How can a person, so into cycling, endurance, and overall fitness feel like such a piece of crap at a spin class? (stationary bike sessions at the gym, with an instructor…the person who yells to put more resistance on…constantly… and other riders)
What an intense workout, sure it’s not unicycling (well, I guess it technically is!) but if you have these sessions in your local gym, check them out
The music they play is very condusive to prolonged bursts of energy.
I think all riders could benefit from it, as none of your rides are this intense. (cardio-ly, anyways, the balance is a little easier)
No thanks Sofa, I would prefer to have sessions in the forest whilst on a MUni expedition. I can’t understand how people pay to get cooped up inside on a treadmill or excercise-bike, when they could go out running or cycling for real. I am not a fitness freak and most of the excercise I do is a coincidence.
I have not done one personally, as I’m only 15, but my dad goes to spin classes every Monday night, sometimes in the morning too. He loves cycling. I goes out in the morning and does 60 miles on his safety cycle, then comes home, we have lunch, then we go on a Muni for a few hours, then he sometimes goes to the gym.
That sort of made it sound like he is an excersise freak - he is not, he spends loads of time with me and my sister… but he really enjoys doing anything to do with cycling!
I always thought gyms were a huge waste of kinetic energy. All that stuff being lifted up and down, but nothing actually productive being done (except getting a work-out). What kind of animals are we that we don’t move our muscles enough in day to day life and so have to set aside time to do work whose only purpose is to move our muscles?
So, I always thought it’d be a cool idea to hook up all the work-out equipment to generators that powered the gym, or heck, the whole city. That way, people working out would actually feel like they’re accomplishing something.
This makes for a great intro to a weight workout.
And is far better cardio training that unicycling can accomplish.
Unicycling is great for toning, but real crappy for actually building muscle. Sure you can built a tiny bit, but certainly nothing like weight training.
The stronger your muscles are, the harder you can ride for longer.
I love forest expeditions, but they aren’t everything I need in a physical fitness routine.
And let’s not forget what time of the year this is…I’ll be getting out less and less now for MUni rides, although weekly gym meets are always a great burn, this cardio training will be nothing but extremely beneficial, or so Kris Holm will be shouting from far behind me at the 24 hour race in the fall
Who are you trying to impress? Unicycling is way more fun and that is what matters to me. My muscles (or lack of) can build themselves without my help. Extra upper body muscles will just be extra weight when climbing hills and doing drops. If I wanted to do weights I would get a job as a labourer, and that way I would be getting paid to exercise instead of paying a gym to exercise. Why don’t you just build yourself a really heavy unicycle or go out riding wearing a suit of armour or some diving weights? Or you could do some high altitude training in the Alps somewhere if you wanted to get really technical about your 24 hour race training regime.
Good idea! Alternatively you could set up electrodes on the equipment in the gym, and when people start slacking, the electricity provided by the other gym-goers could provide an electric shock to motivate the lazy people into working harder.
I’m not trying to impress anyone. I am thinking of the future. I thought it might be nice to be healthy when I’m 70, and the muscle and bone density that I am building now will help me accomplish that.
You’d have to be crazy to think you aren’t accomplishing anything by workout out at a gym.
Of course it’s way more fun, that’s why I do both. No need for you to to both, I suppose.
After re-reading my original post, I see that when I said ‘at your local gym’ I meant ‘at the gym you are a member of’ I see how it could be taken in the wrong context. I was directing the comment at people who already are in the know of how benifical a gym is, not trying to convince the lazy, or unwilling to join up.
Just because you can ride a Unicycle in dirt, doesn’t make you healthy.
i used to do quite a bit of spinning long before my unicycling days and i keep threatening to go back
it’s a whole hell of a lot of fun and a blistering work-out to boot
the music and the level of effort combines to make it real easy to achieve a headspace way beyond the confines of a gym and that makes for a very enjoyable work-out
i’ve allways wanted to see them hook-up a fan to that wheel that u are turning as frantically as u do
at least u’ll have something to cool u down
i’m quite a sweater and used to drench at least two sweatbands in a 45min class
it’s great fun and u HAVE to try it at least a couple of times
(the first class is sooo hectic, u have to catch a coule more to get the idea)
Never said it does. I don’t mind if I am healthy or not. If I wanted to be totally healthy I wouldn’t smoke pot, drink alcohol or stay up too late, and how fun would that be? By the way I meant the other type of ‘sessions’ in the forest, the unhealthy (yet fun) kind*.
there is an old (early sixties) south-african story about that:
there was a ranch (actually I dunno how they call a “ranch” in south-africa)
and to get in you had to go past a revolving door.
at a party people complained to the ranchers that their door was in
need of some grease to ease the pushing for it was really hard.
well no way said the rancher with every turn there is a gallon of water
going to the citern up the roof!
I have to agree with Rowan’s sentiments here. Though health is important to me, happiness is even more so. Now, to a certain extent, the two go hand in hand - I’m never very happy when I feel like crap. But I also don’t imagine I’d be very happy stuck inside all day lifting and setting down heavy objects while never actually doing anything productive. Sure I may live long, but what for? I need a purpose, I need meaning in my life.
So, if I am working out, I want to have fun doing it, even if that means sacrificing the “quality” of my work-out. But who am I to say that Sofa doesn’t thoroughly enjoy pedaling in place in a bland, sweat-reaking room, constantly being yelled at while speakers blast the Mortal Kombat theme song?
5 hours a week is hardly ‘all day’, and like I said, it’s incredibly productive. I am basing this on physical productivity. Think about it…if we’re aren’t talking about physical productivity, what good is unicycling?
You’ll live the same amount of time, you will just have a different purpose…whether it’s continuing to be an active person, or barely managing to get out of your chair (if at all)
If you have not participated in the activity, how can you say? If you did it and hated it, fine. If you’ve never done it, you’d be suprised at how enjoyable it really is. (I was)
But like you said, to each his own. I’m just glad I can make an informed decision on the matter, instead of assuming I hate it.
Yeah, I didn’t really decide that gyms, and especially stationary bike classes, weren’t for me until after about a month of regular visitation to the VCU gym (I had free membership as a student). I thought it would be a good way to train for the MS Bike Tour. Every time I went I felt like I was at church, constantly looking at my watch, wanting nothing more than for it to end. It felt like an obligation.
Then I decided that actually going out and unicycling was more fun. When I uni, I’m not focused on any goal, just enjoying the moment. I guess I’m just a big fan of scenery.
I try to only talk about things I’ve actually experienced. I’m a big advocate of “Don’t knock it til you’ve tried it.”
Spinning rocks. It’s a great workout, and - like Sofa said - a lot more fun than you’d think. It’s a great way to keep, or even build, fitness in the off-season. It fits into your day better than most things, doesn’t trash your knees like running, and because it’s fun it’s easier to get motivated to go.
Working out for its’ own sake, or to get fit for other things, isn’t for everybody. It tends to have more appeal when the gap between what you can do when you’re in shape and when you’re not becomes more apparent - this can be with age or in competition. Nothing like watching your buddy (that you used to be faster than) start running or working out and suddenly start kicking your ass! Also, it appeals more when your life gets to a point where you don’t get enough exercise as a matter of course…
I did a lot of spinning a couple of winters ago and I came into the spring really strong. It’s tough to get regular exercise outside here in winter - I ski weekends but that’s not great for cardio. Spinning fills in the gaps nicely.
Anyway, if it sounds like it fits your profile I heartily recommend giving it a try -
I think a really good exercise is juggling clubs on a uni. Exercise for legs
and arms. I typically go about 2 miles,
juggling about half the way. The instability of it makes it twice the
exercise of just unicycling, plus, you develop
coordination. I’ve been doing it for about a year, and still getting better
at it
“hell-on-wheel” <hell-on-wheel@NoEmail.Message.Poster.at.Unicyclist.com>
wrote in message news:hell-on-wheel.xtlkr@NoEmail.Message.Poster.at.Unicyclist.com…
>
> Yeah, I didn’t really decide that gyms, and especially stationary bike
> classes, weren’t for me until after about a month of regular visitation
> to the VCU gym (I had free membership as a student). I thought it would
> be a good way to train for the MS Bike Tour. Every time I went I felt
> like I was at church, constantly looking at my watch, wanting nothing
> more than for it to end. It felt like an obligation.
>
> Then I decided that actually going out and unicycling was more fun.
> When I uni, I’m not focused on any goal, just enjoying the moment. I
> guess I’m just a big fan of scenery.
>
> I try to only talk about things I’ve actually experienced. I’m a big
> advocate of “Don’t knock it til you’ve tried it.”
>
> I tried it, and it sucked!
>
>
> –
> hell-on-wheel - My karma ran over your dogma
>
> On the other hand, you have different fingers. - Steven Wright
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
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> View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/29184
>
I tried spinning once. I didn’t hate it but I didn’t like it either. It’s something I could do if I wanted to really start working out. But I prefer outdoors. So if I wan’t a good cardio work out I’ll just go to this quite long and steep hill nearby and ride it up and down on my uni or bike. There’s also a DH track in the forest next to the road, about 30 meters away from the road. So I can do MUni too.
I lift weighs sort of regularly. I do it when I feel like it and I have weights here in my flat. So while watching TV or doing something similar I usually lift weights too.
It’s not a waste if you are benefitting from it. Some people like going to the gym and it works for them. I’m not one of them.
My new car has doors that open and close when you push a button. Depending on one’s situation, there is less and less physical labor we do all the time. “Labor saving devices” are making us fat. Many people have jobs that don’t allow much chance to exercise, like sitting in front of a computer all day. Riding to work is a good solution for me, but I’m more reluctant to do it in the dark (after we changed the clocks). For some, the gym works. Spin classes are probably more interesting than solo working out, as you have more motivation to “keep up” or match the people around you.
Also, as we age, our bodies get less and less good at regulating themselves. When you’re in your teens and 20s, many people don’t need to do anything. Wait til you get a little older…
At my local gym, which I went to about twice, they have pedaling machines with web browsers and TVs on them. You have to maintain a certain rpm to have a picture. Unfortunately I don’t think the actual pedaling is generating any electricity. Most people can’t pedal that much. At the Ontario Science Center in Toronto, they have an exercise bike connected to a set of lights. If you pedal fast enough, the lights come on bright enough for you to see yourself on the TV screen in front of you. You’re powering the lights, but not the TV. Those lights are enough work!
At SLI in Hopland, CA they have excercise cycles hooked up to a generator which is hooked up to charge an array of batteries. …I think its mainly for demonstration purposes, but it COULD be hooked up to someting useful.
