After a self imposed 8 year avoidance, I decided to finally take a Spinning class last Tuesday at Crunch on 144 West 38th Street in NYC after being invited for 10th time by a friend of mine who is also a Spin instructor.
Why was I avoiding Spinning? Well, I kind of have a love/hate relationship with fitness. I love wearing bikinis & skinny jeans, but hate sweating & sore muscles. I also find certain fitness regimens repetitive and boring. I loathe having to leave my house to work out and when I do hit the gym I often find myself lost staring at a room full of complicated machines, saying to myself, "Ok. Now what do I do?"
I am clearly not a fitness buff. Daily exercise for me is a half hour to an hour on my treadmill watching a Real Housewives rerun or sweating it out to whatever latest fitness DVD craze has hit the 4 am infomercial circuit; currently it's a Kettle bell workout called Kettlenetics and I highly recommend but I have been eyeing Tracy Anderson's Metamorphosis.
Spinning to me always seemed like fitness practice reserved for the already super fit warrior types. I first heard of Spinning from an ex-boyfriend. I have vague memories of waking up in his apartment at 7 am to him kissing me on forehead before rushing out to make sure he got a good spot in class before drifting back to sleep. Never liking to be out of the proverbial loop, I was instantly intrigued. What is this Spinning? Was it some amazing fitness craze ready to take the world by storm? Would it change everything?
When I arrived at my local gym to investigate this phenomenon I was shocked to discover a room full of...exercise bikes. It was similar to the way I felt when I found out Urban Rebounding was just jumping around on a trampoline for an hour. From that moment on I decided Spinning just wasn't for me; especially when I would see a Spinning class in session full of devotees with their hard bodies, designer biking shorts, intense stares and special shoes dripping buckets of sweat and peddling like Almira Gulch in The Wizard of Oz. Sometimes, I could actually hear the Wicked Witch of the West's theme music as I watched.
Now here I was, ready to do the thing vowed to never do. I remember, as I slung my Gaiam gym bag over my shoulder and left the security of my treadmill & DVD player, channeling Calvin Tran of Bravo's The Fashion Show when I thought,"Me, Michelle DuQuesnay? Taking Spinning Class? Oh, here go Hell come!"
As we waited for class to start I was unwittingly eavesdropping on two members having a conversation about their own experience with Spinning. Though, I tried to block it out, I kept catching sentences like, "I couldn't walk afterwards." or "I thought I was going to die!" My friend, seeing the look of terror on my face politely informed them that I had never taken a spinning class and they were scaring me. Then, of course, the talk turned to chirrups of, "Oh, it's not that bad." & "You'll love it!" I wasn't fooled. Here go Hell come.
As we prepared to begin class I discovered I had to strapped to the Spinning bike. I'm usually adverse to any activity which required me to be strapped to anything, besides a roller coaster, I decided I had gone too far to turn back. This was no joke. I found out it's necessary to cover the handle bars of your bike with a towel lest they get too slippery with sweat and one of other "spinners" actually laughed at me when I asked if the bike seat was supposed to be this uncomfortable. Here go He... you know.
Once I'd gotten over the initial shock of becoming "part of the machine," I was pleasantly surprised to see people of all ages and body types and there were even a few fellow virgins, you know, Spinning virgins.
Then, in walks bounds Reign Hudson, a 15 year Crunch Fitness veteran with 12 years of Spin instruction under her belt and seemingly limitless supply of energy. She informed us that she was about to teach her 4th (fourth!!) Spin class of the day before hopping on her own bike and inviting us to pedal along. And pedal we did, for 45 minutes with out stopping. I knew I was in trouble when at one point during the class she turned out the lights in the studio and began playing a song called "Torture."
"And when you feel tired," she began during a particularly intense sprint and I thought, was it possible that Reign was going to give us newbies permission to take it easy? Did she see how we were suffering?, "Suck it up!"
And I enjoyed every minute of it.
The music was amazing! We were jamming to an insane mix of hip hop, reggae, calypso & r&b. I felt like I was working out in the hottest club in NYC. Did it feel that way because I was dripping sweat or was it Reign singing along & dancing in between our bikes swinging her towel over her head like it was Crop Over in Barbados? I don't know, but I was loving it. Despite being on her 4th (fourth!!) class of the day she was working it like she just woke up! If she could do it for 4+ hours, surely I can make it another 20 minutes or 15. I wasn't sure, because there is no time to look at your watch during class. The energy in the room was electrifying and the workout was intense whether you were a seasoned Spinner or it was your first time being strapped in, you felt it! Was it hard? Yes. Did I want to stop? No! The current running through the class energizes you. You just keep pedaling. I wasn't sure what was happening to me. I was working out, in a gym and it was...fun?
While I'm not sure I've completely drunk the Spin Kool Aid; I'm not signing up for a membership at Soul Cycle or ordering any special shoes, but I did enjoy myself, got a great work out and I would probably take another spin class. Let me clarify that, I would take another 45 minute Spin Class.
Tune in tomorrow for Part II of Why You Should Be In It To Spin It for my interview with royalty herself, Reign Hudson.
Suck It Up!
That's All For Now.
Thanks For Tuning in.
Until Next Time...
Keep Adding Bliss!
Michelle
