I Wet My Pants :o(

Well - today was the big day - I was going for a trial day at the ultra-swanky David Lloyd's Health, Fitness and Racquets Centre in nearby Cheam. My feeling when I first visited was "nice facilities, feels a bit corporate and impersonal". Still - I'd booked in for yoga and hopefully spinning, so here goes nothing!

Yoga started at 8am, and I arrived about 7:45, explained who I was to the peeps on the desk, and went off in search of the changing rooms. I went the long way round, and only found the quick route as I was leaving!

Anyway - the class was small and friendly, with abotu a dozen peeps in it, and an instructor who I knew from Fit Stop. Must admit my body wasn't used to yoga, and I quickly found a few aches and niggles. I think I really do need to work on stretching - not sure if it's the cause of a lot of my left leg problems or a side-effect of them, but either way it needs tackling. If the stretching doesn't sort it then maybe I need some physio.

After that I had hoped to do a spining class, and went downstairs to see if I could get into it. Computer say...ye-es, and I was in. To be honest I was almost hoping it had said no, because Croc had waxed lyrical about how much spinning hurt, and Pixel had said it was "evil". Well - I was going to find out for myself, but had 30 minutes to kill, so I walked round the gym, trying to get a feel for it. The staff pics and qualifications were on the wall - they all seemed well trained, REP level 3 etc (which is good). I had to laugh at "Clare Jelly" (snigger!).

Right - time for spinning - I headed for the bit with the bikes, which did seem rather closely packed together. Anyway - I adjusted the saddle and stuff, and the instructor arrived. Wibble! He was nice and friendly (didn't ask if anyone had any injuries, which surprised me) and then we got straight into a warm-up track - rather odd, as we did it on the bikes, while pedalling. Not sure how I felt about that - was the stability okay or would this not be good for the lower back? This was somethign that seemed to persist throughout the tracks - lots of stretching hands out and down, and rolling from side to side - again - a loss of stability? Maybe I've been reading too much road bike technique, but I thought that this was bad?

The next track involved getting out of the saddle, and more leaning to one side - I guess thi sis to make sure each leg works to the full. Must confess that I found this very hard, and my quads were screaming. They had been sore beforehand from the run (a bit). As the later "out of the saddle" tracks came, I got a bit more used to the technique, and putting it in an higher gear helped.

Inbetween these tracks were the spinning ones. I guess I was doing about 120 rpm on the pedals (cadence), some people were going nuts, but I really didn't see the point in doing 180! The spinning definitely helped the legs relax :o)

Early on I hated the class, but I got to really enjoy it. The instructor was great and encouraging, without letting you slack off. Just what I like in an instructor.

Then down to the pool - I think the indoor one was longer, and it seemed like 25m, both to look at and from the stroke count. I did 50m in 49.13 second, which is a good time. It doesn't have as much natural light, but it was a cloudy day, which is perhaps why the pool looked a little less "transparent". There were only a few people in the lanes, which was great. I did about twelve lengths, then went outside to try the outdoor pool. It was cold walking to it, and a tad chilly once I got in. The visibility was fantastic - but again I think related to natural light.

After that - into the spa (cue the fart gags - not from me incidentally - oh no I'd never do that, would I readers?). It was like getting into a bath! I then went between steam room (lovely and hot - much better than fit Stop) and sauna (not as hot, and I didn't see anywhere to pour water either). Then back into the pool for another couple of lengths - it was lovely to feel the cool water after the heat of the steam room. Altogether I swam 400m (assuming a 25m pool).

Finally - a rest on the sun loungers, chilling otu - I could so easily have fallen asleep! Then get changed, and into the bar for a coffee. It wasn't as pricey as I expected - coffee was £1.40 and a pint of lager (which I didn't have) was £2.40. Slight downside was a fair volume of sprogs.

So - overall a great place. It's bigger than Fit Stop and inevitably felt less personal. The gym had the machines more closely packed, but that seems the standard. I'm not sure I'm keen on the ongoing noise level either. Not a major factor, but that can niggle me. The people all seemed nice, and I'm sure I'd get to know people there. Probably quite a few Fit Stop peeps too - they've got to go somewhere!

Okay - so what next - I guess I'd like to do a trial visit at Cannons!

Still not sure about what to do - the pool at Lloyd's is great, and the opening times for it too. Then again - there's a pool at the Rainbow for £30 a month less - just with marginally less classes and shorter opening times. Perhaps join the Rainbow for now and then Lloyd's later. Not having a lane full of people like yesterday at the Rainbow would be nice, although I'm not sure how typical today was. If it's like that all the time then it would be really good. Are these few small things worth an extra £30 a month though?

One minor downer to end the day - my pants had got soaked with sweat during spinning, and unfortunately I hadn't got a dry pair to change into. I had a spare shirt etc, but instead of climbing into lovely fresh clothes after my relaxing experience, I had to put on soggy ones - ewwwww!