I Came, I Spun, I Twerked (In My Mind)

On Sunday, I made a pretty great mistake. I know, I know. That doesn't make sense. Except that it does! It all started with Saturday...

On Saturday, I played in a volleyball tournament out in Herndon, Virginia. The stars were aligned in such a way that Murphy's Law took over the first half of the day, and I ended up playing a position I rarely play (mostly because it's my worst position, and at 5'6, I'm quite short for that position). Needless to say, after a long day of volleyball, my body was not very happy with me. I went home, took one of my amazing Epsom salt baths, and got my recovery on.

Sunday morning, I ate breakfast, and headed into DC for my first ever Zengo class, at a beautiful, brand new studio in Cathedral Commons. I learned about the free class at this new location through my new homegirl Sarah, who found out about it through Active Life DC.

Ever since I moved out of the city a few years ago - I live just outside of DC in another city - I rarely make it down there. I wasn't too familiar with the Cathedral Commons area, so I got a little lost. (I keep wanting to call it Cathedral Heights, but I'm 99.9% sure that's because of House of Cards.) Fortunately, despite the fact that I kept circling the block trying to find the studio, I was able to park in a validation-friendly garage just below the building where the Zengo Cycle studio is located. The second floor of the building was pretty cool, and I quickly learned that the second floor was a bit of a mini fitness complex. There was the Zengo studio, a Pure Barre studio (still haven't tried this specific style), and a Solidcore studio (first time hearing of it, and I'm already scared).

I walked into the Zengo studio, and was immediately impressed. It was bright and inviting, and everything just looked new. I mean, it is new, but you could actually tell. It was beautiful! I was greeted by a friendly lady at the front desk, and was directed to sign in.

I could see that Sarah had already signed me in and saved a bike next to her, so I was just about good to go! The friendly lady asked me for my shoe size so that I could get some of those clip-on shoes and really get my Zengo on. They were European sizes, which meant that I ended up wearing a 40 instead of my regular size 8.

 Another woman came by and asked me if I would need help setting up my bike (I did), and the friendly lady went back to explaining to me how their fancy lockers worked, and checked to see if I needed a towel or water or anything before we got started (I didn't. I brought both with me). I put my belongings in an empty locker, put it my made-up code, locked up, and headed for the door to the studio.

It looks intimidating, like a vault, right?!

Anyway, I click-clacked my way through the door (those clippy shoes are so weird to try to walk in!), and there was Sarah, waving at me. I went over to her, and the instructor came over to me and offered to help me get set up. I was glad she did, because there were so many adjustments I needed to make!

Soon, we were off! The instructor explained the different positions we would be taking on the bike, went over the general philosophy (listen to your body, and don't worry about what everyone else is doing, basically), and told us that we would be using the weights on the back of our bikes toward the end of class. Already, I was kinda jazzed, because I had never done any weight lifting in a spin class before!

The music bumped on, and it was show time! I really enjoyed the music, because it was basically the kind of stuff I listen to when I'm working out or getting myself pumped up before a volleyball game. High BPM, some good bass, and it was LOUD.

The instructor, Cassidy, was GETTIN' IT! Girlfriend looked like she was having a blast teaching us, and she got off her bike a few times to start dancing and walking around the room to make sure everyone was doing alright. At one point, during that hot mess song I can't stand Silento song "Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)", she got down from her bike and started doing the dance moves and poppin' it. Even though I really don't like that song, she made it so fun!

The studio after our class ended. Felt like I was in da club.

Side view of the studio, including the instructor's platform. 

Throughout the class, we did all types of push ups and ab work, we curled light weights, and also used the light weights for some tricep work. We sprinted a few times for about a minute at a time, and we did all of the other things you'd expect from a "regular" spin class.

One of the coolest parts of the class, though, was our "moment of zen." I'm guessing this is one of Zengo's signatures, since "zen" is in their name, but I'm not positive. The moment of zen was cool because the instructor cut off the main lights (the classroom is pretty dark normally anyway, since it looks like they use black lights and blue lights), turned off her mic, and you could just do whatever you wanted on your bike at your own pace. It was pretty cool. I thought it was going to be pitch black when she did this, but fortunately it wasn't. I think that would've been creepy!

Did I sweat? HECK YES! I'm not a heavy sweater, but I was definitely getting a good sweat on. I wore an Under Armour tank top (Under Armour Women's UA Charged Cotton® Tank - affiliate link) that seems to put the smack down on my sweat and make it flee from my clothing, so it wasn't really noticeable! The tank top was accidentally perfect for the class, because the black light made it appear to be a brighter orange, and the letters looked like they were glowing! If you ever are in the DC area, and decide to check out Zengo, make sure you wear some clothes that will really pop under the black light!

I loved Zengo! I definitely want to do it again! I still have a free class, so I think I'm going to try to take one of Cassidy's classes at the Bethesda, MD studio, since it's closest to my house. Hopefully I can convince a few of my girlfriends to go with me so we can make a party out of it! :-)

Sarah and me after getting our sweat on!

TL; DR: I really enjoyed my first Zengo experience! If you're in the area, I definitely recommend checking out a Zengo studio near you! For now, you can get your first class for free when you sign up to try it online. I'm so glad I got to sweat it out with Sarah -- even if my body was screaming at me afterwards!

Have you ever tried Zengo Cycle? What did you think? Have you ever tried any of the other types of trendy spin classes? Were you super sore afterwards?