There are so many different variations  of exercise;  Barre, Yoga, Spinning, Weight Training, etc.  I want to try them all, and yesterday I dipped my toes into the straps of a Schwinn bike, and pedaled just like I did when I was 7 years old trying to keep up with the boys in the neighborhood. Except now, I was in a small, dark, disco room(minus disco ball) on a stationary bike that had too many settings that needed to be adjusted – lift the seat to hip height, push the seat forward, make sure the handlebars are elbow distance from the seat, use less tension then increase tension. WTF? Then came spin shoes- I need shoes to ride this bike, too? I wore my cute Turquoise Nike’s and laced them up tight, I thought that was an important rule. Apparently, they make shoes that just clip right into the other side of the pedal, no strap needed. After finally getting adjusted just to sit, there was a fancy little screen on the bike. Aw snap! I get to track my progress. This was going to be great for me to get an idea of the distance pedaled, RPM’S and calories. It’s always good to know where you stand so you can improve each time thereafter. Now, time to spin….

An hour class, 3 bike positions, a packed disco room, a male instructor who liked the song “bulletproof”( like, a lot) and the bass bumping. My goal going in was to try to ease my way in, I didn’t want to burn myself coming out the gate. I followed the instructors lead with each stride he made, I tried to match his tempo and the tempo of the music. You start off at a laxed pace, and then you start to build momentum, increase the tension with a slight turn of a red knob, and just ride it out. It took me until about mid way through to get a feel for the amount of tension I needed to increase/decrease, there were definitely times where my legs would just burn. Ah-ha, this was the part of the experience I was waiting for, I love the burn.  I would check the time to see how close we were to being done, just so I could judge whether or not I could afford to increase the tension on my bike just a little bit more. That red knob determines dead legs or not. Dead legs weren’t an option, weight lifting the next morning was already pre-meditated. You really start to vibe with the music and ride to the beat. Good music and a good instructor is really all you need for a successful workout. I wish the class was more energetic, my friends need to come so we can take over with our energy and fist pumps #girlsquad.

Wind down time….I did NOT die, like i was told i would. Literally, some woman assured me i was going to die. Now the results on that little screen – I rode 10.4 miles. I look over to my right and this chick did 23 miles, I look to my girl Melly P to the left of me, and she rode like 14 miles. Where I stand, i have no idea, but in my mind I tried something outside of my element and I enjoyed it! I am planning on incorporating it into my fitness regimen, for sure.  From here on out it’s 11 miles + and cranking up that red knob!