GRIT Cycle, Costa Mesa

(Disclaimer: I was invited to the class at GRIT Cycle at no cost to me. I was not obligated to write a positive review, all opinions are my own.)

I was invited recently to try out a cycle class at GRIT Cycle in Costa Mesa. When I received the invitation, I quickly looked at their schedule and my first thought was – wow, they have a ton of class options, I must be able to find one that works. So, I picked a day and set out for my class.

(Let me preface my whole review with this – I value sleep in my life. A lot. I went to this cycle class on 3 hours of sleep after taking Dancing Girl and a group of 13 year olds to the midnight showing of Catching Fire. What was I thinking? I knew I was going to get my butt kicked)

So, I headed out to GRIT Cycle and found a beautiful studio waiting for me. All of the staff was warm and welcoming and they got me fitted for shoes and offered fresh water and a locker to store my gear. I was assigned a bike and given a brief tour.

(Picture from GRIT Cycle’s Facebook page – an image captured by a client of the studio).

Marissa – one of the founders, met up with me and got my bike set up. I was told that the instructor asked that we grab light weights to use during the class. That was new for me to use weights during a spin class. The first of several new-to-me parts of the workout.

The saddle room was set up in two levels and there were 40 bikes in there! The mirrors make it look like there are a hundred bikes…

(Picture from GRIT Cycle’s Facebook Page)

Second challenging part of the class – the teacher, Matt keeps the room warm. By 20 minutes in to the class, I had to concentrate on keeping my breathing steady. It was hot. I wasn’t prepared for that. I hit a groove after a while and managed to do okay with the heat, but it was an added challenge.

The class was great. Matt also likes to have his class stay at the same beat during the class. We were all to try to syncronize our pedaling. I was in the second row of the room, so it wasn’t too hard to stay in sync. We stayed pedaling at the speed of the music, which changed frequently, during the class and adjusted the tension on our bikes to enable the speed we needed. The cool thing about pedaling together was the sense of a team effort. I didn’t know any of these people, but felt the need to be a part of the team effort. It was pretty cool.

The music was great. Music is a big deal in my opinion in a spin class. It was a great mixture of good rhythm and songs that I knew and could sing along with in my head and keep myself going. It was great timing – when a set was getting challenging, the music would change and help me with the burst of energy that I needed to finish. The lighting in the room also changed with the music to keep things changing and to keep us energized.

New to me part of the class – we did a good amount of of upper body training! Push ups and such on the bike handles – if you can picture doing a quick push up while spinning in time with the music. I was surprised at how quickly I felt the upper body workout.

Remember when I said we needed light hand weights? Well, I had though I could use 5 lb. weights. Uh… I was wrong. The teacher quietly came around during the class and gave me 3 lb. weights as he saw I wasn’t doing so hot with the 5′s. We had already done so many push ups on the bike by the time we actually got to the weights and with the heat getting to me, I could hardly lift my arms over my head. OMG. It didn’t matter if they were 5lbs. or 3lbs. It wasn’t going to work. I focused on the spinning and speed and tension of my bike and just put the weights down.

This was my first time using spin shoes. I could feel the difference in the workout. And, it was a great workout.

(my picture – as everyone was getting set up for the class)

I really did get my butt kicked during the class. It was awesome.

(GRIT Cycle instructor Matt – he runs a great class)

Did I mention the best part? – when the doors opened and a blast of cold air came in and someone also walked around handing us cool, eucalyptus scented towels. AWESOME!!!

The GRIT fitness group has a second center – GRIT Yoga in Newport Beach.

A little bit about GRIT Fitness from their own media:

“GRIT Cycle-Costa Mesa and GRIT Yoga-Newport Beach are a premium boutique group fitness and wellness facilities featuring indoor cycling and yoga classes. GRIT Cycle and Yoga instructors, owners, educators and ambassadors inspire to promote health, happiness and community wellness. A portion from every participant fee from every class goes to a local nonprofit organization, in addition to the weekly “Karma” class donation proceeds. GRIT Fitness Centers strive to bring Orange County a five-star, resort style experience at every GRIT studio. To learn more about Grit Cycle and Grit Yoga please visit gritcycle.com and grityoga.com”

If you’re local to Orange County, CA – I highly recommend GRIT Cycle as a great workout, a 5 star facility with great instructors. And thank you to GRIT Cycle for having me in for a visit. A workout that leaves me with jello legs and arms is quite a workout.

Do you spin? Think you would love a class that pampers you while kicking your butt?

The post GRIT Cycle, Costa Mesa appeared first on Family Fitness Food.