Gym classes

[Tigerrr]

Years ago I used to do loads of gym stuff including classes. I used to do spinning and bodypump - and I found it was all excellent for my cycling fitness, combined with loads of riding.
Its 5 years since though, and much water and wine has passed under the bridge, and I gave it all up. As part of my grand plan to get fit again, yesterday I went to a bodypump class. I was the fat old bloke in the corner, with baby weights. I hardly recognised the wreck in the mirror. Today I can hardly move any limb without pain.  This is going to be a long long hill to get up.

[clarion]

Sometimes it's nice to stay in the valleys

[Sergeant Pluck]

Bodypump is a pretty tough class to start off with. I reckon the risk of injury or putting yourself off so badly you never enter a gym again is fairly high. What about pilates to get the core muscles in order, then add in some spin classes etc - i.e. low impact.

Good luck with it though.

The other good thing about spin classes is that mercifully they usually turn the lights down. That and careful positioning can help to avoid your reflection being visible to yourself or, worse, other class members.

[andygates]

Injury? Nah. Even I have done Bodypump.  I think I melted into a pool of greeze.

Tigerr, remember, muscle memory is a thing and conditioning comes back faster than you first had to earn it.   

You know the drill: Be consistent and just don't do the caveman thing of picking too-heavy weights and paying for it later.

[Jakob]

Yah, when I returned to weight training this year, I could barely walk for 5 days. However, I got back into it as soon as I was 'mobile' again and 2 weeks later, I can do a heavy session and only feel a bit tired the next day. Consistency is key. Go light if you have to, but do go.

[MattJH]

+1 for Bodypump.  I started doing it after a workmate bought a bike 2 years ago after not having ridden a bike since he was 12 (he is in hos mid thirties now).  He was instantly fast on the bike, leaving me for dead on the final hill up to work when he caught me on the commute.  On further interogation he revealed that the only real sport/training he had been doing was weekly Bodypump sessions.

I started doing it once a week too, and my cycling has come on leaps and bounds.  I'm much less prone to back pain too!  And I'm now beating him on the commute too!

The key is make sure that you do not use too much weight, and perfect your technique instead.  Add weight only if it does not compromise your technique.  It's good to have a plan of what you are targetting too.  I tend to focus on the cycling muscles by going quite heavy on squats, lunges, back, and going quite light for chest, biceps, triceps, shoulders.

It's also much easier to fit in an hour session of Bodypump than a decent ride - handy for those of us for whom life tends to get in the way!

[Manotea]

Being enamoured nowadays of the warm and dry I did a spin class this morning. As in at 6:45. Amazingly the class was full (15 riders, mostly gurls). Being rather challenged in the jumping around department I find rotating between sitting down and standing up rather tricksy though everybody else seemed to be keeping up. Doubtless that will come with practice. What I find most intriguing though is that after the class I was the only one that needed to go fetch a mop to clean up around the bike. Either they are all a bunch of slackers or I'm in a really bad way. It's hard to tell regarding the former but there is little doubt about the latter.

[JJ]

I was the only one that needed to go fetch a mop to clean up around the bike. Either they are all a bunch of slackers or I'm in a really bad way.

+1
If you really want to know, sneak round afterwards and feel the temperature of a few of the flywheels.  Some of them will be remarkably cool.

Today I broke the chain on the evil machine, much to the amusement of the rest of the group.

[red marley]

That is exactly my experience too. When I am going full pelt, I have a constant stream of sweat coming off my nose. Not drips, but a stream. I tend to cover most of the front half of the bike with a towel that catches the worst of it. When I turn round and look at everyone else, they are looking as fragrant as ever, with possibly a slightly rosy cheek or two.

Still, it's probably my fault because I like to pretend I'm Chris Hoy warming up in the middle of the Lympic Velodrome.

[Titan]

I was the only one that needed to go fetch a mop to clean up around the bike. Either they are all a bunch of slackers or I'm in a really bad way.

+1
If you really want to know, sneak round afterwards and feel the temperature of a few of the flywheels.  Some of them will be remarkably cool.

Today I broke the chain on the evil machine, much to the amusement of the rest of the group.

Are you seriously admitting to going around after the gym class and feeling the wheels of the bikes, in order to establish that others were cheating? You realise that this makes you look stranger than mr bean don't you? You may well think the group was amused by your exploits but if they have seen you after the class I suspect they might have a very different idea of you than the one you fondly imagine. Take a long hard look at yourself sir, and see what others see.

[L CC]

That is exactly my experience too. When I am going full pelt, I have a constant stream of sweat coming off my nose. Not drips, but a stream.

It was when I arrived home with sweat running off my nose from cycling that I realised I had turned into my father. My infrequent turbo sessions are spent wishing I still owned a full on 70s sweat band.

I move offices in less than a month and one of the bonus prizes will be a gym 50 yards away. Are you saying I'll be the only gurl who sweats when I'm spinning before work?

[Manotea]

I was the only one that needed to go fetch a mop to clean up around the bike. Either they are all a bunch of slackers or I'm in a really bad way.

+1
If you really want to know, sneak round afterwards and feel the temperature of a few of the flywheels.  Some of them will be remarkably cool.

Today I broke the chain on the evil machine, much to the amusement of the rest of the group.

Are you seriously admitting to going around after the gym class and feeling the wheels of the bikes, in order to establish that others were cheating? You realise that this makes you look stranger than mr bean don't you? You may well think the group was amused by your exploits but if they have seen you after the class I suspect they might have a very different idea of you than the one you fondly imagine. Take a long hard look at yourself sir, and see what others see.

... and for gawd's sake dont get caught sniffing the saddles!

[Gaston Lagaffe]

I got caught doing that once, never again

I forgot she would probably see me in the mirror

[teethgrinder]

My infrequent turbo sessions are spent wishing I still owned a full on 70s sweat band.

You can still get 70s (I thought it was 80s) sweatbands. I have a few.
I did spinning about 5 years ago and I used to saturate my clothes with sweat and have a few puddles on the floor around me.
I think there was too much emphasis on getting out of the saddle. Probably to get the heart rate up for people not used to cycling? It meant that when I climbed hills I would end up flying up them but I never had much when I was back in the saddle. So I'd not get out of the saddle so much if I did it again. I have done a few spin classes, but with high resistance instead of fast spinning, so I hurt my legs instead of my lungs.

[JJ]

Are you saying I'll be the only gurl who sweats when I'm spinning before work?

'fraid so!

In my own defence, I should point out that the wheel-feeler was the instructor, who was explaining the small lake surrounding me.

But, as the man said, when in a hole stop digging.

[walterrichmand]

There are several different workout opportunities available when trying to improve health. You have shared really nice experience with us. I also joined Gym classes and before I have lots of problem with my body muscles but now a days I completely fit because of my personal Gym trainer.

[padbeat]

I'm in the lucky position of fitness being part of my job, and if I'm going to go to the gym for a 50 minute session at lunch, a) it's 10 minutes walk from my office and b) my boss is there too, and he's younger and skinnier, so I get to kick his ass occasionally.

We do a variety of different circuits - today's was Metafit which is quite warming, but it can be Bodypump, functional fitness, step aerobics, outdoors, or a traditional 15 stance multi discipline thing with grid sprints to finish. All of these (I reckon) have combined to get my MSFT score up to 10.7, which is a 2.5 improvement on where I was last May (VO2 Max from 40 to 50 in 10 months).
It doesn't matter what gym class you go to though. There are loafers who are there to be seen at all of them. I can't keep my hands in place to do burpees because of the lake of sweat around me, but the bloke beside me is barely breathing hard. Yes it's annoying, but I'm doing the work, I'm making efective use of my time, so I get the smug points when I kick his ass on the grid sprints. Again.