- I prefer to be alone on a mountain
but they're all gonna be like
(upbeat music)
(laughs)
- The first time I heard about SoulCycle
was seeing a paparazzi photo of Vanessa Hudgens
leaving SoulCycle and I said,
"Oh, what is that? I want to try."
- I've never heard of SoulCycle,
a place where there's just a bunch of cycles.
- I did it once with an ex-girlfriend.
I'm from the Midwest.
I try not to get excited or emotional.
It was all those things.
- I saw pictures on the outside
but I never went inside or anything
or checked it out.
- I just thought it was just riding a bike
without moving anywhere.
- I've a lot of friends who've done it.
I've heard nothing but good things about it.
- I've heard it's kind of like a cult.
- I haven't worked out in three years.
I'm not bragging. I'm just saying.
- I've never gone two weeks of working out.
- I work out once a month when the gym
charges my credit card.
- I'm hungry and then I eat and then I don't workout.
- Four days a week for a month is a big commitment.
- Getting into it, I'm so cynical I'll just be like
all these people are dumb, what we're doing is dumb.
I don't buy into any of it.
- Spontaneous combustion would be my biggest fear.
- My name's David Zint and I have been with the company
for close to five years.
Philosophy behind SoulCycle really comes down to community
where you feel un-judged, where you feel supported,
coming together in a dark room,
into a sweaty sanctuary where you find
the best version of yourselves.
You get a full body workout.
Everything is to the beat of the music
so you're able to work a lot harder.
You're supported by the people around you
so you're able to dig a little bit deeper
and we turn the lights really low
so that you can release judgment or these fears and doubts
and then we all come together to that music
and that's where the magic happens.
- My goal for this class is to have a swimmer body.
- I would love to have the ab thing figured out.
- Put on whatever I want in my closet
and not feel like a potato.
- You're not a potato.
- (laughs) Well I'm working towards a french fry.
- Tone my body.
I have gained excess weight in the tummy region.
- I weight around 151 right now and I want to get to 145.
- My hopes are that maybe I would lose a pound.
- I kind of also want a firmer butt.
(intense music)
- It's freezing and I got my shorts on.
I'm hoping that I don't throw up today.
- It's pouring down rain and I just drove my bike in.
Bad way to start the morning.
- (Sigh) Very light headed.
My hands are shaking; my legs, everything.
- I had to leave 30 minutes early.
Thought I was about to pass out.
I went outside, they gave me a wet towel,
and I was just trying not to pass out right then.
- Holy shit.
I was tired this morning.
He tapped the back hard.
- I think I need a wheelchair.
I don't want to walk anymore.
I just want to pop my legs off like a Barbie.
- I have never done any type of workout
where I have consistently dripped sweat
to the point where it gets into my eyes.
- And I'm actually running kind of late.
I had tea at eight PM so I didn't sleep.
- When I woke up, for some reason my neck wouldn't move?
- I gotta eat light in the morning
and all I could think about right now
is how I really, really, really want a breakfast burrito.
- Been smoking for eight years.
After 10 minutes of cycling,
I'm like loosing all my breath.
It's the worst; I feel like I'm 50.
- After eating the right amount,
I felt way more energized, I paced myself.
- I just got done with a six AM.
I was really dreading it and I feel so good right now.
- Oh my god.
Class was awesome.
I feel like I'm in a church or some spiritual place.
- When they're like "Give a turn to the right.
"Turn to the right,"
they're talking about the resistance
and normally I'm like "Mm, nah it's cool doe."
But I've actually been doing it
and challenging myself to keep up with the rhythm.
- Something weird happened to me.
I woke up early and I wasn't exhausted
and I was just laying in bed thinking
about all of the problems that are going on in my life
and how I couldn't wait to get to SoulCycle
to sweat out all my problems.
Who the hell am I?
- I forgot I'm working out.
I was more focusing on my dream, my goals, my fears,
and how to achieve all this.
- I like that he said,
"The next 45 minutes isn't gonna change your life,
but it's gonna help change your day."
- The instructor said some stuff
that was pretty easy to roll off and be like
"Oh whatever, he's just trying to feed us
positivity bullshit"
but I actually started to feel things
which is weird for me.
Yeah, maybe I should draw about now.
- I've been upping my weights
so I started with two and then went to three
and now I'm on five so definitely seeing some results.
- David's definitely one of my favorite instructors.
My favorite line from class today:
At the end of your life, are you living for you,
or are you living for someone else?
A reminder to focus on your passions
and what you want to do versus
trying to please everyone else.
- Our instructor David said,
"Remember you're not ranked, you're linked."
Reminding us that it's not a competition in that room.
It's really all about pushing yourself
to new limits each day.
- Wow, it was delightful though.
I feel energized, I feel great.
I can't wait to get the next one going. Whoo!
We're going to get skinny or die trying.
- You're going to be burning a lot of calories,
you're going to start to shed a lot of fat.
You are high intensity interval training here
so you're building lean muscle
- I have started noticing my thighs
have been getting a little bit smaller.
- I've definitely noticed my leg's gotten stronger.
You know, I can crush a can
with soda in them with my thighs.
- Everything is working together.
Relaxing your shoulders, you're standing taller,
you're being more present.
You're getting strong in your core muscles.
- I'm feeling stronger.
Trying to engage my core.
- Our focus is really on that whole posture
changing your body so you're not bulking up your thighs.
You're getting lean, you're getting strong in your glutes.
- My shorts, they're actually falling off.
Normally my FUPA holds them in place
and for those of you who don't know what a FUPA is,
it's fat upper pelvic area.
But they were sliding off today so we're making progress
and my body feels tighter.
- Working out is making me want to eat healthier, too,
so I have a salmon salad.
And I normally really hate salad.
- This was the second day in a row we did it.
I am destroyed right now.
During the class, the instructor came up
and just cranked my wheels so far to the right
and it ruined me.
I'm so tired and I want to go to bed for like five hours.
Not a great way to start the day.
- This is the first time I'm late to class.
My dog pooped and it got stuck in its butt.
Smeared everywhere.
Now I'm running late because I had to give it a quick bath,
but today I was actually 147.2 pounds
which I haven't been in the 140's probably six years.
- Today was so intense; I got up at 4:45.
We did one yesterday.
Just so groggy.
Having such a hard time pushing through.
- Today's the first time SoulCycle plus
a full day of video shoots is weighing on me.
Working and working out for 13 hours.
- My body didn't get used to it in the beginning
when they would say, "Turn up the dial.
"Turn it all the way to the right."
I was like "Ugh, I can't do this."
Today I was like "Oh, I'm pretty much towards
all the way to the resistance."
Like what, excuse me.
- We had a morning class with David.
For the first time I got emotional.
- It was the first time that I understood
the soul part of SoulCycle.
There was one point during the crazy slow emotional version
of Destiny Child's Say My Name
and it really got to me.
I was about to cry which is crazy.
- I like to push my feelings down.
I don't like to feel things,
but sometimes he says stuff that hits me in a weird way.
Touches on this un-found spirituality I have.
- He said, "When people put you down,
and when people say something negative about you,
or don't believe in you,
it's really a reflection of themselves."
And that just really resonated with me.
It got to the point where
I was about to cry but I didn't know if it was tears
or if it was sweat dripping in my eyes.
- He said some really cool new things
that really stuck out to me.
What are you gonna do today
that you'll be proud of in a year?
That meant a lot to me because I'm directing
a really cool project.
It made me want to work on it even harder.
- I was just pushing; my body was exhausted
and sweat was pouring down me and he would say something
and it started to kind of hit home which was weird.
I didn't know how to handle it.
- He also said, "Use your voice for the people
"that don't have a voice."
And that really spoke to me, too,
because I have a tattoo that says something similar.
Everything that he says is general enough
where you can apply it to whatever job or situation,
relationship you're in.
- This class made me realize the point of SoulCycle
is to find your soul.
The person you were when you were a child
and when you had that child-like wonder.
- Definitely can feel a difference when I go to class
as opposed to when I don't
just the way I carry myself
and my interactions with people
and just my overall attitude.
- He placed a candle down and I was like
"Oh, fuck. This darkness, my friends are here."
We had drive to all get up and to work on our bodies.
I finally understood why people love it so much.
- Today was my last SoulCycle class.
I'm a little sad. (laughs)
- Final SoulCycle class with the boys.
SoulCycle has done a lot of good for all of us.
It really brought us together and really changed us.
- It was the first time I've done it and I wanted it to end.
I was so into it.
I'm also feeling like an odd sort of comradery
with the guys which is really cool.
I've never really had that.
It's usually me, alone, trying to figure it out,
but it's been nice to really come together
as a group and do this.
- It became so part of just my instincts.
When I wake up I texted "Guys, I'm awake!"
with an emoji or something and then I get other texts
and that encourages me to get out of bed.
- I don't believe it's the last class.
I got used to it so much.
You know, it's part of you right now
and I just feel like "Oh, da fuck am I going to without it?"
Sad that we're not going to have
such a positive energy every morning.
- David, our instructor, said something this morning
that I think that is a good final note.
Every time something good happens in your life
is because something has changed.
I have changed because of SoulCycle.
- Getting into a consistent habit,
working out is completely new to me.
I was in the 140's this week.
I haven't seen those numbers on a scale
since I graduated college.
I wanted to be able to get into shape by the time I was 30.
I didn't want it to be a downhill slope from there.
- So I don't know if it's because I've repressed my emotions
for so long that now they're bubbling up in SoulCycle.
I had these moments where I'm just pedaling
and I'm putting everything into it
and I feel like I almost want to cry
which is so weird to say but there's just something
about putting your all into everything
and then having somebody scream
positive motivational things at you
that knocks me off of being able
to hold back these feelings.
- David actually said so many things that just hit home.
And it hits and I'm like
"Okay, I'm just going to ride this bike."
And then he says something else and I'm like
"Ugh, he needs to chill."
I just want to fall off the bike and be like ahh!
He said, "Don't kill your own joy.
"There's always going to be somebody that's going
"to stop you from doing what you want to do in life."
Oh, wait, who is it?
Oh, it's you.
And I was like
that's so true because we always talk ourselves down
and we tell ourselves we can't do it
and we're not good enough.
Wake up in the morning and we just start bashing ourselves.
I need to stop.
- The biggest, biggest result
is the fact that I haven't been smoking
for almost a month now.
Quitting cold turkey been the biggest achievement of 2017.
Decided to look at life differently.
Appreciating my body and my health.
I just hope I stick with it forever.
- We're all going through something.
Everybody's fighting a battle that you don't know about.
We're all just trying to get through this crazy thing
called life and you have more in common
with the person next to you than you would think.
- He's talking a lot about not bringing
that negative energy and what people think of you
and your life and just thinking about
how I do that so much.
I make so many decisions based on
what other people think of me
and that dictates so much of my life
and it made me start to kind of think about
if I just stop doing that
and really go after what I want,
what that would look like was kind of life changing
and bigger than just riding a bike.
- More people should get out there
and push themselves to get outside of their comfort zone
because that's when you're going to see the results
that you want in your life.
- Definitely going to miss it.
I'll probably end up taking some classes on my own
every now and then when I need some soul,
which might be often.
- I didn't really know what to think about this
and now I'm actually think I'm going to keep going
at least once a week.
It's just such a nice boost of positive mojo.
I carry that throughout my day
and to my relationships.
- Whether SoulCycle or not,
go take a class with friends.
They'll keep you accountable
and you can help keep them accountable.
- This is on the down low but
- It was you!
- No, no, no, no, no!