Falling Back in Love with Indoor Cycling
Finding the right fit in your everyday life is challenging. Not just socially, romantically, or even occupationally, but in everything you decide to do and be a part of. Uncovering the perfect, unique balance can seem foreign and cinematic these days, especially when life is delivering countless hardships. During these times, your everyday fitness can feel less attainable, and the healthy habits you had in place become even less maintainable. We tend to lose sight of our own goals, our own peace, and what brought us true happiness once we fall out of the patterns that kept us accountable. Regarding fitness, there’s an abundance of formats that we once loved, but somehow fell off our routine along the way. In this new year, let’s encourage ourselves to fall back in love with our healthy fitness routines, starting with the right fit.
For myself, the exercise modality that I most connect with is indoor cycling. This is the modality that brings me the most peace, happiness, results and challenge. There is something about music that connects people, and cycling puts music in motion, comparable to dancing. Inversely, this is also a modality that I tend to see have ebbs and flows with being people’s preferred form of exercise and engagement. The reason behind this could be as simple as connection.
Since 2019, the participation numbers of indoor cycling have dramatically declined in the subsequent years following the 2020 global pandemic. According to Statista (data tracking site), 2019 was the highest participation rate in indoor cycling classes within the United States, with over 9.9 million participants. This was the largest in over a decade. However, in 2020, 2021 and 2022, this number barely cracked 6 million participants, with 2021 being its lowest (in over a decade) at 5.9 million. During the pandemic, people were forced to stay indoors for extended periods of time, which resulted in a lack of connection to their fitness community. With the decline, there has been a silver lining. In 2022, there has been a recorded uptick in numbers, as participants are trending towards finally making the efforts to regain their fitness community and pre-pandemic fitness habits.
Connection to the fitness community is not the only connection piece that impacts engagement. A connection to the cycling studio and instructor will also dictate a person’s preference in choosing an indoor cycling class. To fall back in love with something, we have to first want to be around that something. If we love a job, it will feel less than just another job, and more like a passion. Same with the indoor cycling environment and desired instructor. If we love it because of the studio and instructor, this will feel less like a workout, and more of a hobby we enjoy.
Lastly, a connection to your own personal purpose will fuel you wherever you need to go. Your reason for wanting to take an indoor cycling class must have meaning for you. This also does not need to be something that causes you to reinvent the wheel. Fall back in love with indoor cycling because it makes you feel better mentally, emotionally or physically. Fall back in love with indoor cycling because of the music aspect. Fall back in love with indoor cycling because your community was the highlight of your day. Why you choose to fall back in love with cycling is up to you, you just have to go for it.
