Flywheel Seattle - AKA the Sweatiest Workout of Your Life

HOLY SMOKES!!  Last night I checked out the newest fad to hit Seattle, Flywheel, with some other lady bloggers organized via the wonders of Twitter.  You get your first ride for free so I figured why not give it a try!?  We all took the 6:30 class with Aina and this ain't your typical spinning class!

Rebecca, me, Sarah, and Stacie

As soon as you step in the doors of Flywheel Seattle you are immediately greeted by many smiling faces just begging to help you out.  You check-in super fast on a computer and then grab the shoes corresponding with your bike number.  Not only are bike shoes provided, but they also have towels, free lockers, bobby pins, hair ties, and everything you need to shower after.  Of course these luxuries come at a price and for $25 for a single ride I only wish I made about 2x what I do now so I could go multiple times per week :(.

The 5:30 class was just getting out and they were cleaning all the bikes (something else you don't have to worry about!) before letting the 6:30 class in.  As soon as you step in the studio you are greeted again by many friendly employees asking if you need help with your bike.  I was up and clipped in in about 60 seconds.  The studio is set up stadium style kind of like a really small concert hall with the instructor in the middle.  At 6:30 the lights go off, the music starts blaring and you start FLYING...not riding, flying!  The "warmup" consisted of going from 80-105 rpms and there is no resting in Flywheel.  Aina was a great instructor and motivator who had a total no-nonsense attitude and repeatedly told us "you are going to be fine", and "you will survive".

The rides consisted of fast flats, standing hills and probably other things that I don't really know the biking jargon for but I was sweating buckets just during the warmup.  I managed to keep up and maintain the suggested demanded rpms and torque on my bike and only felt like I was going to throw up once.  After you sweat it out to a handful of songs you take it down a tiny notch, grab some weighted bars, and do some arm work...such a pleasant surprise to work your upper body during this class!  After the weighted bars we finished up with two more songs and a race to the finish.

Oh, did I mention you actually race your fellow classmates the entire time?  Everything is recorded electronically and from time to time, Aina would show our standings on some large monitors.  I was shocked when I saw I was actually in 3rd place for the females and struggles to maintain the position, but ended in 4th...not too bad for my first class.

I logged in as soon as I got home and was honestly SHOCKED at how far I rode and the calorie burn for a 45 minute class.  When I go to regular spinning at my gym I never clock more than 15 miles in an hour long class.

Would I do Flywheel again? Absolutely!  If I win the lottery or get a huge raise at work.  Unfortunately, this type of class is a bit out of my price range but perhaps once a month or so if I got to see all my friendly blog friends again I would consider it.

No, I did not just take a shower ;)

With your first ride free there really is no excuse why you shouldn't try this sweatastic activity at least once!

Question: Have you tried any new fitness classes or fads lately? What do you think about the outrageous prices for these classes?