Exercise - Week 10.5

Cor spinning is tough hey!?!

Yes that's right, exactly 10 weeks after purchasing the fabled spin bike i took it for a spin last night, a day of serious inactivity sat at my desk spurred me on coupled with the fact that between me and you on Monday this week i'd put on 0.4kg over the weekend (amazing how a scare gets you going if you are feeling complacent), even though i put the slight weight gain down to the possibility of muscles developing from the running/waddling it still hit me hard.

So last night before my walk i opened the garage door, positioned the bike at the back so i was less visible to my neighbors to protect them from the gruesome sight that was to come, in front of the bike i put Ryans old high chair and popped my tablet on the tray, i found the beginners spin bike session i had favourited on You Tube, connected my Bluetooth speaker and positioned it behind the screen, hiked up the volume, made sure i was comfortable on the bike of death and hit play.

Aye well, wow, and as I previously stated cor, the guy in the video is cool, he is some mad, Nordic spin bike enthusiast, the backdrop is white and there are many colourful bars of progress digitally imposed on the screen around him, the music is just your bog standard garden variety banging gym Euro house, and he talks and motivates you as he takes you through the 15 minute workout, 15 minutes a doddle or so i thought, a man who is 150kg+ should not be seen on a spin bike, has no right to spin, this is intense cardio for goodness sake but i am prepared to give it a go.

The workout starts at low resistance, cycling at what must be 130 odd BPM, the Scandinavian crazy man cajoles you to add more resistance every now and then, reminds you to keep your shoulders loose and your bum in the back of the saddle, after 3 minutes the music drops it's BMP to say 110 and with increasing resistance added the loose shoulder but slower spinning goes on for another 3 minutes, as Mr Norway points out you should start to feel sweat building up on your forehead by now, keep breathing and feel those leg muscles work, as Tour de France man counts down the last 10 seconds of this section he announces it's now time to add even more resistance and get out of the saddle and work those upper leg muscles, apparently he will not tolerate it if your bum is swaying uncontrollably from side to side, you must keep your shoulders loose and continue to breath in through your nose like an actor in a decongestant advert and out through your mouth like an 1980's telephone pervert, with the BMP back at 130 and 2 minutes to go i am on the BOD (bike of death), my backside is all over the place, the breathing is making me dizzy and the frame of the spin bike is straining as it's feet rock from side to side, but i stay focused, from previous experience of stair masters, rowing machines and elliptical trainers it is at this point i tend to panic and start frantically looking for the time remaining read out, i find it and to my horror there are still over 7 total minutes of the 15 to go, i also spot his heart rate monitor reading 85bmp, i tap my watch and see mine is around 150, my mind races through all my stored expletives looking for an appropriate one to describe the situation i now find myself in but before i know it the Spandex Superman is counting down the final 10 seconds, so now my thoughts turn to 'what are we going to do for the last 6 minutes? The same again, please no not the same again' when the 2 minutes are up Norway's answer to Sir Bradley Wiggins (CBE) instructs me to get back in the saddle and to my absolute elation reduce the resistance and warm down...

What i found very professional about this video was with 13 minutes gone my new best friend from Oslo reappears and takes you off the bike to do some stretches, wishes you a great day and wanders off stage exit left...

Another milestone achieved, after the spin i guzzled some water and now warmed up fully and motivated from my 15 minutes with the bike i went out and completed my 10k steps for the day too...

Even today i am looking forward to hooking up with Norway man tonight for some more cardio abuse...

Remember i am 150kg+, smoke (for now) and haven't exercised in years so if i can do it anyone else can...

Good luck