9.14.2005

Sit 'n Spin

I've been going to spinning classes for a few months now. If you don't know what spinning is, let me explain. Usually occurring at a gym,, a group of people on stationary bikes follow the lead of an instructor who leads them through a "ride" for an hour or so. It's a good workout and not altogether boring so I try to go as often as I can.

There is one thing that I have learned about myself through these months of classes, however. Neither the instructor nor the structure of the class itself affects my performance as much as the music played during class. You see music is played fairly loudly as everyone rides and if it's crap, I really just can't keep going.

If I cared only about the instructor, I would avoid classes taught by Jamie. She has spiky blonde hair (and I've also learned that how much an instructor kicks your ass is inversely proportional to hair length) and tends to teach classes that involve 30 minute hill climbs. Big fun!

But Jamie has excellent taste in music. This week she played a CD that included The Sundays, Morphine and The Cure. Definitely cutting edge stuff for a spinning class and I loved every minute of it. Half the reason I show up is just to hear what she's going to play.

The other class I go to regularly is taught by Marcella. She's great and full of energy but her music leaves a little to be desired. She often plays those made-for-aerobics remixes of jock rock songs with extra annoying beats added. Yes, I love "Sweet Home Alabama." No, I don't want to hear it at twice its normal speed.

Plus, Marcella likes to sing along. I have my limits.

The whole spinning music thing reached its nadir today, though. Marcella had a woman fill-in for her who I'd never seen before. Her music selection? Soft rock hits of the 70s and 80s. I mean, seriously, who can work out to soft rock? This chick ended the class with a six minute hill climb powered by "Total Eclipse of the Heart" by Bonnie Tyler. I was ready to kill myself when it was over. If biking faster would have gotten me to the top of the "hill" faster, I would have been up there in a flash. Anything to get away from Bonnie and her angst ridden heart.

On Fridays I usually run on the treadmill. I bring my iPod so I can provide my own soundtrack. It's much nicer.

4 comments:

Melissa said...

I concur. If I wasn't so cheap as to avoid gym membership altogether..it would be all about the music. That would be the only thing minimizing the pain of seeing spandex-clad men try to show off with weights and mirrors...Why? Does any one ever find that attractive?

Trevor Record said...

ONCE UPON A TIME I WAS FALLING IN LOVE, NOW I'M JUST FALLING APART. THERE'S NOTHING I CAN DO, A TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE HEART!

I enjoy unreasonably desperate songs on a primal level.

Anonymous said...

I second the motion. Spandex-clad-anything should be outlawed.

As far as torturous music goes, I do understand. I took an aerobics class where the instructor was in love with "Mambo Number 5."

Lord, help us all.

Josh said...

When you mentioned Jamie playing the Cure, I started laughing imagining you'd be expecting something up-tempo like "Just Like Heaven" or even "Love Song." But then she'd put in, like, "The Hanging Garden." Kind of like when Bebe tells Stan that if he wants to win Wendy's heart back, he should stand outside her window at night with a boombox playing Peter Gabriel. And he goes over there and when he switches the boombox on, "Shock the Monkey" starts playing.

"Disintegration is the best album ever!"