Adventures in Spinning Part 1

 
Good morning, everyone!

I want to talk this morning about my first ever Spinning class.

Because there are a lot of lessons contained within that first experience;  lessons I've learned and am more than happy to share, despite the pain and humiliation that I went through to learn them!

Let's back up a bit....to two years ago.

I had been working out pretty consistently by that point, at a local co-ed gym (incidentally, I started at Curves, the women-only gym, because I was too embarrassed to show up at a regular gym, being at about 300 lbs at that point.  Curves is a great place to START an exercise program, because it's a caring, supportive environment and the workout is only 30 minutes and do-able, even for those who haven't exercised in a long long time, and even for those who are morbidly obese, as I was when I started).

And I noticed the Spinning classes, because they were 'front and center' of the gym, in a glass-enclosed room, all these people on the stationery bicycles, pedalling like mad, and they hooted and hollered and it looked like they were having a GREAT time.  The music was pounding, in short, it looked like FUN!

And I thought, "What can be so hard?  It's just a bicycle...you LOVE riding your bike".

So I decided to try it.

Well.....once I got into that room, everyone noticed me of course, because I was 'new'....and unfortunately for me at that time no one thought to introduce themselves or attempt to help me in any way....I was on my own.  So I did my best, I wasn't sure about it, but I picked out a bike (way in the back) and sat down and UGH, the seat on the bike was so SMALL and HARD....how was I going to stand it?  But oh well, I was here anyway, I was going to do this thingee, right?

The instructor came in, the music started, and off we went.

Well....within 10 minutes I was gasping for breath....I thought I was gonna DIE.  Seriously I could NOT catch my breath.  And my butt was killing me from the teeny-tiny hardasarock bicycle seat, and the instructor was screaming up there 'Go go go!' and the others in the class all looked like they were out of breath, too, but they kept going, they seemed used to it, but I was APPALLED.

I seriously thought I was going to pass out.  I could NOT catch my breath.  I stopped, gasping.....I nearly collapsed....and I knew I had to get out of there.  This was NOT for me.

So I staggered out of the room in the middle of the class, totally HUMILIATED.

Everyone watched me....and the instructor called out, "I hope you're going to cool down"....and I nodded meekly thinking "Cool down?  I'll say cool down....as in COLLAPSE in a HEAP!".....and I made it out of the room and went into the nearest restroom, found a stall, sat down on the toilet seat and caught my breath while angry, frustrated TEARS rolled down my cheeks unfettered.

I had never felt so miserable.  So out of place.  So.....SMALL.

I couldn't do this class.  It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be.  In fact it was the hardest thing I'd ever DONE.

What was I THINKING?  How could I be so STUPID?

Thoughts like these paraded through my brain.....and I cried and cried, silently, because I was no good, I would NEVER be any good, I couldn't do it, I was too fat and too old and too out of shape and I was an IDIOT for even THINKING I could do something like that......

And then I dried my eyes and took a deep breath and went home, determined NEVER to do that again.

When I look back on that now, I can STILL feel some of the hurt and humiliation I felt.

The sad part was, had anyone been nice enough to introduce themselves to me, and HELP me, and tell me I didn't 'have' to do everything at the same speed and resistance as the instructor since I just started, for pete's sakes....maybe the outcome would've been different.

But on balance?  I'm glad I went through that terrible experience, because it made my VICTORY over Spinning class, a few years later, all the sweeter!

Next time....I'll talk about that victory.

Suffice it to say?  EVERYONE screws up when they try new things sometimes.  We go in the wrong direction, believing it's right.  But we learn the hard way.

You won't always take the right road....but you DO get 'credit' for trying...because all those experiences DO add up in your life and you remember them and learn from them.

And learning is the point.   We need to take chances in order to learn, and to grow in terms of experience, maturity, and figuring out what works best for our particular bodies in terms of fitness!

Sitting on the couch, 'safe', is never going to give you the body you want.  You HAVE to take chances once in awhile.  And maybe it won't be perfect.  Maybe it will be just as disastrous as my first experience with Spinning was....but at least you're OUT THERE, TRYING!

If you never try?  You'll never know what you can do!

Keep on keepin' on!

Linda