Hi Trendy Mom...like everyone said...don't return your bike and please don't give up. It does get easier, I promise.
Perhaps my story will make you feel better.
I got certified for spin about 16 or so years ago. It was when indoor cycling certifications were just getting underway and Cycle Reebok was conducting a weekend certification in Virginia.
At that time spin was really huge in California already but I was just getting into it.
Ok, so I am at my weekend certification only to find out 85% of the instructors in my certifying class were already very experienced in cycling but they didn't have their official certification yet. Hence why they were there.
I, on the other hand, never sat on a spin bike before in my life. I needed help with everything from soup to nuts.
So the certifying instructor sets my bike up and he takes the class through a 20 minute demo workout. I was clueless how to pace myself and had no idea how much resistance to apply per song so I would just watch my neighbor turn the knob and I would do the same
OMG..., can I just tell you, I nearly died in just 3 to 5 minutes
. I kept looking around the room, praying someone would look half as out of breath as I was. I literally felt my heart beating out of my chest and my legs were on fire and super tight. Everyone around me was all happy whooping and cheering and I just kept thinking to myself "I have to be doing something wrong. I know I am not this out of shape"...."geeze, when is this going to end"...."I have no idea what all the hoopla is about indoor cycling but this is so not fun". The demo class finally ended and I hopped off my bike faster than anyone in there. Little did I know that we would mount that bike 3 more times that night.
The certification was Friday night 4 hours, Saturday 8 hours and Sunday 6 hours.
So now Saturday morning I'm back at it, and thinking a good nights sleep was all I needed. It's time for another demo workout and as I got on the bike
tears literally came to my eyes, and I am not kidding....nobody warned me of the crotch soreness (or saddle soreness) I would experience. This is
not sore butt muscles, this is major pain that doesn't even involve the butt. It felt like bruised crotch bones, and to sit on the saddle was tear jerking. The girl next to me said "I felt the same way when I first started but if you keep riding it eventually goes away". In the meantime I learned of padded shorts and a gel seat and whipped my credit card out for those necessities. Turns out the padded shorts felt like I was riding with a full diaper and the gel seat never stayed on the seat properly while I would ride so I gave up. The instructor told me that I could ride standing instead of sitting to help take some of the pressure off the sore bones. But what I didn't know is that you need to build up your "spin legs" to hold your body weight up there that long so soon enough I plopped down in that saddle again.
By Sunday, I was beyond sore and so convinced that nobody at my gym would enjoy indoor cycling since I myself was thinking "you couldn't pay me to take this class". Well good news is I passed my certification and learned a heck of a lot about cycling, the bike, and teaching but the crotch pain was still so raw that I wasn't sure I wanted to bring indoor cycling to my gym. However, too late on that since we already ordered the bikes and promoted that we were bringing indoor cycling to our gym.
Fast forward one week later....our Cycle Reebok bikes arrived at the gym and our indoor cycle program was launching two days later. I was the one who was scheduled to do all twelve "intro to cycle" classes that week.
Happy Ending....Believe it or not, that girl next to me at the certification was right, my crotch got used to the hard seat, the bruising no longer was an issue, my legs got stronger and I was able to do the 20 minute workouts pretty easily by the end of that week.
With that said, Trendy Mom, you need to give yourself
WAY more credit. You are not starting with a 20 minute demo workout. You just purchased a spin bike and are starting with Cycle Max, an advanced one hour workout. I'm beyond impressed that you are here on the forums to tell us about it
Congratulations...you did great.
Some Advice:
Take the workout in small steps. Only add 30 seconds to 2 minutes on per workout in the beginning weeks. Eventually you'll be able to add on 5 to 7 more minutes in the following weeks. Finally, you will get through the workout.... never easily.... but that's a good thing. You always want a challenge. Oh and one final thing, don't go more than 2 weeks without indoor cycling at least once. If you wait too long, you will have to start all over again with your crotch soreness.
Good Luck!
