class with Beth.

I’ve heard several people talk about their addiction to spin. I mean some people really love this class, and I wanted to know what all the fuss was about. My favorite (and I use the term ‘favorite’ loosely) form of cardio has always been running. I can’t stand the elliptical machine and biking is okay but I’ve always felt like running was a better workout. But it’s boring, so if spin classes are as great as everyone says… well, count me in.

The hour long class got started right at 6:30 and we began with an easy warm up. We were doing something Beth called pedal drills. She would tell us to push on the right pedal, pulling up on the toe cage, now back to center. What? I was looking around, everyone appeared to be pedaling along just as before. Now the left side! Again, no discernable movement. I just kept pedaling.

After the quick drills and stretches we began the ladders. Beth’s voice was such that I didn’t realize she was saying ladders until about 40 minutes through the class. We would pedal away, gradually increasing the resistance as we went, and then drop back down to the beginning and do it again. The knob that you use to adjust the resistance isn’t labeled, you simply turn it clockwise for harder, and counter clockwise for easier. It took me a while to try and find a consistent level of change, but towards the end I was just getting the hang of it. After our ladders we went from flats to hills, which really seemed the same as ladders to me, but who knows. At the top of our hills we would come out of the saddle (aka the seat) which really got the thighs burning. All in all the hour went by much faster than if I had tried to do an hour of cardio on my own, and I was entertained the whole time.

A few things to mention though, let’s start with the saddle. As someone who took up horseback riding at the age of 9, I can tell you for certain, this ain’t no saddle. Saddles are relatively comfortable (at least nice ones are). This is a tiny bike seat with minimal cushioning that you will be resting your body weight on for approximately 50 minutes. It isn’t comfortable and it doesn’t feel good. Several times I was pedaling away thinking, let’s get out of the saddle, let’s get out of the saddle! Then we would, and thirty seconds later I thought, let’s get back down, ouch! Also, do they teach you motivational quips when you become certified in spin? I mean, I somewhat expected it, and it’s about the same as any other exercise class, but about halfway through I could hear Beth’s speech on repeat in my head. “Flats to hills, 7 to 9; push pull the pedals, push pull; feel up to the challenge… and recovery” with that last ‘Recoverrrry’ coming out in sing-song fashion. It gave me the giggles several times throughout the workout.

All in all, I don’t think I’ll be addicted to spin, and I still think running is cardio-king, but it was definitely fun. And a good break to the treadmill. I would do it again, but I would invest is a padded seat cover. I can’t even imagine how men attempt this….

20 down; 10 to go