Spin Class with Bob Harper at Crunch!

One of my friends goes to Crunch and has been taking Bob Harper's Saturday morning spin class there for a long time now.  He's offered to take me with him many times before but I just made it today for the first time!  And omg, what was I waiting for??  I'm such a retard.  Bob totally kicked my ass, and it was one of the best spin classes I've ever taken!  He is super motivating, high energy, played great music, and it was just a FUN class!  But really hardcore sweat session, for about 75 minutes.  I can totally see how he was selected as one of the trainers for the Biggest Loser. 

Anyway, so as you can imagine, the demand for Bob's class is insane.  It starts at 10:30, but you have to show up around 9:15 to stand in line to sign up.  The sign up starts at 9:30.  It's nice that the spin room at Crunch has 60 bikes, so at least you will have a decent chance of getting in.  Crunch is also at a really nice shopping center on Sunset Blvd in the middle of West Hollywood, so you can just hang out and chill for an hour after you've signed up.  Or work out before you get your ass whipped by Bob if you are really hardcore.  I hung out at Starbucks and caught up with my friend.  Oh yeah, and if you are cheap like me, you have to go back to the garage, drive you car out, and drive back in at around 10:15 so you don't have to pay for parking.  They validate for 2.5 hours each time, and after that it's like $3 every 15 minutes.  I hate wasting money on parking.  Hahaha.

When the class starts, it's a crazy process too.  Everyone who signed up is adjusting their bikes and all the normal stuff, but there's hoards of people still trying to get in that didn't show up early enough.  They just have to hope that someone who signed up didn't show.  There's a guy who's job is to check off people and try to accommodate everyone.  

I was hoping I'd see Jillian Michaels there, because my friend tells me she goes a lot.  Or Alison Sweeney.  But neither of them showed.  I did see some contestants from the current Biggest Loser season though.  I saw the sisters (one named Olivia and one's name I can't remember), the green team's dad, and Irene from the orange team.  Obviously the season is still going, so I'm not sure if they've been eliminated, or if they've made it and are now working towards the finale.  One of the sisters (Olivia I think) is small now though!  Her arms were tiny, but had a lot of loose skin hanging down.  That sucks when you lose weight so fast that your skin doesn't stretch back.  I guess you'd have to get surgery.  

Bob is pretty crazy!  He basically has you out of the saddle the whole entire time, and makes you do a lot of hills and runs, and hills and runs at the same time!  The hills have to be 90-95% of what you can do, so no baby hills.  He comes around and feels how fast you are going, and adjusts your hill for you.  It's no joke!  He called me out once too because he didn't think I was going fast enough.  Hey, it was a steep hill!  But anyway, it was great, I was dying and drenched the whole time.  It gets so hot with 60 people packed inside, and fans not turned on!  Well AC was on but it was still hot.  He's pretty funny too and exactly how he comes off as on the Biggest Loser.  He really pushes you and motivates you, in a good way.  If he sees you slacking, he will crucify you!  He kept saying stuff like "nobody goes into autopilot in my class", and "What are you, a camel?  Stop drinking water and start pushing!"  Hehehe.  

He barely gives you any breaks, it's just all go go go.  Your heart rate is super high the whole entire time.  I like spin teachers that simulate an interval course, rather than just going up the whole time.  I have had a few in the past that literally had you go up for 10 minutes, all in the saddle, then down for 2 minutes, then switch, for an hour!  SO boring!  Bob also had us do a lot of running but with your forearms on the handles, like in forearm plank, butt back and just go as fast as you can.  Everyone in the class had really good energy too, probably because they are all serious spinners, having showed up so far ahead of time.  So it had really good energy.  I think the only spin teacher I've had that can rival him is this teacher at Equinox that I love named Ronit Koren.  She does a lot of jumps where you go in and out of the saddle.  I wish Bob had done that.  But Bob is definitely more motivating personality wise.  He pays attention to every single person, so you won't be left out.

I ended up burning 727 calories total!  That's with no warm up on the treadmill beforehand, which is amazing!  My highest heart rate was 174 and average was 165.  That's about my heart rate when I run!  Running is much more high impact, obviously.  I usually never get as high when I spin, even at my hardest. 

Well, after the class ended, I decided to just join Crunch!  It's a pretty cool gym - they have a lot of different types of classes.  Of course Bob Harper alone would be worth it!  But they also have this anti-gravity yoga class I've read about and have been wanting to try out.  They also have pole dancing classes there that one of my friends who was an instructor there had tried to make me go many times before.  I don't know if I'm up for that yet!  At first I thought I would just go take Bob's classes, and pay each time per visit which is $25.  But then they gave me a really good deal because they always want to steal Equinox members (it's pretty close by).  It's like $50 a month, no contract, and the rest of this month free.  So I couldn't really refuse that!  If I just go 2-3 times a month it would be worth it.  I'm so excited to go try out different classes!  It's a very "hip" gym, just went through a renovation so it looks great, and they are into all the newest fitness stuff in the market.  I saw these bikes in the cardio area with a video game monitor in the front and you can play and ride at the same time.  Lol.  I want to try.  Now that I think about it, I should've just done this a long time ago and pay 1/3 of the price of Equinox!

What did I wear to meet Bob in?  Well, after careful consideration, I decided on my trusted Lululemon Light Up tank in pig pink, and Run: Team Spirit crop in black!  Hehe.

And I wore my bold blue Run: Brisk as my to/from!

I will definitely be going back to Bob's class!

On a side note, the March Madness NCAA games are on, and my bracket really sucks.  Every year we do one at work which is like the best fantasy team to be in since you don't pay, but top 3 people get prizes.  But ever since the first game this year I've been in last place!!  I should've just copied Obama's bracket! Anyone else have better luck?  =)