Spinsanity

So today I went to a spin class with my sister.

I have never been to a spin class before.

Turns out it is exactly like the TV spin classes (this shot captured from the remarkably bizarre Netflix show The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt).

The dim, zen-space room. The little white towels. The fake candles. The encouraging welcome and help with setting up your bike. But then.....they turn on pumping music and disco lights (seriously). The instructor in this class even had a headset microphone!

My butt was sore the instant I sat on the bike. 😂 These bikes are so fancy that you actually need to balance on them and you can lean from side to side into "turns". Pretty amazing workout if you can quit giggling because you feel like you're in a sitcom.

First she took us through a warm up, getting us used to the bikes and explained how to turn and balance. She told us about the little button to press to get the display to light up, showing us our RPM.

She took us through an "open road" sequence where we rode hard and fast. Then she took us "up a mountain" by increasing the resistance on our bikes...when we got to the top, she had us decrease the resistance and encouraged us to pedal as fast as we could.

She cited 140 RPM which concerned me as I was up to 108 RPM and kept checking my thighs to ensure they weren't starting a friction fire.

While we were doing this, she shouted at us "You are free!!! Pedal as fast as you can because you are completely free, whipping down this mountain! Free!"

Right. With these special shoes, clipped solidly into the pedals of this stationary bike. Feels free all right. 😄

I'm feeling like that was a great little progression and a nice way to end the class. Pretty proud of myself for keeping up (consistently about 30 RPM under her recommendations but that's pretty fantastic in my opinion) and feeling the happy-tired-sore workout vibes.

Turns out that was just the end of the warm-up. 😱

O
M
G

These spinsters are crazy, folks. I'm happy to report I kept my consistency and made it to the end without starting any fires. I enjoyed it overall but I admit that I was relieved when she said we were done.  The music transitioned, slowing down, to bring us to a zen state with the babbling brook,  tinkly chimes and exotic birds chirping encouragingly.

I was serenaded by the satisfying clicks of the shoes coming off of the pedals and the sound of pathetic squirts from the spray bottles of cleaning solution that everyone used to wipe their sweat off of the bikes.

NOW I feel free, except my legs are so wobbly and my butt is so sore, that I don't think I can go very far.

😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎

(PS I actually did quite enjoy it. It was a half hour spin class and there was a 1-hour yin yoga flow afterwards which was really lovely. If you are interested it is at Breathe studio in University Heights [Saskatoon] and they have drop-ins!)