I'm Going To A Spin Class

After my Aquafit lesson this week I stopped to talk to the Instructor. I had noticed that this weeks lesson had seemed harder and I wanted to say so and say Thanks for the class too. I enjoy the class when it's harder and when I don't stop. I know that I call it Synchronised Drowning in my Thursday evening tweets but that's because I get a face full of water every week and I swear I must drink half the pool in the 45 minute session! Anyway, one of the first things she asked was how my weight loss was going. I had explained to her a couple of weeks back that I was losing a lot of weight and that it was her "fault", she said that it was the one kind of blame she was glad to take responsibility for!

Whilst we were talking I asked if she could let me know about her Spin Class, how many miles or KM were roughly cycled in a session and just how hard it is. The instructor asked why I was asking, was it that I wanted to start going to a Spin Class? I explained that I did, that I wanted to do a Spin Class because I thought that it was going to be the best exercise for me at to continue on my journey with. She laughed that I was so worried about going to this class, because despite what I seemed to think about the class it was as hard as I wanted to make it. Just like the Aquafit lesson.

I got a few tips from her too.

I should wear hard soled shoes as the soft soled shoes flex too much and will make my feet hurt. There are special Spin Shoes that you can buy and they can cost from around £30 but it's best to wait a few lessons before buying them as I might decide that I hate Spin!

I should take plenty of water because it can be hard, especially when the teacher tells you to knock it up a level and you want to keep hydrated because you are going to be sweating a lot. Talking of which I should take spin on an empty stomach, my body needs fuel in order to do the exercise I'm asking it to do.

I should take a sweat towel because for the same reason I need the water I'll need something to mop yourself and the bike with! Even people who say that don't normally sweat much when exercising should take a towel because they will sweat. As part of this I should make sure the clothes that I'm wearing are going to keep me comfortable.

Get help setting up the bike. Make sure that it is the right saddle height for me, that the tightness of the pedal straps is right and that I'm comfortable. 45 minutes can feel a lot longer if there are problems with the bike.

Whilst I'm having the bike set up for me, make sure that I understand any short hand or lingo that the teacher might shout out, or make sure they know to explain themselves in long hand so that I can follow along without having to look around at what everyone else is doing.

Don't use the handle bars to prop me up. Sure they are there for balance but I should really be engaging my core to make sure that I'm holding myself up not using the bike to do it for me. I also need to make sure that I don't hunch my shoulders because this will again cause me not to engage my core.

If my knees start bouncing I need to increase the level I'm riding at, it will force me to slow down. The same goes for when my knees bow out to the side when I'm tired. It's better to go slower and have the proper technique than risk damaging myself.

Listen to the Instructor. It's important because they have a plan worked out that will push everyone to the right point for where they need to be. Of course this doesn't mean that I can't sit down if I'm tired or go at a slower pace than the rest of the class because what is important is that I try my hardest.

Only two people know what I'm doing in the class me and the Instructor, so I don't have to worry about looking weak or slow compared to everyone else because they won't know. It's important though that I don't try and do what everyone else is doing until I'm ready. This is my class not a competition.

After the first session I won't want to go back, I'll feel sore and possibly the next day I won't be able to move rather like when I first started going to the gym. I have to keep at it though as I'll loosen up and more importantly if I go again the next week I'll find that I recover quicker as my muscles adapt and my body gets use to the changes.

And the last thing I should do is I should buy a padded seat cover. My butt will thank me, so I guess it is self explanatory!

I can't wait to start my Spin Class, I'm going to one which has been recommended as being slightly easier and more suitable for beginners on a Monday evening before I start going to more classes once I've got into the spin of things (see what I did there?!).

Depending on how I go I should burn around 600 calories per 45 minute lesson, so I'm really looking forward to it and hoping that along with some strength exercises I will see some more physical changes.

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