I made my way around to the spinning bikes and got stopped by Joe, who is the guy who did my induction on Friday.
"Before you get on the treadmill...!" he shouts,
"I'm not getting on the treadmill, I'm going round there *points*"
"Oh, well, what time does that start?"
"7.30..."
"Great! You can do my power plates class first!"
"Err.... but.. I need to warm up and things"
"This will only be ten minutes. I'm very stubborn you know."
"Ok.. I guess..."
"Great. Stay here!"
So I had ten minutes on the power plates before spinning, which didn't really help me to feel energised before class!
Power Plates
I'm not going to be able to say if they had a massive effect on me really, because I'm doing a normal workout program as well. I know the main selling point is that they are quick and everything - did I feel like I had a full workout after that session? Hard to tell because 2 minutes later I was pedalling like a fool.
It was enjoyable though, bit strange, but enjoyable. I couldn't do the abdominal exercise though because I'm suffering with Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness from my Saturday workout. Basically everything else in my body was feeling fine, just my abs - I really need to be careful with the next session not to overdo it. I mentioned it to Joe and he just said I should build up to it, no worries.
I find some exercises easier than others. Tricep dips easier than press ups, double arm plank thingy easier than one arm, deadlift position was a cinch compared to the ab crunch thing.
My muscles are aching today though, the day after the session. I guess it did do something, then, but I think I should delay my next workout until tomorrow.
Spinning
Was it a nightmare? Not quite... there were moments when I felt like I just wanted to get off the bike and hide in a corner but never mind.
I was having issues assessing the required resistance because the bikes used have twisty nobs rather than gears as some others have. This led to the instructor telling me to increase it several times at one standing up part which was moderately embarrassing.
I struggled, but I wonder if the power plates and my inexperience led to me not using the right muscles effectively at the start. Toward the end of the class something clicked a bit more and I was able to keep up with the hill climbing section a lot better. If I had managed to engage in the same way earlier on I think I would've done better.
There were times that the pedals got away from me a bit and my legs just sort of locked up, and that led to one foot falling off the pedal/out of the cage.
Most of the class seemed to really know what they were doing but there was one girl in front of me who seemed to just sit and get on with it as much as I did at times, so I didn't feel completely useless.
I'm going to stick with it, and with the same instructor. She was nice, didn't bark at me or anything or tell me off, and just let me get on with things when I was struggling. She knows I'm useless now and it can only get better so I'll stick with her. Until next Monday!
Tomorrow: Workout again, and I'm going to try and do a lot better on the exercise bike part of my routine, and try and run a little bit more if I'm feeling not sore.
I'll be honest and say I'm really sceptical of those powerplates just because there's no real evidence to say that they do much, but...if your Gym has them, they look like fun so why not?
ReplyDeleteI'd say your Gym guy was more a case of boys-and-their-toys. But that's just me - I really liked going to spin class early to just slowly spin while waiting for others to arrive, because when it's time to GO FOR IT you're definately happy that your bike is set just how you want it. Handlebars, seat, all the right height etc.
The beauty of spinning is that it's as hard as you want it to be, and you could happily do a spin class with an elite cyclist, or a big fat beginner, everyone gets the workout that they need together. Not like running in that respect.
You can always wuss out with gears but I found myself quite easily competing with myself and pushing myself quite hard.
What was the music like? I once had one really good instructor that had worked out the BPM of all the tracks, so that the RPM he told you to spin at meant you were doing it in time with the music. Much worse instructors just figured "PUMPED UP MUSIC" was good to spin to but when you're being told to spin at 120 RPM to a 130 BPM track, you end up going faster than you should. Well I did, anyway, I just wanted to dance.
Well they definitely did something, I'm just not sure how much like you say. Still, the alternative was probably standing waiting for a bike from the previous spinning class so at least I did something with my ten minutes.
ReplyDeleteThe instructor dude was rallying up people for what I think was a new mini session he was doing ha. Glad I did it anyway, but I might avoid it next time and just try and focus on spinning.
I say spinning, but it's actually "V-Cycle", which is a bit different I guess. You're talking about RPMs a lot but there's nothing on the bikes to measure that and instead she got us putting the resistance up and then standing up, leaning forward, leaning back etc to act more like we were actually cycling. That's probably what threw me since I do actually cycle (or did) and a stationary bike just doesn't respond in the same way hence why my foot fell out. I found I really needed to focus on actually pumping "through" my legs for it to work right and for me to not lose my balance.
Weird thing was early on I could barely stand up on the bike (may be the power plates did my legs in a bit), but toward the end of the class I could barely sit on it and standing was more comfortable!
The music was ok. Nothing memorable but it was decent enough :)
It can only get better - the worst is over, I guess....
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