This is like a dance party on a bike. 🚴🎶
So says Tony Stevens, owner of Revolve Cycling, Tucson's newest (and only) boutique fitness studio dedicated to spin classes.
The studio soft launched in its new space at St. Philip's Plaza on Sunday, Jan. 1 and is offering free classes all week — although Stevens, 58, warns that even the class waitlists for those free classes are packed. But give it a try, he says, people always back out.
"There's a demand for it," Stevens says. "People want a different type of workout. We don't worry about numbers like calories and heart rate. We want it to be a happy workout."
Stevens has been teaching spin classes in gyms for about ten years, following a 30-year career of working in the government doing disaster relief. He did his time with structure then and found himself frustrated with a new set of regulations at the gym. He wanted more freedom with his spin classes.
He envisioned darkened rooms, flashing lights and pulsing music.
A night club on wheels, basically.
That's what you'll get during a 50-minute Revolve Cycling class.
Oh, and an upper body workout.
No joke.
Pushups on the bike and other similar exercises make this a full-body experience.
That's probably why the studio provides a towel on each bike before the workout and a cold eucalyptus towel after.
Because you will sweat. A lot.
Stevens and his wife Susie Stevens have been dreaming of this for at least 18 months.
About six months ago, they started hosting practice classes in their living room with 12 bikes, training about a dozen instructors who didn't have much experience leading spin classes.
Stevens did that on purpose, picking instructors for their personalities. That means you might be taking spin classes from a fireman, a former Miss Arizona winner and an owner of Pure Barre, another boutique fitness studio in town.
Tony Stevens can make the lights in his spin studio any color he wants: blue, green, red. A dream come true.
For those interested in trying a class, Stevens has some tips: Hydrate (and hydrate some more), prepare to swap your shoes for a pair that clips into the bikes and expect to burn anywhere from 700 to 1200 calories in 50 minutes.
A single class usually costs $16, but first time riders can ride for $8, or purchase a one-time package of three classes for $30. Monthly passes are also available.
With 35 bikes already lined up in the studio, Stevens hopes to add more eventually. Now he has all the freedom he wants. Revolve Cycling is not owned by any corporation.
And he is proud of that.
"This is from Tucson and for Tucson," he says.
Sweatiest 50 minutes of your life
I tried one of Revolve Cycling's free classes on Thursday morning and it kicked my butt.
And my shoulders.
And my quads.
Walking down stairs is currently a struggle.
If you want to sweat, this is your class.
For 50 minutes, an impossibly-energetic instructor led us through sprints, resistance pedaling and push-ups on the bike (those are the worst, by the way), all the while keeping time to Beyoncé, Adele,"The Fresh Prince of Bel Air" theme song and one or two more inappropriate hits.
The huffing and puffing steamed up the floor-to-ceiling mirror at the front of the studio.
With the flashing lights and cranked-up tunes, Revolve Cycling delivers on its dance-party-on-a-bike promise.
It's just a really sweaty dance party.
