I cycled to the beat of techno-holiday music last Wednesday at the Spin Core class offered at the Campus Recreation Center.

Since this was my first time taking a cycling class, the instructor, Bethany Bohlig, a Recreation Services fitness graduate assistant and exercise physiology major, showed me how to adjust the bike to a comfortable setting and to use the different resistance levels, from one, the lowest, to five, the highest.

As class began, the lights turned down, the music turned up, and the colors of a small disco ball flashed around the room.

The class began with a warmup at a lower speed and then increased during repetitions at the higher resistance levels. During one of the longer songs, Bohlig said to cycle to the beat of the music, and continued to remind us to keep our abs tight to increase the benefits of the workout.

In one exercise, we switched from 10- to 30-second intervals of cycling standing up to cycling while seated. I learned to “sprint” on the bike and learned various other exercises to do when cycling. By the middle of the class, I could feel my lower body and abdominal muscles being used.

At the end of the cycling session, we stretched beside the bikes, and then did about 15 minutes of core exercises, such as crunches, planks and back extensions, on mats. The class lasted about an hour.

Being my first time in cycling class, Bohlig offered alternative exercises and resistance levels for beginners, of which I took advantage during a few of the later exercises.

The upbeat music and Bohlig’s encouragement to “keep it up” as we cycled helped me to have fun while cycling and pushed me to keep going. I definitely felt that I had a great cardio workout. I enjoyed the class and was energized afterwards.