Hey Ciclo!

I’m starting to sound like Darren now, aren’t I, as that’s how he addresses us in his classes? And as I know this will be going out on a Monday – Happy Monday!! I can’t believe we are nearly into May now; since lockdown restrictions have been partially lifted in the UK, the time is flying.

So….I can’t say too much yet but my family and I have been filming for a TV show over the last month. It has been long days and we still had to fit work, home and exercise around it so we are all super tired, but it has been a fun, unique opportunity and we have no regrets. Where am I going with this? Oh yes…

…Part of the filming was to experiment swapping my cheap indoor bike for an indoor turbo trainer using my cheap outdoor bike. And be filmed testing it out (along with some new trainers too, fun!)

Now, I’m perfectly happy with my indoor bike and at no point have I said I wanted to change it. The crew just wanted to see if it would be a suitable alternative.

First of all – how much bigger is an outdoor bike compared to an indoor bike?! It’s huge! (I keep my indoor bike in the kitchen, and it gets in the way enough as it is.) Then with it hooked up to the trainer, it’s higher and even longer. I almost needed a little step to get a leg over the frame!

The noise it made was so bad, there would be no way I could use it in the evening when the children are in bed. Other negatives for me were that I had nowhere to stand my phone to watch a class and, well, it just felt wrong trying a class out on my battered old Raleigh! I was so happy to get my old bike back and ended up not getting on the bike for five days as a result of the experiment.

I don’t know how many people reading this use an indoor trainer; I’d be interested to know what others think of theirs compared to an exercise bike and whether the type of trainer or type of outdoor bike connected makes a difference.

Also, I’m curious to know this too – has anyone used the app on a gym exercise bike?

I haven’t made it to the gym yet (next week’s aim), and I’m wondering if I will be better or worse at a class, or just the same? And will I fall out of love with my cheap indoor bike at home once I have been on a fancy expensive gym one?

If I can connect to the gym bike correctly, I will finally be able to do my first FTP test and gain a better understanding of where I am with my fitness. It’s certainly improved since using the app, I can tell by how much easier I’m finding each class that I do (same ones all the time – Quick Calorie Counter and Neuromuscular Sprint).

I also feel the environment I’m in really has an effect on my performance:  Working out at home has not been fun for me; I need a space surrounded by other people doing a similar thing to help spur me on and keep me motivated.

Next blog – I’ll let you know how the gym went AND I’m finally going to step out of my comfort zone and try a couple of different classes – watch this space!