Back to Spin Class!

My ankles have finally been feeling so good that I decided to give my gym's spin class another try on Tuesday night, even after having already swam a mile.

For those of you who aren't familiar with spinning, it has nothing to do with sewing or knitting. What is does involve is cycling on a stationary bike at varying speeds and positions, typically to blasting fast-tempo music. The main difference between stationary biking and spinning, at least in my opinion, is that spinning involves a lot of cycling with your butt off of the seat, which spin instructors refer to as running. For me, about a month ago, this kind of running had been just as painful as actual running.  But not on Tuesday night!

The last time I tried the spin class was about a week before I began receiving physical therapy for my right and left ankles at Professional Physical Therapy in Parsippany, NJ. I tried to push through that class in late October. Unfortunately, sharp pain radiated through my ankles each time I forced my legs to bear most of my weight through "running". Feeling defeated, I completed most of the class in a seated position, constantly glaring at my classmates with jealousy.

Fortunately, I was able to get through about half of Tuesday's class without any pain. About mid-way through the hour-long workout, the front of my left ankle did hurt during the "running" parts of the class. Trying to prevent the sharp pain that haunted me before from returning, I decided to stay seated for the last 15 minutes of class. Don't worry though! I still sweat every drop of chlorine out of my hair from swimming just minutes before spinning. 

In fact, the class gave me such a rush of endorphins that I remained at my gym for another half-hour to strength-train.

Here is what that involved:

100 back extensions, broken up into sets of 20-15;

36 reps on the hip abduction machine, broken up into 3 sets; 

Heel raises with one-legged eccentric lowering, 40 on each side;

A combination of variations of the crunch that targeted the obliques, the lower abs and the upper abs;

A ton of reps, aiming for sets of 10, of this killer exercise from my physical therapist, which involves balancing on one leg, while holding a dumbbell in the hand of the opposite side of the body. You begin the exercise by hinging forward at the hip as you unlock the knee of the leg you are balancing on. Then you extend the leg on the side of the body with the dumbbell, keeping abs tight and letting the dumbbell hang down.

and

As many pull-ups as I had left in me, which ended up being about ten.