Spin Class

I tried my first ever spin class today.

Sadly, no spinning wheels or faeries were involved. Just stationary exercise bikes, girls wearing Lululemon and clip in bike shoes. (Doesn't spinning sound more magical than sweating on an exercise bike?)

It was a free class at Revolution offered through Lululemon. I did not know what to expect at all. But I decided to try something new.

You go in and sign in with which bike you want. Huh? I asked the front desk girl where to go. She told me to go to the center, so I picked second row center. She then handed me some black shoes that clip into the pedals.

The shoes might have been the hardest part of the class. It was hard to clip them in and out. That will take some getting used to.

It was slightly dark in the room, and a handful of girls (maybe 8) trickled into the class. (It was the day of the football game. That's where everyone was).

The instructor came in and we started pedaling away. We pedaled, and sat up off the seat, we cranked the resistance up and down, we used the weights and did some arm work. I was wary about cranking up the resistance, so I did cheat a little. It was my first class and I just wanted to make it through the hour. (I only do 20-30 minutes on my exercise bike at home. I've never tried an hour.) We pedaled so fast the metal on the shoes burned my feet and I was worried about spinning off the bike….or really just slowing down without injuring myself.

I do exercise bike at home and thought I was really on to something doing weights. Apparently they do it in spin class too ;)

There was a lot of yelling in the class. Possibly because I was about six feet away from the instructor. I think it was supposed to be encouraging, but it was a tad too boot camp for me. Also, cleavage. If you go to spin class, don't wear a tank top. Most of the class is leaning over the bike and you'll show your cleavage. I saw a lot of instructor cleavage and it was just distracting/ not what I wanted to see.

I asked a girl next to me why the class was dark. She smiled and said she liked to listen to the music and just zone out. And we did a lot of that. I'm not sure I liked dark classes.

Verdict: An okay class. I would have preferred a different instructor and the lights on. I'm actually not crazy about cycling. (I don't want to get those saddle bag thighs I've seen on some women cyclists). The studio was clean and nice and if spinning is your jam, then this is the place. I think I just like being upside down more.

Scorpion pose

This is my trick of the night: Scorpion pose against the wall

I went to open gym and one of the girls was practicing this. I thought it looked cool and tried it.

To do it:

1) It starts off a little like a headstand. Put your arms in sphinx, maybe a foot away from the way.
2) Kick up into a headstand, and you can try and touch your feet on the wall
3) Make sure to really push your hips out (away from the wall)
4) Walk your feet down towards you head
5) Try to put your knees against the wall

And you're done. You can kick out of it. Or I think I just splatted out of it.

It's fairly easy if you have a flexible back. I'm feeling it today though.

Part-time Lululemon model

I feel slightly like a Lululemon shoulder model in this picture. :) 

Today I discovered Lulelemon. They had a free pure barre class at their studio so I decided to go and the result is this picture and some sore glutes.

Lululemon has been on my radar for awhile—$100 yoga pants that are see-through. That whole scandal alerted me to the fact that yoga pants could cost $100. (I thought Victoria's Secret $50 pants were expensive.) But I was curious why people would pay that much and what the big deal was. Was there something more than the lemming effect that led college students in my day to wear Chacos (so comfy) and North Face jackets?

Lululemon opened up a showroom in my town and I drive past it all the time. I liked them on Facebook and they offer free classes all of the time (yoga, cycling, juicing classes), but this week I decided I was going to go to the Pure Barre class (because I can't really afford the class, but would love to go. And I think I'm taking some barre classes later this week in Atlanta.) I convinced a gym friend to go with me (I did ask several people) and we went out there. (She said she only hates me a little bit now).

1) If you do a class a Lululemon, bring your yoga mat. I forgot mine, but they have a few you can borrow. Their mat felt great under my feet. I was a fan.

2) The Pure Barre class was crazy intense. I forgot how bad at it I am. It's nonstop directions. Tuck and pulse and then once you've figured it out, you're on to the next movement. I think I'd get better at it if I took more classes, but their normal rate is $195 a month. Ouch! I do think it's something I should work on, so I'm holding out hope for a groupon or sale, but given how many of their classes are full, I'm not sure that's going to happen.

I survived the class (with only three corrections from the owner :) And then I decided to look around. The clothes are so stinking cute. They had a cute long sleeve purple top ($68) that I was eyeing. I wanted to try a headband ($12) because I bet theirs would stay on. I ended up getting a sports bra, because I really wanted a strappy one. I also got a $59 sweater. It was on sale (and their sale is final sale). It was a really nicely made wool sweater with thumb holes and kangaroo pockets. I think it would cost that much anywhere else. I plan to wear it to my conference this coming week. So I guess they got their money's worth out of their free class—a lot of people bought stuff.

And while I didn't buy any $100 see-through yoga pants, I am a fan. Their stuff is cute and made well. Now, I just have to wait for a sale. (Do those ever happen?)

PS) When class was over, the retired university gymnastics coach (a local celebrity) came in and shopped a bit. Since I blogged about gymnastics recently (and she was at the sneak peek) I thought that was a nice tie-in.

Gymnastics Sneak Peek

I Looooove gymnastics. And this weekend, my college team had a Halloween sneak peak for kids to get their face painted and for the new freshmen to get used to performing in front of a crowd.

So my sister and her two girls and I went. 

1) There was a costume contest so the kids were all in costume. As luck would have it, my sister and I were the only adults who dressed up. 

2) The adults watched the gymnastics while the kids played on the gymnastics equipment. Madison was even trying forward rolls on the tumbling mat. So cute.

Here are the gymnasts practicing on bars. I've tried bars all of once before. Soo hard.

 Here are the gymnasts on beam. I can't even do a flip and they can backflip on 4-inch surface. Amazing.

And lastly, floor exercise. A lot of the girls did their tumbling pass on the track to the side and landed in the mats, but a few did floor work. And weren't our seats great? Right along the mat.

I'm looking forward to this gymnastics season. Gooooo Gym Dogs!

Acropolis Open house

I went to an open house for Acro Athens for their new acro yoga space.

Leah and Martha

I know a lot of the acro people from Wednesday tumbling. A few of them stopped by Aerofit a few months ago and I took a few classes this summer. It was fun.

I'm excited that they got their own space. They've been talking about it for a while. So I dropped by and played for a bit.

Now, if only I could find the time to take a class there...

Adult Tumbling

I brought my camera to tumbling class this week.

This is me working on a bridge kick over.

I usually start kicking over from higher up and work down to one pad. This is the kick over from two pads. (It's easier when you start from higher up and have more leverage to kick over from). I can get to one pad after about 10 minutes.

I am THIIIIIS close to getting a bridge kick over from the floor. I still need a tiny push from Megan or Helen (in pink in the back).  And looking at this picture, I need to get my arms straighter under my shoulders and not bend my elbows.

Here's my bridge. I was showing Lindsey the difference between arms below your shoulders and arms angled out. It's hard to open up your shoulders to get that straight angle, but it makes bridges and easier.

The thing I like about tumbling is the more I work on it, the more flexible I get. Now, I can do a back bend no problem. I couldn't a month ago. And I like to think I get a little better every week.

Flips…
I'm still working on my flip. I don't feel like there's a lot of progress, but I'm getting closer, I know it! I have to do about 10  bad flips to warm up and then I get some flips closer to landing. I saw some of the photos about me not going high enough and the very next flip I did higher. Next week I'm going to take over the tumble track and try flipping on there. I think the footing with the run, run punch and trampoline confuses me. I think the tumble track might be simpler. That or get the high mats out again. I must get this!

Bad flip. Much too low and too open. I landed on my butt, which is better than my head.

Bridge Kickover

I've been working on a bridge kick over for most of the summer. Here's one at Aerofit. This one's not especially pretty, but you get the point.

Basically you go up in a bridge and kick over. It's not the hardest skill ever. Your back has to be flexible enough to go up into a bridge. And the key to this one is keeping your arms straight—hands and shoulders should be in line, not extended. (Mine arms are slightly extended in this video.) And you have to kick hard with one leg.

I worked on these at my first tumbling class. You can start kicking over from a higher block (easy!) and gradually work your way down to the floor. Here, I'm kicking over from 2-3 inches of padding.

I can't quite do them all the way on the floor, but I've been pretty close for a while.

Up next: I'd love to do a front limber to back walk over.