Flying High!

One of the most positive activities I started last year was indoor cycling (sometimes known as “Spinning”). I was turned onto the whole thing at the awesome Flywheel. Before finding Flywheel, I intensely disliked stationary bikes, and I mean DISLIKED in the extreme. If I ever went to the gym, I’d use any other machine for cardio because that dreaded bike bored me witless. I’d manage 4 minutes on it max, and then just had to abandon – probably because it was also very hard. I do own a cute road bicycle, and tool around my neighborhood, and to the farmers market on weekends, but that’s a whole different thing, which doesn’t train me cardio-wise at all.

Anyway, I fell into Flywheel because they opened one on my local street. At first glance, I was horrified – I’m really a yoga girl at heart, and the thought of pumping pedals with a bunch of butch-looking individuals was scary to say the least. However, I took a chance because I knew the one area of my fitness that needed kicking up a notch was my cardio.

I was lucky enough to land in a class with Lacey Stone as my first instructor – this blonde dynamo literally made me forget that I was on a bicycle: with her kick-ass playlist, the lights down low (like in a club), and her inspirational & almost continuous dialogue, made me believe that I could indeed push myself beyond what I had hitherto thought were absolute personal limitations. The cool thing about Flywheel is that each bike has its own tech pack, so you can continually monitor your progress. Flywheel is also pretty deluxe – like having your own private concierge – you get given a towel, a gel seat cover, and a very helpful person to help you get situated perfectly on your bike. They also provide shoes with cleats, and OMG – the have the cutest branded gear to buy ever (I have a hard time not shopping when I leave!).

After a class at Flywheel, I now feel high – like I’m ready to take on the world. BTW, I did feel a little dizzy/nauseous after the very first class, and then as my cardio kicked into gear (after only 3 classes), I felt fine. Thank Goodness for Flywheel, and all their amazing instructors – as we get older we need to challenge and train every area of our fitness: cardio, strength and flexibility. If you don’t use it, you WILL lose it! Given that heart disease is the number one killer of women over 50, it makes sense to start training your gorgeous heart cos you want to keep it in stellar condition for years to come!