Exercise

Saturday Morning Spin Class

There are those who say my exercise schedule is extreme.  Perhaps it is, but it seems to be working.  I started this blog to share my experiences on the road to skinny-ness and to hopefully help and motivate you to get into the shape you've always wanted.

I take five spin slasses every week

There's no doubt about it - if you take spin classes regularly you are going to lose weight.  Before I started taking them, I thought spin classes involved actually spinning around.  The thought of it made me dizzy!  But spin refers to the rotation of the wheel on your bike.  In these classes the instructor takes you through various courses and themes.  Some days it's endurance, others it's intervals and, my personal favorite, race day.  To those who say they're too intimidated to take the class, or worry that fellow students will judge them for not working hard enough - forget about it!  The lights are usually out, the music is blaring, and everyone is usually just worried about themselves and getting through the ride.  I wear a heart rate monitor so I can see if I'm working hard enough or if it's time to back off.  The monitor does a summary at the end of the workout showing your highest heart rate and your average.  It also tells you how many calories you burn.  I typically burn between 500- 600 calories per 45 minute class.  On Saturdays I take two classes back to back and usually burn around 1,200 calories.

In addition to spin, I take 6 strength classes per week

The Y also offers boot camp, body sculpting, yoga and Pilates.  I take all of these classes.  Here is the secret that works for me: I take classes every weekday morning at 6:30 or 7 AM.  I'm barely awake and zone out during the workouts.  It's as if I sent my body to work out while I stay in bed.  Boot camp and body sculpting offer a complete workout from stem to stern.  We lift weights, get the upper and lower body, squats, abs, dead lifts, push-ups and dips.  The way I look at it is this:  you can view it as drudgery, but it's only an hour or two out of your day.  Are you willing to invest that time to attain your goal weight?  The other bonus is you feel like a million bucks for the rest of the day.

My workout schedule:

Sundays
10 AM Spin with Court (one hour)
11 AM Boot camp with Jonathan (one hour)

Mondays
7:30 AM Spin with Alex (45 minutes)

Tuesdays
6:30 AM Yoga in Central Park with Jason (in the summer)
7:00 AM Boot camp with Jonathan (one hour - fall, winter, spring)

Wednesdays
6:30 AM Yoga with Jason (45 minutes)
7:15 AM Spin with Linda (45 minutes)

Thursdays
7:00 AM Total body conditioning with Jonathan (one hour)

Fridays
7:15 Spin with Linda (one hour)

Saturdays

9:30 AM Abs with Jonathan (30 minutes)
10:15 AM Spin with Jonathan (45 minutes)
11:00 AM Spin with Jonathan (45 minutes)

I end most workouts with a swim.  I will post about this later, but I sauna and steam when I arrive at the gym - it's a great way to get limber before working out.  And I sauna and steam at the end after my swim.

I worked up to this routine gradually, so don't take more than one or two classes in your first week if you aren't used to working out.  You don't want to get overwhelmed and throw in the towel.  And most normal people take at least one day off from working out every week.