Back in the Saddle

Last night I finally went back to exercise after almost 6 months off. The last time I went to the gym was the morning my daughter was born and honestly I was feeling very atrophied. I can’t say I felt lumpy because I’ve been incorporating my daughter into exercising in some way – long walks, doing squats with her in my arms, dancing with her etc. I really missed the endorphin kick.


So I decided to go to a spinning class. I actually hadn’t done a spinning class for a year and a half. But I knew that if I went to a spinning class, it would definitely get my adrenaline pumping and it would provide a good workout. I actually tried a different kind of spinning class than I was used to. Normally I would go to a room full of bikes with an instructor and we’d just ride for 45 minutes simulating uphill climbs and sprints. This class had that element but there were two new pieces to it. One piece is that there was a device on the side of the bike that would tell me how many revolutions per minute(rpm) I was doing, how much resistance I had on the bike and the power I was putting into the workout at that specific moment and cumulatively through the class. The second element that was new was that there were weight bars on the side of the bike. We would use those weights for our arms during cool down to get some extra muscle development and heart pumping ability into the workout.

When I got to the gym, I was handed bike shoes that had clips on the bottom. These would snap into special pedals on the bike so that your feet wouldn’t slip out. I’ve used them before but they are a bit awkward to walk around in. Then I had some issues with the locker. No matter how many times I set my combination into the door, it didn’t shut. Finally I called someone over to help. Turned out it wasn’t me but that the locker was defective. Phew! Then I went into the room and set up my bike.

The instructor welcomed me as a ‘new’ rider and then we were off. I really did miss that movement of my legs pumping up and down like a piston. I found I wasn’t quite getting up to the rpms the instructor suggested. No matter how fast I went, I couldn’t get to that number. Oh well, I thought. The important part is that I am here. It felt good until it didn’t. I got a stitch in my side which reminded me I needed to breathe deeper and into the discomfort. After some time it went away but then the ride became harder and I thought my female parts were going to implode. I really should have worn my padded bike shorts or gotten a cushion (note for next time).

I found myself looking at my watch and wondering when the class was going to be over because I was already hurting. Then we finally slowed down to do the arm exercises. The saving grace of the class in many ways was the music the instructor selected. I liked all of it and I sang along which helped the time go by a little faster (despite my peaking at my wrist). She even had a U2 song so that was a big plus in my book.

After the class you can log into the company’s website and view your performance which includes your average rpms and speed as well as your maximums. It also tells you a range of how many calories you burned. Seeing that totally psyched me up to go again. Now I just have to figure out how I can continue to go to the gym and get back to my 5 times a week consistency before I had my daughter.