By Leo Cora
It seems like we may have finally turned the corner on coronavirus. States are lifting restrictions, allowing businesses to fully reopen with fewer social distancing and face covering requirements. That means your local cycling studio may soon be back to normal. Do you have plans to return?
Personal fitness is one of industries hit hardest by the pandemic. We probably won’t know for several years just how many cycling studios, fitness centers, and gyms were forced to close permanently. What’s done is done. Now we look to the future. If you want to help make the future positive, consider returning to your local cycling studio. If you need some motivation, there are five reasons listed below.
1. Motivational Instructors
Indoor cycling studios offer classes taught by highly motivational instructors who know how to draw out the best in you. They know everything about indoor cycling – from how the bikes work to the physical mechanics of cycling. They know how to choose the most appropriate music for motivating cyclists.
Cycling at home is not a bad option for most of your workouts. But there is something unique about taking a class with a good instructor. The best instructors are also excellent motivators.
2. Social Interaction
One thing you definitely cannot get at home is social interaction. That’s not to say you don’t interact with family; you do, unless you live alone. Either way, you experience a unique type of social interaction when you get together with other like-minded cyclists. There is a common interest, a shared passion. If nothing else, indoor cycling classes are a terrific way to combine exercise with your social life.
3. Greater Accountability
In addition to motivation and socialization, indoor cycling studios offer accountability. That accountability comes by way of interacting with instructors and fellow cyclists. Just the very act of taking a class with a dozen other people is a form of accountability. You want to be with other people who will encourage you, push you forward, and maybe even introduce a dose of competition that keeps everyone on track.
4. Improving Your Outlook
Would you agree that being stuck at home for prolonged periods of time diminishes your outlook on life? A lot of people would. Many of us started going stir crazy just a few weeks after lockdowns began. Being stuck at home led to increased irritability, more anxiety, and lots of other not-so-fun things.
Now that we are no longer forced to stay home, why not make a point of getting out as frequently as possible? One way to do that is to get back to your old routine of taking cycling classes once or twice a week. Get out of the house and back to the studio. If you are like most people, your outlook on life will improve. It is just human nature.
5. Supporting Small Business
The fifth and final reason to return to your local studio has nothing to do with exercise or help. Rather, it’s about supporting small business. Major corporations did not suffer a lot during the pandemic. The same cannot be true for small business owners. The last year has been financially devastating for them. You can help them begin the long road back by supporting them with your business.
The world is slowly emerging from coronavirus. We can debate whether or not lockdowns were a good idea from now until the end of time. At the same time though, we have to get back to normal. Normalcy includes doing what we used to do before coronavirus – like taking classes at the local cycling studio.
