I've never been in a spin class, but it's always been a secret desire of mine. I was envious of the people cycling to music, sweating away tons of calories, and not having to worry about having enough energy to ride back to their cars.
First off, the venue for spin class was freaking amazing. This gym is the Taj Mahal of gyms. It's the Renaissance Club Sport in Aliso Viejo. It has a valet. It also has a bar. And a whirlpool with fluffy white towels.
I wasn't super sure what to expect from this experience, except that I knew it would be boundary pushing and there might be cries for mercy since Martha's reputation precedes her. We started by learning that a cadence of 85 rpm was to be our base. Our "flat road with no hills," if you will. This is what we would return to after intervals of more strenuous spinning. We were also told to never stop pedaling. Ever. Unless it was like a life or death situation.
The good thing is that you and you alone have control over the resistance on your bike. (Unless Martha stops by and cranks it up on you since you're suspiciously not sweating enough.) The real takeaway here is that while you do have control over how hard you work, if you make it too easy, you're only cheating yourself out of a better workout.
Things were going pretty well for me until about 40 minutes in when I forgot how to tell time.
We were just finishing a grueling interval of jumps where you stand up and sit down over and over again while maintaining a consistent high cadence. I think I started to become delirious because I had convinced myself that 1 hour equaled 100 minutes and therefore we weren't even halfway through the workout. Ladybits were burning. Panic ensued.
Eventually, I realized my error and warmth and happiness spread over my body. Or maybe it was just perspiration.
Will I go back to spin class? Aw heck yeah.
1 comment:
Do you listen to 'You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)' by Dead or Alive during the class? Now that would make the class truly awesome.
Post a Comment