before my wedding, i was going to a spin class on wednesday mornings pretty religiously.  it was taught by judy, an energetic, loud, encouraging instructor that played a wide range of good music from country to black-eyed peas to glee. i loved the class and i loved my old gym. there were a bunch of other people that were there always there in the morning and seeing the regulars every week was a comfort, made me feel like the world was still turning as it should.   i stopped going after my wedding. if i’m honest, i think it was because i didn’t want to have to say goodbye when we moved across town. (yes, falling of the face of the earth makes so much more sense.)

now i’m at a different gym and have been trying to get into a groove at this gym for a while.  i found a yoga class that i really enjoy on sundays. the instructor guides us through the class, always encouraging us to focus on our breathing, to be where we are.  she introduces new poses and offers a range of options by saying “for some of us, we’ll be here, for others of us, we’ll go here.” i also found a bodypump class i like on saturday mornings but with weekends so busy, i need a routine during the week.

after yesterday’s spin class, i can say definitively that i’ve found it. i’ve found my go-to spin class, the anchor of my workout routine. i went to a thursday am spin class and i can’t articulate it but there was something i wasn’t loving about it.  last week i went to the wednesday morning spin class and loved it.  the instructor played great music (i was totally rocking out to moves like jagger), my heart was pumping and i was sweating up a storm.  but there are two instructors for wednesday morning and they alternate week to week.  so yesterday was the test.

i went and it was awesome! the class was similar in that there was great music (i got pumped up to nicki minaj’s super bass and lady gaga’s edge of glory) but different in that it was taught by a man and the lights were kept on the whole time. i’m used to the being in class with the lights off and i enjoy it.  something about the dark gets me in the zone and i’m in my own little spin world.  and it helps to mask the fact that i kind of dance/sing-along. but yesterday the lights were on and i didn’t understand why.  but the instructor did a lot of team drills where he split us up into teams and we would alternate sprints and the other team would clap and cheer.  of course, i really really enjoyed this.  there is something about making noise and cheering and clapping.  he said “this is why we keep the lights on because we are all one team.” cheesy? perhaps. but there was something inspiring and motivating about it.  i felt a part of something.  a part of something good and encouraging, even if only for a few minutes at a time.

talk to me

• what’s the anchor to your workout routine?
• are you a fan of spinning?
• what makes a spin class awesome for you?