iRide at Crunch

Have you ever found yourself sprinting your legs out in spin class wondering exactly how long this instructor meant when he/she said two minutes? You could have sworn that remix on the playlist was at least six minutes long.

Or what about those times you’re new to a class and everyone else seems to know what’s next and your left sitting down on your bike while everyone else is doing a standing climb?

A new indoor cycling class at Crunch gym, iRide eliminates these issues. Here’s a description of the class:

“Take an iRide on the high tech highway. Video monitors display levels of intensity to inform and inspire with real-time technology throughout your journey. Skills and drills are more fun (and more challenging!) with profile information right in front of you.”

Two large screens are placed at the front of the cycling studio. They indicate how long you’ve been riding in total and how long the current effort is going to last. It also indicates how hard you are suppose to be working and for how long. If you miss the instructor’s cues the screen makes it easy to figure out what to do.

For example the above screen shows that we were on the first of three thirty second sprints at an “extreme” effort level. As a bonus it also displays the song that is currently playing. (love that feature, so I don’t have to stalk the instructor after class to find out the name of the song I loved).

The technology used to design the class, MyFitnessDJ, a fitness app, ensures that the instructor has planned the workout ahead of time and isn’t winging it. It also keeps instructors honest by ensuring that a 4-minute hill climb will only last 4-minutes.

So, Jess tell us the bottom line, what did you think of the class?

In all honesty I was really focused on my injury that day. I thought there was still a chance I’d run the marathon, so I was just focusing on not pushing it and just wanted to learn how this class was different from other spinning classes. However, here’s what I liked most about the class:

• Being able to watch the clock during hard efforts
• The technology was not distracting and worked without a glitch (I’ve experienced “glitches” at other places that use technology)
• The instructor (Dave) was a true professional and the class design was great.

What do you think about all the fancy spinning classes popping up? Do you like riding with technology or do you prefer old school spinning?

{Disclaimer: The class at Crunch Gym was complimentary. All opinions expressed are my own.}