It’s almost October and classes are in full swing. At this time in the semester, between assignments, papers and midterms on the horizon, it can be really easy to start slacking on workouts. If I’m being real, trips to Boston University’s Fitness and Recreation Center are often bumped from my schedule when things start ramping up in class — and once I stop hitting the gym, it’s really hard to get back. When I hit a wall, I try to revamp my workout routine with going to a group fitness class — and typically, I opt for spin class.
Let’s start with the basics. Spinning is indoor cycling in a group setting. The American College of Sports Medicine reports spin to have overwhelming health benefits — a great low impact and low impact workout to help with anything from muscular endurance to cardiovascular health to orthopedic rehabilitation.
Getting back in shape with spinning isn’t easy, and it’s certainly not cheap if you choose to go to studios. Cost aside, it’s a hard cardio workout, and in a lot of classes, there is a strength training element too. Resetting your workout routine with something low-impact will decrease your chances of injury and build muscular strength that will making other forms of exercise easy to re-enter.
There are some things that all spin classes generally have in common. Most of them have great music, peppy instructors and are set in total darkness. If I haven’t been to the gym in a while, I usually feel extremely self conscious, so partaking in a workout where other people can’t see me is an ideal situation.
When you choose to buy a spin package, you’re paying for the culture of the gym more than the workout itself. The workout will probably be similar wherever you choose to spin — from FitRec to Equinox and everywhere in between. However, the vibe of the class could be quite different. There are two main archetypes for spin studio culture — and those archetypes are epitomized in two of the most popular studio chains: SoulCycle and Flywheel.
SoulCycle brands itself as more of an ultra-chic experience than a workout. The company, founded in 2006, really pioneered the nationwide spin craze. Celebs like Kelly Ripa, Lady Gaga and Katie Holmes heightened the company’s profile by attending SoulCycle classes. A Vanity Fair article said that SoulCycle trainers yell things like: “If you weren’t sexy, confident and strong, you wouldn’t be here,” to their clientele. SoulCycle classes are known for being kind of spiritual and difficult, but I wouldn’t describe it as a competitive workout.
Now enter Flywheel, what I think is SoulCycle for the truly sadistic. Personally, I prefer Flywheel. Unlike SoulCycle, Flywheel puts a greater emphasis on athleticism. Flywheel has all the elements of a typical spin gym, but they set themselves apart by having two sets of monitors in the gym.
First, on every bike, you have a small monitor where you can see how much power you’re producing, how high your resistance is and how fast you’re pedaling. Instructors will yell out target numbers to hit for your speed and resistance. There are also monitors in the front of the class showing which participants are generating the most power, if you decide you want your username on the leaderboard at the beginning of class. Flywheel also has an app you can download to see the data collected by your bike during class — especially things like number of miles biked and number of calories burned. I’m more of a fan of the competitive nature found at FlyWheel studios.
As an avid spinner, I’m torn. I belong to a non-spin gym, and I know that booking spin classes at Flywheel makes zero financial sense. However, I think that modeling my FitRec workouts after the culture of my favorite studio fitness classes could make a studio fitness class every now and then worth my while.
So here’s my advice if you want a spin class experience without paying the price, after you leave the bougie fitness studio, whichever one you choose, take some time to write down what you liked about the class, and then brainstorm ways to work those elements into your fitness routine. Performing workouts you genuinely enjoy will certainly make you a more consistent gym goer, and hopefully confident enough that you don’t feel like you have to lurk in the darkness of an overpriced spin class in order to get a great workout.
