See the title of this blog? This one is about cycle. I know, it’s clever.
Well I sweat more than I ever have today. I am not much of a sweater in general, even with the Maryland humidity or in Hot Yoga. I barely sweat enough for people to notice. But today I soaked my shirt (as you can see in the photo, the only dry spot on my shirt is where my sports bra was).
Turns out Cycle class is the hardest class ever. (I haven’t taken them all yet so maybe I’m wrong, but it’s definitely not easy.)
After the first ten minutes I knew that I was going to be dying the rest of the class and was not looking forward to it. I definitely was one of the least cycle-savvy people there, or at least in my area. Sneaking peeks at everyone else’s bike, I had my resistance about 20% lower than other people. But Mysty Edrington was a really good coach. She tailored the workout so that every person could discover their own limits and still challenge themselves.
I have to tell you, I am not someone who often pushes myself physically. I go slightly outside of my comfort zone, enough to get away with not having the instructor notice me. But Mysty got me pumped and helped me feel like if I didn’t work my butt off, no one would miss out but me. So I worked harder for myself and I think I did pretty good. Or at least the spot on the carpet where I had dropped my workout shirt at home still smells like sweat.
I burned 500 calories or so in the class! I thought that weights really would be the hardest thing for me to do because it makes your muscles burn and shake. But I forgot about the feeling of barely being able to catch my breath or maybe even passing out from hunger. I did eat a granola bar before class but I definitely should have had more between that and lunch. (Full disclosure – I eat about the amount of a baby bird, and while I do chew my own food, it’s not a lot of food. But I eat often – like a snack in-between my after-breakfast-snack and my before-lunch-snack.)
Anywho, I think I have made some serious progress. This whole working out thing is hard. But guess what guys, I can now touch my toes!!! I know that sounds like a ridiculously easy goal to accomplish but it’s something I don’t know if I have even been able to do and it was pretty embarrassing back in elementary school gym. (My mom would be so proud.) Also, I dropped almost a pant size! My jeans are now a lot looser than they were before. Although it wasn’t really one of my goals and now I have to buy new pants… But I’m feeling good! If you want to feel like you are simultaneously dying of exhaustion and also feel awesome at life, take Mysty’s Hip Hop cycle class Tuesday’s at Canton! She does not disappoint and neither does the music.
Class taken: Hip Hop Cycle with Mysty @ Canton
Goals to achieve: Touch toes (check!)
Get killer abs (working on it)
Be healthier (always a work in progress)
Convince my boyfriend to take a group fitness class
Pretentious Inspirational Quote: “Great people do things before they’re ready. They do things before they know they can do it. Doing what you’re afraid of, getting out of your comfort zone, taking risks like that – that is what life is. You might be really good. You might find out something about yourself that’s really special and if you’re not good, who cares? You tried something. Now you know something about yourself.” – Amy Poehler
