HEALTH &
FITNESS:
BEAT EXERCISE BOREDOM
Banish the bulge
with spin, trek, and stomp workouts.
Does your current workout go something like this? You plop yourself onto your exercise bike, put on your headphones, switch on the news, and begin to count the minutes until you can jump off the thing. You haven’t even worked up a sweat when boredom strikes. Now, imagine being in a lively group-exercise class where enthusiasm is high, the instructor’s words are encouraging, the music is jazzy, and the minutes fly because you are motivated. (OK, you’re mostly intimidated by peer pressure to keep up the pace.)
Spin, trek, and stomp classes are the latest crazes in nonimpact aerobic classes at many Associate Clubs. Using stationary bikes, treadmills, and StairMasters, respectively, the classes allow you to go at your own level and pace — but with an instructor’s encouragement and the group’s camaraderie and friendly competitiveness as motivation. You beat boredom and bust those pesky exercise plateaus of yesteryear.
“You will definitely get better workouts,” says Jill Bauman, club manager of The Athletic & Swim Club at Equitable Center in New York City. She’s hearing enthusiastic reviews from members about the equipment-based exercise classes, such as “time-efficient,” “motivating,” and “great cross-training activity.” Here’s what the excitement is all about.
SPINNING
Spinning, or group cycling, is a fast-paced 30- to 45-minute program that begins
with a stretching routine to loosen up your muscles and a low-tension warm-up on
the bike. Some clubs tag on a 15-minute abdominal workout before or after the
spin program. As the cycling pace picks up, bikers rise up out of their
“saddles” or seats, pumping to the beat of the music to achieve maximum
workouts.
“You start spinning, cycling really fast, then you climb a hill, coast down a hill. Then you will do interval training where you are pushing really hard, then recover, push really hard, then cool down,” Bauman explains, adding that the variety banishes boredom. “Sometimes, just for fun, our instructors might divide the class into two teams and have races. The time goes by quickly because everyone is having so much fun.”
Reneé Papa, director of athletics and also precision cycling and trekking instructor at The Met Business and Sports Club in Houston, says rising out of the seat can be difficult at first, but the benefits are enormous. She notes: “You’ve got to rely on just your legs, not your body, to push through, so you’re going to decrease body fat and increase lean tissue. People develop a more sculpted look in their hips, buttocks, and legs — and tremendously improve their cardio-respiratory endurance.” Kevin Leifer, a die-hard spinner at The Athletic & Swim Club, agrees: “I’ve toned down to where I’m fitting into the same clothes size I wore in high school and I’m 46 years old.”
In fact, spinning has become so popular that Bob Hernandez, group fitness director at San Francisco Tennis Club offers 13 classes per week. “A lot of men who would have never considered spinning are doing this exercise because they are getting a good workout,” he says. “And I’m seeing more married couples doing spinning together.”
TREKKING
Trekking combines walking and running on a treadmill. During a 30- to 45-minute
class, you listen to the music and the coach through headphones. A gait
assessment establishes your correct speed and intensity level. Although each
participant’s adjustment will vary, the class exercises on the same
“terrain” — the elevation and decline of the treadmill platform.
In other words, imagine that you are hiking with friends in the mountains. While everyone starts at the same spot on the trail, the more experienced hikers will make their way up the mountain at a faster clip than their novice companions. Everyone, however, finishes the trekking class together.
The sessions emphasize various walking and running techniques and how to maximize your caloric expenditure through a wide range of treadmill elevations. You’ll also learn how to control the treadmill’s belt speed, monitor your heart rate, and track your lap progress.
The physical benefits of trekking are similar to those of spinning. “It carves a person’s body,” Papa says. “I had one member doing step classes and different workouts for years. Then she started trekking and she lost 30 pounds.”
There are emotional benefits as well. Neale Albert, a member of The Athletic & Swim Club, who works out four to five times a week, believes there’s something about “class spirit” that makes you want to work harder. “You really need people,” he says. “As part of a group, you are definitely more motivated.”
STOMPING
The stomp class consists of working out on a StairMaster or other stair-climber
machine for 20 to 30 minutes. The choreographed exercise routine is designed to
tone and shape muscles in the lower and upper body. “Stomp-pers” change
speed, resistance, and stride (step) length, and incorporate different
step-moving patterns. The program can be tailored to mild, general fitness,
competitive, and senior-level classes.
“We start off with a warm-up, using a little resistance,” Bauman explains. “We do some stretching with the arms. Then we go into pushing movements, down with the right leg 10 times, then down with the left leg 10 times.”
A couple of pointers on technique: Take medium-height steps and use your entire foot to press the pedal.
Following the warm-up segment, you raise your level for a series of short sprints. There’s a slow-down and recovery period, then the class moves into a series of big hiking-like movements. The finale is the stomp movement, which is a short hop followed by your coming down with both feet at the same time into a squat-like position. After a set of 8 to 10, you welcome the recovery and cool down.
Instructors might vary this routine slightly depending on the different fitness levels of the members who participate. With a maximum duration of 30 minutes, the stomping classes are very intense, providing a great workout in a short amount of time. ©©
Health and fitness writer Anne Mayer’s articles have
appeared in The
New York Times, Hemispheres, Reader’s Digest, and other publications.