spynergysp

6 Tips to make spring spin classes more enjoyable!

1)  Schedule it.  90% is just showing up!  Remember, you can share your ride card with anyone in your family over 15 years old.

 

2) Regular cardio gives you great energy, burns calories and reduces your chances of sickness and disease..... Keep this in mind when you're making your commitment!

 

3)  Take breaks during class.  We carry tension in our back, neck and shoulders....in spinning and in life.  Take periodic breaks in the class to sit up, roll the shoulders, relax and gather yourself.

 

4) Enjoy the musicThis is a rare chance to enjoy a respite from your daily stress.  Embrace it.

 

5)  Have fun!   Seriously....the beauty of a great spin class is the magical combination of a great workout, great music and great fun.  Enjoy it

 

 6)  Eat right after class!   Something small, preferable with protein...it will  keep your appetite from viciously attacking you later in the day. 

 

Tips to make your spin® class great (and lose some weight!)

 1Cool visualization can help!  Imagine you are training for the Winter Olympics.....really imagine it.  It is 6 weeks before you meet your toughest rivals on the global stage.  Whoever trains harder and smarter wins.  GO FOR THE GOLD!  

2) Review the benefits of exercise in your mind (yes, looking good -- but there are some other amazing ones)  From Women's Health Magazine    

"Cardiovascular health is more important than any other single factor in preserving and improving learning and memory," says Thomas Crook, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist and memory researcher. "You're working out your brain at the same time as your heart."

3) Don't forget calories in!  Here are 4 Easy Tips to help you control eating.  A) Slow down when you eat.  B) Don't eat while you open mail, read magazines or work on the computer  C) Don't eat when bored, D) Don't clean your plate.    

Keep an eye on the schedule for a new series of "Theme classes"  Monday nights in Wellesley.  This Monday Feb 22nd "Vintage Jams and Live Music" with Bill.....a 70 minute "trip".

Mind and Body

5:00 am

Working out in general, and spinning in particular, bring tremendous benefits and you need to keep reminding yourself. The benefits are tremendous because they equally impact the strength of your mind and the strength of your body.

Does it sometimes feel there is a dark force encouraging us to stay sedentary, stay cynical, stay inactive? An active mind and an active body can and do overcome this force. It happens everytime you drag yourself to a workout. With a workout your mind and body open up, they blossom. When we stay inactive….the opposite happens. A closing down occurs.

Pay close attention to the mental and physical sensations after your next workout. Let them linger.

Exercise and Aging

From the website “Simple Fitness Solutions” a great article regarding exercise and aging. A few of the highlights:

– Exercise is the single most effective way to lengthen life
– Age-associated declines are more from lifestlye choices than aging
– Proper exercise can take years off your chronological age
Click here to read full article

 

Reminder: great reasons to spin

Lots of cool responses to the Spynergy Blog……one of our teachers, Jesse Page (manicspinner) provided a link we hadn’t seen before: 10 REASONS TO MOUNT A SPIN BIKE…..to read the full article with all details click here

1) Burn, Burn, Burn Calories
2) Cardiovascular Health
3) Progress at your own pace
4) Time Flies
5) Low Impact
6) Shapely legs
7) Lower your bodies breaking point
Build abs while you spin
9) Ride Together
10) Mental Strength

………..we’ll add number 11 ——- Cool Music!!!
click here for full article

What the heck makes exercise doable?

No one disputes the value of exercise. We live busy but sedentary lives that are peppered with stress — then we sprinkle questionable eating and drinking on top. Normal? Sure. Healthy? Probably not.

It is what it is……and we all know that exercise is a HUGE antidote. How can we keep at it ? After a lifetime of experimenting with exercise we have determined 2 eternal truths:

1) Regular exercise takes discipline
2) The less interesting the exercise, the more difficult the discipline.

Example: Hiking the Appalachian trail in autumn is good exercise and little discipline is required to stay at it. Running on a treadmill alone in your basement is good exercise, but it’s HUGE discipline to do it often.

Here’s the thing about spin: great exercise of course….but more important, there are things about it that make the discipline less intimidating. The music, the teacher, the group energy, the darkness, the class structure, the variety — these things conspire to make the exercise (dare I say it)….Fun. If something is fun, it doesn’t take as much discipline to do it.

Love to hear your thoughts comments or examples….

Younger Next Year

In 2004 an excellent book was published called “Younger Next Year”. If you were a Spynergy rider back then, you may recall we talked about it quite a bit. The book was written by a retired Manhattan attorney, Chirs Crowley, and his doctor, Henry Lodge M.D. It is a realistic, humourous and insightful look at aging — something we can all relate to. There are no exceptions.

It’s loaded with great stuff, but the essence of the book comes down to one simple notion that the authors create a powerful case for: Your body responds to the signals you give it — when you signal you need it (through activity), it grows and thrives. When you signal you don’t need it (through inacitivity), it decays and ages. Sound simple? It is.

Here are a few excerpts:

“…aging is not optional, but decaying is. How do we keep ourselves from decaying? By changing the signals we send to our body. The keys are daily exercise, emotional commitment, reasonable nutrition…..but it starts with exercise…”

“…being sedentary is the most important signal for decay…your body watches you like a hawk and when you don’t use it……you’re telling your body it’s time to get old. To rot…”

“…Everything you do physically, everything you eat, everything you think and feel….changes your body and brain in physical ways…exercise and involvement in life trigger great waves of “grow messages…”

“…Exercise is the best way to engage your body and your physical brain, and if you do it, you will get “younger”. Not completely, but to an astonishing degree…”

The book goes on to illustrate these concepts and to provide very interesting medical and scientific data around them. It makes fascinating and motivational reading, and it makes sense.