Thing #7 Spin Class

Well, I took a spinning class. And boy did I feel like a jackass. But I’ll go back.

For those who don’t know, it’s a group cycling class. You’re in a room of bikes, with lots of people on those bikes, and a teacher who uses a headset microphone to tell you what to do for an hour, or however long you can stand it. You self-adjust the degree of difficulty (“tension”) on your bike as told, and self-adjust your level of effort (how fast your legs spin, or “cadence”) as told as well.

A fine concept.

Only, there are a lot of mysteries surrounding the process that take awhile to sort out:

1) The bikes don’t have their handlebars on when you walk in. Why? I really don’t know. How do you put the handlebars on? I still don’t quite know. I tried it myself before the teacher got there and couldn’t figure it out and felt dumb. So the teacher helped me, at my request, when she arrived but the skill didn’t translate very well. I did manage to take the handlebars off at the end of class and set them down in front of the bike. You untwist some peg until it’s loose, then you pull on it and lift the bars out. Why? Again, I have no idea. I just do what I’m told. Or in this case, what other people are doing.

2) Where should my seat be? This I did learn – it should hit about an inch or half inch below your hip bone. On these bikes you can adjust the seat forward and backward as well. Your arms should be able to hit the handles with your back straight but without your elbows locking.

3) Do I need special shoes? I asked the teacher. She said no, because there are cages for your feet on the pedals, but if I became a regular I might want to consider it.

4) Do I need bike shorts? I can tell you this one: technically, no. You can go in whatever shorts or leggings you have (though I was advised something not too loose is helpful). I wore running tights and was OK. But here’s what I learned, all by myself: they put padding in those bike shorts for a reason. Bike seats are hard, and the work of pedaling, uh, emphasizes that. If I do decide I like this as a form of exercise, I will certainly invest in some bike shorts. But I got through just fine.

5) Do I need a heartrate monitor? Nope. Lots of people use them, and like with any cardio efforts, if you want to maximize your training it can be useful to have one. But it is completely possible to do this class without one, even though they get talked about as a tool and a few people had them. My sense was most people didn't (though I will be bringing mine next time).

I felt like a jackass for about the first twenty minutes as I sorted out those mysteries. Perhaps the biggest jackass moment – besides the solo attempt at putting on the handlebars – was how appalled the teacher was that I had shown up without water. I guess I’m used to running without water, so I didn’t think about it too much. (I take water with me on runs over forty minutes. Usually.) She was right, though, and I was grateful for the bottle she gave me after about twenty minutes. I don’t hydrate enough in general (and by “hydrate” I mean “drink water”) and that was a really good reminder.

This was an endurance class, meaning she had us do steady increases in effort followed by periods of rest. Some classes, apparently, are about building speed – short bursts of high effort – or both speed and endurance. I’m glad this one was just base fitness building. It was manageable. I once again didn’t push it too hard, since this was my first class, but still got a good workout. I could tell that since I’m a runner my lung capacity was adequate for what we were doing, but I had legs muscles that couldn’t keep up as well.


Things I liked:

-Easy easy easy on my knees. And it’s good cross-training for running.

-I was encouraged to push harder, but it was relative to my own previous effort and not anyone else’s level. That was good about spin class in general – you can work out hard with other people at different levels, and you’re not waiting for anyone or holding anyone up.

-It got me working hard, and having other people and the teacher there meant I pushed harder than I ever would have done alone.

-the bikes are low tech -- not a lot of electronic gadgetry. You adjust the tension by twisting a knob on the front. The rest are mechanical adjustments like the handlebars and seat. That was appealing.

-When we were done the class clapped for me having finished my first spin class. Thanks, guys! Some folks came up and chatted with me about the class, and their experience, and really encouraged me. It was nice.

-The teacher got her shoe stuck in a pedal. I found that reassuring, somehow, that the fit, friendly, skilled instructor had to face a challenging moment herself. Apparently it took three people and special tools after class to get the shoe off the pedal. I know the fact that I was reassured by this does not speak well for my character, but… it’s true. Human moments like that are always welcome with me.

I look forward to going back, especially now that I know a little bit about how it all works. Yay spinning!