SoulCycle Financial District

Everyone has heard of SoulCycle by now and if you haven’t you’re living under a rock. SoulCycle is an inspirational workout experience on a spin bike. The workouts are what you make of them. You can coast through or you can take another turn on that dial and get uncomfortable. The resistance wheel is all on you. You control your own destiny which is empowering and at the same time if you don’t know how far you are capable of pushing you may walk away wishing you had pushed a little harder.

SoulCycle ain’t cheap (but it’s not the most expensive class in town) and it is a scene. See and be SEEN. We like to think of SoulCycle like a dessert. It is a great treat every once in awhile but eat a pint of ice cream every day and you start to…not like ice cream so much. It is a good workout don’t get me wrong and it is cheaper than therapy but it isn’t realistic as an everyday fitness routine. So when you want a little Soul in your life to do “you” indulge.

RUNDOWN

WORKOUT

For the most part all SoulCycle classes follow the same formula. Saddle up, warm up and then a combination of sprints and climbs. Throughout the class will do a lot of tap backs, sometimes even a double tap. You will do push ups and sit ups on the bike. Get ready to engage that core. Your hands will  bounce between 1st (near handle bar), 2nd (middle bar) and 3rd position (side bars) and sometimes you will even go around the world. 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 1st, 2nd, 3rd. Good luck with that one.

After you are tired out you slow your legs and work your arms with small dumbbells (1, 2 & 3 lbs available). After arms the music slows down the candles are lit you just ride. No words, no rap music, quiet songs with only sounds of the wheels turning together as the “pack” becomes one. It’s your moment to breath, relax and be one with your thoughts. After one song of therapy the music kicks back up and you finish the class out with one last push.

INSTRUCTOR

Ever had one of those experiences where you’re in room full of 55 other people and you swear the instructor is talking directly to you? That was how we felt riding in the room with Anna, and we can’t imagine we’re the only ones who felt that way. On a day where we didn’t show up ready to give 100%, Anna forced us to give 110%, and damn, were we happy. Why waste $34 just to listen to music? Anna hit the mark with her continuous motivational words and her ability to push us past where we wanted to go. She had the ability ability to push us when needed and be a hard ass, but without that bitchy feeling: straight forward and to the point, with no judgement. When she told us “When you break is when you find what you are made of,” we added our 12th turn on the wheel, closed our eyes and pushed. Pretty sure our legs stopped, but it’s the effort that counts, right?

SPACE

The Financial District studio is a long winding road. Don’t get us wrong, it’s a very nice studio, but the layout is a maze. You enter on Gold Maiden Lane and immediately head up a long flight of stairs. You’re then dumped out into a hallway where you walk all the way to the end to get to the reception, retail and lounge area. Space, people! Rejoice. There’s even a nice plush couch to relax on. Past the reception desk on the left are the men’s and women’s locker rooms. The women’s locker room has four showers and limited space to move around. Space is tight. The locker area is down yet another hallway which dead ends in the studio, which has space for 58 bikes. The spin space has just as awkward a layout as the overall studio. The bikes work around the space rather than the space working around the bikes. Guess you have to take what you can get on Wall Street.