My First Spin Class (or How HBO Might Have Helped Me Find My Perfect Workout)

I was pursing twitter the other day when I saw something that a friend of mine retweeted. HBO was giving out free spin classes at SoulCycle to help promote the second season of “Girls”.

I decided that I should check out the free spin class (I was a little mad when I found out the week prior, HBO was giving out free blow outs at Dry Bar) and found a friend who wanted to come too. I’ve been on the lookout for a form of exercise that I love. Walking is great, but the calorie burn is not what I need and due to my hip issues, I can’t run. The only workout class I’ve loved in the past was Richard Simmons, but due to the schedule I have at work, I can’t attend any classes. I might take a night off so I can go again, but it can’t be a regular workout for me now.

I got to SoulCycle about 20 minutes early. I wanted to have time to get everything settled and fill out any forms that I needed to do. And I have to say that the people who worked at SoulCycle Santa Monica are amazing. Lizzie was the girl who helped me get checked in. After filling out my form, she got me my rental bike shoes (yes Dad, I wore click in bike shoes!), and showed me how to use the passcode on the free locker. Lizzie also took this pretty funny “before” picture of me.

There are no phones allowed in the spin studio, so I don’t have any photos of the set up inside. But I have to say that I lucked out on the bike that I reserved. There are three long rows facing the instructor’s bike, and on the sides there are 3 short rows on each side facing the side of the instructor’s bike. I was on one of the sides in the back and in the corner. That way, nobody was looking at me unless they turned to look at me. That made me feel way less self-conscious in class.

And what a tough class it was! I wasn’t able to do a lot of the standing up or other movements on the bike, but I never stopped pedaling (except when we did the weights since I’m not that coordinated yet). At first, the time seemed to go by slowly, but after one song, the time flew by. I was dripping sweat, but so was the instructor (whose name is Ben) so I didn’t feel weird about that.

My favorite moment of class was about halfway through when Ben mentioned that 3 people had already left the class, but the rest of us were kicking butt! I couldn’t believe that I outlasted 3 people. I was by far the biggest person there, and I was able to do more than 3 people. That kept me going and I was able to do faster pedaling and some of the standing after that.

And just because I did a “before” picture, here’s my wonderfully sweaty “after” picture.

I’m still on such a high from that class. It is so high energy and supportive. I will totally be back! My only concern is the cost (it’s $25 a class). But I’m going to figure out a way to pay for them. I’d like to try to go 2-3 times a month to get the boost in my motivation that I’m feeling right now!

Thank you HBO for helping me discover a workout that I think will actually work for me! And SoulCycle, I’ll hopefully be back very very soon!

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