Why we decided to say goodbye to the weights section in our Rides

We pride ourselves in offering our customers full-body workouts. One can get this in either our Ride or Refine rooms. Weights or not.

In fact, the original concept of ‘Ride and Refine’ was one similar to that of ‘Yin and Yang’. The idea was to give customers the opportunity to combine the intense cardio workout one gets in the Ride room with a place to tone and hone the entire body through bodyweight training and deep stretching in the Refine room. Sure we have 'Refine' cardio workouts, too. Some even involve dumbbells, so they’re not completely lost. They’ve just moved next door.

So yes, you've understood correctly and as the title alludes, we’re retiring the dumbbells in the Ride room. Why, you ask? The short answer is that it’s time. With the great debate to dumbbell or not to dumbbell in indoor cycling class, we’ve merely decided to not.

The long answer isn’t quite as simple. However simply put, we ultimately felt this was the right direction to go to maintain our customers’ best interest, health and safety.

We’ve done the research, taken the polls, listened to your feedback and the facts and numbers don’t lie. They also say, loud and clear that it’s time to drop hand weights in indoor cycling.

One reason being, lifting weights on the bike might do more damage than good.

Since opening, we have realized it’s quite difficult to maintain correct form and the perfect posture for weighted exercises while sitting on a stationary bike. Legs are spinning rapidly because too much resistance has been taken off. This can be dangerous as your legs aren’t cooled down enough to go this fast.

And another thing, concentration is lacking, and it’s absolutely not your fault. There’s just way too much going on for anyone to give their full attention to the instructor’s cues and form. Sometimes you can’t even see him or her, if the person in the row ahead has a tree trunk sized torso and big hair. All these distractions and elements combined, it’s no wonder there’s plenty of room for error and accidental injury during the weights section.

To give you the most bang for your buck, we really want to make sure everything we do is to improve your overall fitness and strength.

Take a HIIT class instead or watch for the soon to be added BE30Sculpt15* classes, where you’ll get that weight section off the bike. You’ll get those bicep curls and chest presses, when you’re in a standing position and can fully concentrate on your form in order to avoid injuries and get the most out of that workout.

All in all, we believe that even without the weights, you still get that full-body workout in our rides. Just think, your core’s constantly engaged and your cardiovascular system is running the gauntlet up those hills and through those intense intervals. That’s your entire body, if you ask us!

Ultimately we think that dropping the weights in our rides will make you riders that much more hardcore — kinda like when a rockstar drops the mic after their most epic live performance to date. :)

*A hybrid class where we'll ride 30 mins on the bike, then move straight into the REFINE room for 15 mins of sculpting, toning and strengthening your body through the use of dumbbells, resistance bands and your own bodyweight.

Article written by Megan Lillick

Ditching the Dumbbells