Review: BOOM Cycle
A week of hardcore workouts culminated this morning with an indoor cycling class at BOOM Cycle and frankly, what a way to start the day. I’ve never really been one for cycling and never particularly understood the appeal of cycling on a stationary bike and not getting anywhere but it’s best not to write something off before you give it a go.
Starting at 7:30am, I walked into a dark room full of bikes, found my assigned one and the instructor kindly helped me set it up to my suit my needs. The room stayed dimly lit, which I found odd at first but totally made sense once we got going.
In all honesty, it took me a while to get into it. I couldn’t get comfortable on the seat at any point and the first fifteen minutes or so had me wondering what all the fuss was about. But then came the hill section of the class. Upping the resistance on the bike and rising up off the seat, we were now pedaling hard, real hard, putting our whole bodies into it. Call me crazy for enjoying it most when it got tough but this is when the class really found its stride for me.
Loud music pumped and the lack of light meant you really did just focus on your body – you’re not watching what anyone else is doing and without sounding all Zen master, you feel in touch with what your body is doing.
Once through the hardcore hill section, the class crescendos into an intense speed portion to round it out. By now it’s a veritable sweat fest as you marvel at how quickly your legs are moving.
The warm down consists of some gentle stretches done both on and off the bike and the post-BOOM endorphin rush is pretty intense – I practically bounded to the train station.
BOOM offer different kinds of classes, BOOM Body being one that’s been particularly recommended as it does some upper body weight work too. Personally, the music in this class wasn’t really to my taste but I imagine if the music is up your street, it gets you even more pumped, which is exactly why I’ve already booked my slot for next week’s Hip Hop cycle class. Indoor cycling to some old school Hip Hop? Don’t mind if I do!
If you’re looking for a class that has low impact on the joints, this is it right here. Excellent for core and leg work too.
Check out more about BOOM Cycle on their website.
I love spinning! Used to teach back in the day and I miss the rush of a good class. I used to teach in a dimly lit room, really helps concentrate on task at hand and takes away feelings of self-consciousness while panting lol
Out of all the classes I’ve ever done, Spin really tops the list. The level of cardio is FIERCE and the dim light, loud music and barking instructor really gets me in the zone. It’s actually very difficult to be uncoordinated on a bike, so unlike aerobics, pilates etc, it’s easy to go hard and get results. I guess it’s whatever works for each person but for me Spin, and probably boxing, are the two best hardcore classes which really me make you give my all. Awesome.
Can’t wait for the hip hop class next week! And when you come to NY we are going to Soul Cycle! It will blow your mind.