That Darn Resistance Dial

I have never been a person who “likes” to exercise. I love walking outside and try to do some form of that daily with my goldendoodle, even on super cold or hot days. However, I’ve tried all sorts of programs: CrossFit, several Beach Body programs, Zumba, yoga, you name it, I’ve probably tried it. Some of the programs I really enjoyed parts of and some of the programs I quickly lost interest in after my first class.

I keep coming back to Cycle of Heart, even though exercising is not my favorite thing to do. I also love taking classes with the self professed, “toughest coach” who makes us put that darn resistance dial on our 5s as soon as we step in the room because well, I guess I like the life lessons she teaches along with the spin class.

I have a love/hate relationship with the darn resistance dial. I know the point. The point is to add resistance to my ride to make my ride more difficult. But sometimes, I don’t want to and my inner toddler comes out and throws a fit when I’m told to add more resistance! My main reason for these tantrums is that sometimes I think it’s just too hard! There are many Saturdays that I am not good enough at being my own hype woman. This is why I am so thankful for the coach and the community in that spin room! They cheer me on and assure me that I will not die, that I will soon get to the top of the proverbial hill. Success will come at the end of that tantrum as long as I do not fall for the inner voice telling me that I cannot do it. I have to really discipline myself to know that once I get through the ride, I will be so much better at discerning what is really too hard and then I will tell my inner toddler to be quiet and say, “Yes, I can!”

I know that darn resistance dial is teaching me a lot more than I give it credit for. I am learning not only how to discipline myself while in the class and trust that the coach isn’t going to let me die, even when my muscles say otherwise. I am disciplining myself for life outside of class as well.

When I can discipline myself inside of the spin class and change my mentality from, “Ugh, this is too hard” to “Man, this is hard but yes, I can do it!,” this also changes my mentality in life. Life is difficult for everyone sometimes. How we approach the hard is what makes the difference.

After taking many classes at Cycle of Heart with different coaches the one thing that remains the same for all of the coaches is that what you take away from your class does not just end at that class. The goal is to take your new found strength in yourself (not just in your changing muscles) and apply it to all areas of your life. Life will get hard and how we show up to that fight makes all of the difference. We can give up on ourselves and throw our big toddler tantrum or we can stop, take a beat, and realize, “Man, this is hard but yes, I can do it!.”

So, I guess from now on instead of being ungrateful for the resistance I am adding during a spin class, I need to change my attitude to one of thanks. Thanks to the coaches for helping me to strengthen my discipline to know that when life throws me resistance in some form, that I am more than capable of climbing that hill and succeeding! Because in the end, “Yes, you can and yes, you will!”