Spin Class and Questions

Becoming a new freelancing stay at home mommy has afforded me some great perks. One of those perks is being able to attend daytime gym classes including SPIN which I have been missing due to my old schedule!

I took my son to preschool, my youngest into the child watch program and into my first daytime spin class I went. It was so dark in the room I could barely see especially since I was coming in from the sunny outdoors. I found a bike in the back corner and got to my thing. This class was called “Cycling” on the schedule and was only 30 minutes long, I assumed incorrectly that it was an express spin class. It was intense and much more like cycling than spin which is difficult to pull off on a spin bike. The music wasn’t for me I would rather rip my ears off than workout to country! There were two hip/hoppy songs that worked for me. I wish the bad news ended there.

What threw me for an almost hysterical loop was the instructor who seemed to be grunting throughout the entire workout. Rather than instructing the group on form and intensity levels she was yelling instructions, while enjoying her own workout as we watched and biked along. I have been to at least 1/2 a million spin classes. I thought I had seen it all! I almost started laughing out loud as if it was all a joke. Then her group who must be regulars began counting along with her LOUDLY through jumps. I have never seen a class like it.

While I really enjoyed the intensity of the workout part of the class I’m not sure I would ever go back. I want an instructor who is tough but not insane, the whole class made me uneasy. While Jillian Micheals is NUTZO  on  TV, I have to believe that the intensity from her is fingerscrossed more for the cameras. I once hired a personal trainer and she was FABULOUS. She was serious but understood that screaming at people isn’t a great way to get them to work for you and normally leads people to shut down mode. Plus while as an instructor you can work out, it isn’t the time to be doing your own workout. I did join a group that seems to have been going together for a while too, so it may have just been weird but….

The whole class just turned me off. It was disappointing to say the least.

There are a few other options for spin classes and I’m hopeful I can find one that is a great workout where I won’t be screamed at in the dark 🙂

If you’ve taken Spin you know it’s intense! What do you look for in a great instructor?

At Gold’s Gym I had the best instructor EVER. Her music was fabulous and different. At the beginning of each class she fully described the “ride” and told you the intensity upfront. She was upbeat  peppy and really enjoyed her job. She rode along with us but all the while offered ideas on posture, pedal movement and “lazy tummys” as she called them.

For example we would have a huge hill to climb followed by a down hill to a run drawn out flat rise the music for this would include “Come on Eileen” for the uphill/stuck in the mud cadence, then the ending of the song was the downhill. Then we would move into “ONE” by U2 for the long flat ride. For sprints I will never think of the song “Proud Mary” in the same way again! You could picture the ride in your head as you rode,  she gave cues as to where you were in the ride throughout.  And what muscles we getting the best workout at the moment.

 I want to know am I crazy for not liking this class? What do you look for in a great Spin Instructor?