Last night I had the privilege of attending my blog friend turned real life friend Gillian’s spinning class at Gold’s Gym.

Gillian and I met almost 2 years ago through our blogs. We hit it off and have been eating, spinning and expo-dominating together ever since. Gillian is a 3L at Loyola Law (yay lawyers) and also just got certified to teach spin. She has taken on a few classes at Gold’s Gym downtown and is killing it as a spin instructor. I’ve never been to a fitness class taught by a friend and Gillian and I have very similar taste in spin classes (Laura Crago’s Soul Cycle class for life, although now that Soul Cycle is raising their prices that will be very few and far between) and we like the same type of music when working out (more beats please) so I was very excited to take her class.

First of all, Gold Gym downtown is very nice and totally surprised me. I thought Gold’s was going to be full of obnoxious bro-ey weight lifters and very bare bones as far as gyms go. I could not have been more wrong. There was a fancy locker room and pool, a couple very nice studios for body pump and spin, and plenty of machines. Everything was very up to date and fancy.  Obviously, my impression of Gold’s was completely off base.

Gillian’s class was fantastic. If you go to Gold’s you should check it out. She had us doing several sets of sprints, hill climbs and jumps. The jumps worked the core muscles, the hills challenged my legs and the spring forced me to push through fatigue. The music was heavy with beats, hip hop and remixes of popular songs which I really enjoyed. I was dripping with sweat after one song.  Gillian also worked arms into her class which I appreciate because I will take strength training where ever I can get it.

I had some issues switching from spinning in clips to spinning in regular shoes but after a song I got the hang of it. I wasn’t sure how long the class was going to be so I tried to pace myself. Gillian was very clear about when to increase resistance and by how much. I kept at least one extra turn on my resistance throughout the class and at some times increased my resistance even more. My legs felt strong and capable throughout class and I am sore today. I feel like people being sore after your class is a major sign of win so congrats Gillian.

Gillian has a serious talent for teaching spin and if you get a chance you really should try and take her class. For me, it is super motivating to see her take on spin certification and teaching while in law school. She’s passionate about spinning, got certified, went after teaching opportunities with tenacity and strives with every class to get better. She definitely motivates me to focus up on the things I’m passionate about and taken them on! Gillian teaches at Gold’s on Wednesday night at 7:45 and Saturday morning.

I have been a very negligent blogger recently (blah blah blah). People are telling me that they  miss my blog. I will be posting more… probably mostly fitness based right now because that’s whats on my mind but I’ll try to get some food in there for ya.