I've never been obsessed with working out really. My idea of a nice relaxing weekend is not running a half marathon, followed by three hours pilatesyogabarre, and drinking ten smoothies made of nothing but kale and flax. That said, I have kind of an addictive personality. I've been obsessed with Slim Fast and granola, knitting and Mariska Hargitay. And now...I'm obsessed with an incredibly intense, at times fun (I think), super sweaty, music-video, army-style, costs-my-life-savings spin class. I try to do it once a week with two of my friends.
It all started when I was reading Us Magazine over the summer. I saw a picture of Kim Kardashian leaving a gym with all her make-up on and no sweat beads to be found. I also saw a picture of Kaley Cuoco wearing nothing but a sports bra, leaving the same gym baring her sculpted ads. I also saw a picture of David Beckham...being hot...and also leaving the same exact gym. This "gym" come to find out, was SoulCycle, a boutique gym devoted solely to stationary bike exercising. It started in New York, made its way to L.A. and this summer, they opened a SoulCycle in D.C. So obviously, I had to take a class. And, because they say people are more likely to work out regularly if they do it with a buddy, I convinced two of my friends to try it out with me.
SoulCycle is, essentially, a sweat factory. There's no way that you can end a class without feeling like you took a shower...in warm salt water. It's so bad, that my eyelashes start sweating.
It's also an exercise torture factory. I work out on my own in a gym three to four days a week. But one thing about SoulCycle is that you have to wear these special shoes that clip into the bikes. Some people say it helps you ride better. I say they're there so that you can't run away when s&*t gets real. First, there's the resistance knob on the bike, which you have to crank up a lot during the class. Then there's the whole "ride really fast while the resistance is really high" part of the class. And finally there's the weights section. After doing SoulCycle for a few weeks I actually look at the weights portion of the class as "sweet sweet saving Sabbath rest." However during my first two classes, the weights section was just the next circle of hell.
I know, I know. It sounds...terrible. But somehow, someway, I started to like SoulCycle. Yes, it's hard. And yes, it's gross at times because of all the sweat. But I can't deny that it's an awesome workout. And the instructors seem to put just as much time into improving their SoulCycle leadership skills as they do into making a playlist that almost makes me forget what I'm doing, where I am, or the fact that I can't feel my thighs while we're climbing our imaginary hills in class.
So that's what I've been up to lately. Do you work out? Do you have intentions of working out someday? I'm not judging. Just interested.
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