I don’t like working out. I don’t like moving. I don’t like walking. None of those things feel good. At best, they feel very weird and uncomfortable - and that’s because my body won’t do what I tell it to do.
Six years ago I figured out I had an issue with my spine, which led to some nerve damage and due to that, a lot of leg weakness and numbness. I can’t feel my legs below my knees much, or my feet really at all. So even though I was pretty active when I was young, I hit a sharp decline in my mid- to late-twenties.
So with that all going on in the background, my life is still pretty normal. I love cooking, I love eating, and I love beer. I like going to breweries and trying as many new things as I can.
Fast forward to this past Christmas. My wife, Cassie, starts hinting that she’d like a Peloton. This isn’t surprising - Cassie loves to work out - running, spinning, boot camps, lifting, TRX, you name it. Plus, she was a spin instructor when we lived in Harrisburg, so she knows what she’s doing and I had zero doubt that the thing would get used.
Trying to deter a giant purchase, I joked with her saying “Uhh, didn’t you hear their commercials are degrading to women?”
“Not if you’re a woman who likes working out,” she said.
Point taken - I knew what I was buying her for Christmas. Sure, the Peloton is a little pricey, but if you take into account what we were spending on gyms and pop-in spin classes, it really wasn’t that bad.
What I didn’t expect is that I would enjoy it. Not only that, but very surprisingly, I could get a sweat and feel like I was pushing myself without being in pain. I’ve tried so many things over the years - Muay Thai, Jiu-jitsu, running, yoga, and that’s on top of months, if not years, of cumulative physical therapy. Somehow spinning is the only workout I’ve tried in years that didn’t make me feel like I was trapped in a body that was betraying me. I guess the muscles needed for spinning are the ones on me that are still strong.
So i kept going - and I’ve found that the data you get through the app on your workouts kept me coming back. I’m a bit of a data nerd and I’m really into numbers and trends. I need to see progress to keep going, and with Peloton I get what I need.
So here I am, short of two months after christmas and about 25 rides in and I’m feeling better than I have in years. Hopefully I’ll keep this up. I have a wife and a 2-year-old son to keep up with and they deserve the best version of me possible. Check back here often and follow me on instagram to see how it’s all going.
