Indoor Cycling

Kimberly Fowler, owner of YAS-from a magazine article

I went to an indoor cycling class Wednesday evening. If you've never heard of indoor cycling, aka spinning, you probably think the idea is a little strange. Why would you take a class to sit on a stationary bike for 45 minutes, surrounded by 40 sweaty strangers? Well, for one, it is an amazing cardio workout. A basic spin class has 4 components

1. sprinting-going as fast as you can at a low resistance
2. getting up out of your saddle at a much harder resistance
   
3. jumps-being up out of your saddle and moving back and forth
   
4. climbs-seated but slowly increasing your resistance over a few minutes

Now throw in a motivating instructor, the adrenaline that comes with working out in a group, and some pounding rock and roll and you have a little bit of an idea of what indoor cycling is like. For more info check out this article from the New York Times.

The first time I went to a cycling class was in high school with my good friend Arika. I don't think either of us knew what we were in for, and both of us hated it. It has only been lately, as I have started century training, that I decided to give it a second try. I am so glad that I did. I go to a studio called YAS, Yoga and Spinning. It's an awesome studio that has a bonus of being pretty close to my house, and having classes at convenient times. I've been doing yoga there on and off for awhile, and the spinning class is just as good.


Last night was Alice Cooper night, though the music is up to the instructor- disco, classic rock, Beatles, Dance mix...whatever the teacher's in the mood for. I think I push myself harder in that 45 minutes than I do in any other workout all week. It's very empowering, and when my legs are flying, endorphins are flowing, and sweat is pouring I feel like my whole day is much improved.

If you're in the Venice area, I would highly recommend giving YAS a try. If not, see if you can find indoor cycling in your area.