Cycling class pedals to healthier lifestyle

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Amanda Dick
  • Ramstein Public Affairs
VOGELWEH MILITARY COMPLEX, Germany --  Looking for an alternative to running outdoors? Cycling class, or spin class, might just be the answer.

The Vogelweh Fitness Center offers several classes throughout the work week to help accommodate almost any schedule -- two classes Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 11:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. and one class Tuesday and Thursday evenings at 5:15 p.m.

So what exactly is cycling class all about?

"It's an awesome cardio workout," said Senior Airman Tressa Planeta, 86th Services Squadron cycling class instructor. "We have a lot of fun in the class. People attend the class to stay fit, and it's also a low-impact class for those with knee injuries or other health problems."

According to the instructor, cycling class offers a full-body workout, exercising the glutes, hamstrings, quads, calves and even the upper body. Cycling also helps increase running speed.

"You get a lot faster," she said. "Myself, as well as the other instructors, have improved our run time. I've gotten two minutes faster since I started as an instructor for cycling class."

During the hour-long session, instructors keep cyclers moving with different types of exercises while songs strum through the air with music from the '80s through today.

"We sprint, we hover, we do isolations -- which is where you keep your whole upper body still and just move your legs -- and we do hills. We just do a lot," the Airman said.

When Airman Planeta is in charge of the class, she likes to focus on burning fat.

"For me, my goal by the end of class is to burn as much fat as possible and have people leave here drenched in sweat," she said. "Nobody leaves here without being sweaty."

For one cycler, the class not only helps burn fat, but it helps with health problems.

"I tried kickboxing, which worked, but I needed to change it up, so I decided to do spinning," said Aida Parsons, 603rd Air Operations Center budget analyst. "It's a good class for anybody who's trying to lose weight or wants to get fit. It burns a lot of calories, but of course to get the best results, you need to change your lifestyle, how you eat. For me, it works because it brings my blood pressure down."

The cycling classes at Vogelweh Fitness Center are free and open to any ID card holder. They are taught by Airman Planeta and three other services squadron members who are all spin certified through the Aerobics and Fitness Association of America.

The Southside Fitness Center at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, will offer regular cycling classes starting Sept. 1.

For more information on types of classes offered at Air Force fitness centers in the Kaiserslautern Military Community, visit the 86th Services Squadron web site at http://www.86thservices.com/.