Hi, my name's mompoet. I'm an endorphin addict.
I am admitting today that I have been hooked, once again by the cardio-craving, sweat-savouring, adrenalin-chewing bug. I'm not running or aerobicizing. I'm going to studio cycle classes.
The setting is great for us closet oxygen-gobblers - dark room, loud music, everyone clipped into bikes facing the front of the room. We pedal pedal pedal until we explode. At the front of the class, our endorphin-pusher urges us to go faster, pedal harder, INCREASE THE TENSION!!!!
Actually, it's not as bad as that, but it is weird. Who'da thunk anyone would go into a room full of exercise bikes and pedal hard for an hour, with loud music playing and a leader urging you on to stand up, sit down, hover, sprint, long-hard-uphill? The first 2 or 3 times I tried it I thought it was awful, but everyone else seemed to be doing great so I persisted. Then it clicked. I figured out the body positioning, bike adjustments and how to pace myself, then I was one of them - the manic stationary cyclists. This has to be the hardest workout I have ever done, and it is great. I would never, ever crank the tension on the bike in the weight room and pedal standing up for 5 minutes to simulate climbing Mt. Seymour. I would never sprint like some Tour de France racer. I would never keep it up for an hour. I would never laugh or sing along or shout encouragement to someone across the room who is taking her turn to sprint. But in the class it seems natural and it works. When I finish, I am drenched and energized and I feel like I could do just about anything. I go a couple times a week when I can fit it into my schedule. I'm still walking and weight-lifting throughout the week. It's all at the community centre too - inexpensive and friendly. So I'm feeling better heading into 43 than I was when I was turning 42 or 41 or even 40. Yeah!
Question: what's your weird but good?
mompoet: thighs like tree trunks
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