I survived a spin class at the Plex and now I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy

Now, there is some background information you must know before you proceed.

It would be a huge stretch to say I am an athletic person. I would consider myself a moderately average fit person, at best. I’ve taken 45-minute spin classes at the Plex and at Soul Cycle, but I still was not prepared for this hour-long class.

Spin is one of those classes that is only as effective as you make it. No one is really forcing you to increase the resistance and spin to the beat, but the workout is more effective if you do.

Every time I enter the class, I always forget the emotional roller coaster that is before me. I keep tricking myself to come, because you burn around 500 calories but feel like a zombie after.

On my way to class, I imagined this experience as being sent on a mission from Mission Impossible.

Good afternoon. Your mission, if you choose to accept, is to to take 6.15pm spin class. You may be accompanied by a friend or go alone but it is essential that you complete the entire workout. You will find the room next to the basketball court. It is best you don’t sit in the front unless you are an expert because everyone, including the instructor, will have their eyes on you. Drink plenty of water beforehand and bring a huge bottle of water for the class. You will understand why once the class starts. Don’t forget it does not matter how fast you go, you just can’t stop pedaling. This message will self-destruct before the 60-min spin class starts. Good luck. 

The room has about four rows filled with about six bikes. It was 90 percent girls – a fair representation for most of the classes.

I took a seat in the second row from the back, mainly because it was at a perfect angle with the fans. I arrived 10 minutes early so I could emotionally prepare myself for class. I had to adjust the distance of the handles and the height of the seat. This is a very underrated step, because if you don’t make sure the bike is perfect for your body, the class will be exponentially more difficult.

The lights turned off to mark the start of class. Music makes or breaks the class, so now is the time when I normally find out how much soul-searching I am going to have to do. Unlucky for me, the class started with Barefoot Blue Jean.

Country music is not spin material, so I knew from that moment I was going to have to dig deep to complete this class.

Like every class, for the warmup, they start off by telling you to increase your resistance to a flat road, which on a BC bike is an eight to ten. This is supposed to feel like riding a bike and technically you should be able to keep it this way forever if you needed to. Once the song is over, you enter a series of hills which is when you slowly start to increase your resistance every 45 seconds or so throughout the song, until your resistance is so high you can barely pedal.

Dear lord. The burn.

After that you go into sprints, which is when you pedal so fast your RPM is from 110-120 instead of the normal 70-80.

At this point, this is what was going through my mind: “Why am I doing this to myself?”

The last section of the class is the arm workout. You slow down your bike to a flat road while doing a series of arm movements. Thirty seconds into into the six-minute workout, my arms started to give out.

However, as the song came to an end, we finished off the class with another set of sprints and hills, and finished with a cool down song and stretch off the bike.

What I loved about the class is that it’s a total body work out and the different intervals of sets made sure my whole body wasn’t dying at all times.

How much did I sweat from one to five? Let’s just say I would recommend not wearing cotton, and taking an extra towel from the front for your body. (Dry-fit material is a must.)

Would I do it again? No.

I think I am going to stick with 45-minute class – the full hour class is a length of torture that I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy.