staying alive

As part of my ongoing bid to live deliberately and eat whatever the hell I want without worrying about weight gain, I've decided to try a new exercise.

Spinning will now be included in my sketchy fitness regimen (if you can call my patchy run+yoga modus operandi a "regime").

I hear spinning works wonders for strengthening the core and the quads, and will eventually help me run better. I've recently hit a wall and can't seem to run faster or longer, so I figured I needed to cross train.


The other side of the small gym in the condo. To the left are the spinning bicycles. (I don't use those weight machines - scary!)

Luckily, I don't have to spend money going to a fancy spinning class because the little condo gym has TWO spinning bikes. Being a treadmill junkie, I've never paid attention to them before. But then I started noticing a neighbor - a foreigner, woman, in her early 30's like me - using them regularly. And two days ago, I read that Brooke Shields spins 3x a week. That sealed the deal.

Wow, I thought. If I want to age as well as Brooke is aging, I must spin. It's only logical. (Hint of sarcasm, in case you miss it.)

So yesterday, I started doing position 1, 2, and 3 as explained here:





I've never felt more like a beginner. I could only hold position 2 for 1 minute, and position 3 for 30 seconds. The simultaneous burn on my quads and my lower core was indescribable, and my heart was pounding out of my chest. This must be what bad sex feels like.

After 30 minutes of sitting, then "climbing hills" with positions 2 and 3, and then sitting again, I decided to cool down. I'll be back next week. MSP found me this complete spinning workout on YouTube. It's a series - there are SEVEN parts. I'm getting tired just thinking about it:



Once I figure out how I can mount my phone on the bike, I can watch this as I spin. I probably won't be able to keep up, but I can pretend.