It's truly and eye opener when, trying a new cardio regimen, when you realize that perhaps your knees aren't what they used to be. I have been a runner off and on as far as I can remember. The "on" being when I am leading a healthy and active lifestyle and the "off" being in those tough life moments when I have found myself caught up in a work daze or an emotional slump. The low times are when I really realize that workouts really work wonders for the body AND the mind. That is why so many eastern philosophies talk about mind body and spirit-because everything is linked and when one feels bad, the others do too and vice versa. Hey, I digress.
Anyway, running, albeit, an amazing way to keep the body conditioned and the pounds off can be pretty harsh on the joints, especially the knees. If you feel that this is true for you, you might want to do what I did and venture into the world of spinning.
I know you might think that you can do it on your own, and you probably can. In fact, riding a bike around town is getting very popular given the current economic times and the prices of gas. But an instructor during spinning can push you further than you would ever push yourself, that is unless you have a very competitive and fit best friend who is willing to cycle with you every day.
Now it was my sister that actually encouraged me to go. She is a single girl, 30s, who has more activities and social engagements than I can possibly imagine ever attending. So you can see why I would be quick to blow her off as she, over the years, has invited me everywhere from her wine club meeting to Macchu Pichu. So she had invited me a few times and feeling slightly macho, I wondered, isn't spinning for girls? But after much prodding, I decided to go and the answer is yes, it is for girls, cute ones in fact and if I had known that earlier I would have been hitting those cycles a long time ago. But actually, there were quite a few men there as well, and most of them looked pretty fit to me.
One thing I really did enjoy about the experience was that there was never a dull moment. Sure when you are riding your bike out "in the wild", there is ever changing scenery, but here, inside, the instructor not only has you change pace, but also positions on the bike such as standing, leaning and a jumping type move (so make sure you don't drink TOO much water before you go).
All in all, I burned about 1000 calories over the hour, realized that spinning can kick my butt and that my knees felt weak (like the rest of my body) but great when I was done. So maybe sister does know best.
Chris McCombs is a personal trainer in Southern California. He has helped hundreds of people as a San Clemente Personal Trainer. Chris owns Positively Fit where he also helps Southern California locals get in the best shape of their lives as a San Juan Capistrano Personal Trainer.
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