Soul Cycle - Yasmeen and I ride the Wayne train (December 30, 2014)

For Christmas this year, my fabulous friend and former college roommate, Yasmeen, purchased me a Soul Cycle class.  I knew very little about Soul Cycle prior to taking this class.  I assumed that it involved cycling, and once while flipping through a grocery store tabloid, I saw a picture of Bradley Cooper leaving
Soul Cycle.  Stars, their just like us; however, this was the extent of my Soul Cycle knowledge.  Bikes + Bradley Cooper = Soul Cycle. If you would like a more accurate description, here is the website: https://www.soul-cycle.com/

Soul Cycle is located in New York, LA, and some other big cities, but it just recently made it to DC.  It is conveniently located near Yasmeen's apartment, so it was a perfect way to spend a Monday evening.  

It was not Yasmeen's first rodeo with Soul Cycle, so she took care of scheduling the class.  There were a lot of details involved in scheduling.  We would be cycling with Wayne, and his play list was going to be hard rap and R&B, and we would be on bikes #26 and #27.   I didn't realize we were assigned specific bikes, or that we could choose our class based on the song play list.  We arrived at our 8:30 class, and they asked us if we needed to rent shoes.  Your shoe rental is free for your first class (your first class is not free).  After your first class, you must rent shoes for $3.  Prior to Soul Cycle, I had never used cycling shoes.  I find the idea of being strapped to bike pedals scary, so this was an unsettling start.  As we waited for the class to start, Yasmeen started discussing the push-ups and free weights involved.  What?  I was so confused.  Bike push-ups, weights?


Wayne started wandering through the hall outside the cycle studio yelling that was time to "ride the Wayne Train."  Kudos to Wayne for an awesome slogan.  I am sure he uses that line outside of Soul Cycle. We entered the cycling room.  You may have noticed if you read other posts that I try to take pictures for this blog, but it doesn't always work out.  I learned that you cannot take pictures in Soul Cycle. Luckily, I was a few pictures deep before the picture police shut me down.  You can see the serious cycling shoes that I rented in the picture.

On an aside, Yasmeen and I aren't sure why you cannot take pictures in the Soul Cycle studio.  Rather than ask, we decided to speculate, and we concluded that it is probably the Kardashians' fault.  People probably try to take pictures of them in LA or NYC when they cycle.  You might say this is really the fault of those people who want the pictures and to invade their privacy by taking the pictures while they are just trying to cycle.  Please, don't over think it.   Our theory is complete conjecture, but when all else fails, it never hurts to blame the Kardashians. Plus,it is DC.  There are no Kardashians - just disgruntled government workers and GW students.

Soul Cycle was a one-of-a-kind experience.  The class was more like being in a dance club, and the instructor was more like a DJ.  The music was incredibly loud, and I know that makes me sound like an old person yelling at kids from my front porch, but it was just too loud; however, this is my only complaint with Soul Cycle.

Wayne previously worked as both a DJ and a kick boxing instructor.  Wayne liked to say things like "little known fact..." and fill then in the blank.  I think Wayne was playing fast and loose with the term "little known fact," but it was nice to learn more about him.  The lights are off for the bulk of the class, with the exception of some blinking lights and candles.  Certain lights would blink to the beat.  The candles, well, I suppose they were meant to support the hard-rap ambiance?

I quickly learned why we were strapped into the bike by our shoes.  We were expected to "dance" on the bikes, which consisted of rocking back and forth, both side to side and front to back, to the beat of the music. We were also expected to do bike push-ups to the rhythm of the music.  The music was too fast for me to do push-ups to the beat, but I tried my best.  A bike push-up involves doing a push-up while sitting on the bike and hinging at your waist down onto the handlebars.  If you cannot picture the move, just Google bike push-up.  There are a few YouTube videos.  Needless to say, had I not been strapped in, I absolutely would have fallen off.

The class was 45 minutes, which is about 15 minutes shorter than cycling classes that I have taken in the past, but I did not feel short-changed on the workout.   Wayne really pushed us.  He was both a great DJ and a very supportive instructor.  When he wasn't bellowing "Yeahhh," like he was Lil Jon, he was saying supportive things like, "we are all in this together," which may be a little dramatic for a exercise class, but it was very encouraging.  He also did the entire workout with the class, which I always really appreciate.  It makes me feel more engaged because the instructor seems more engaged.  It meant more to me when Wayne said we were all on one team because he was on the bike in front of me doing the same workout (well, he was probably doing a much better version of the same workout).

There were a lot of bike push-ups, but not a lot of free weight action.  The free weight portion was maybe 5-7 minutes towards the end of the class.  There was a set of two-pound free weights under each seat for easy access.  We did a lot of bicep curls and arm raises.  I probably would have preferred more free weight exercises and fewer push-ups, but that is just personal preference.  It was a fantastic abdominal workout to do the arm lifts while maintaining a sitting position and peddling.  It may not sound difficult, but it was incredibly challenging.

I would do this workout again, but probably not make it a regular activity,  The workout is pricey.  I am sure that is why Soul Cycle is located in big cities and boasts some celebrity participation.  I am already a member of a gym that offers cycling classes.  Although my class lacks Wayne, candles and strobe lights, I can survive without those unique amenities.  I would definitely take a Soul Cycle class every once in a while.  The class was a fantastic workout and a ton of fun.  It was nice to be in a class that integrated other workout elements into the basic cycling.  It made the class go by faster, and it felt like more of a full body workout.  Thank you, Yasmeen,for the amazing Christmas present.  You know me too well.

PS, speaking of Bradley Cooper, here is a picture of him peddling ice cream in Cape Town, South Africa.  I always laugh when I am in other countries and serious American celebrities are promoting mundane products (no disrespect Haagen-Dazs).  This gave me a solid giggle.