Now that I’ve gained all this weight during my booze fast I need to try and lose it again. Argh! Fortunately my friend Natalie, aka The Liquid Muse, told me about Kimberly Fowler’s YAS (Yoga and Spinning Center) in Venice, a hybrid class that has you spinning for a half hour followed by another half hour of yoga, a fitness sampler if you will. Apparently Self Magazine called it “Zen on wheels.” I tried it out for the first time ever on Sunday and LOVED it. Who knew that I’d still have energy to do anything after an intense spinning class but it works. And it’s a perfect complement to my running as it’s low impact and will increase my flexibility.

The first half hour on the bike was so grueling and I even thought I was going to faint because I couldn’t seem to take in enough air. (Next time I’m going to sit on a bike next to the open garage door.)  To help me get through the class Natalie told me that it’s usually about eight songs long so I could countdown since there isn’t a clock in the classroom. Our instructor kept offering up whoops of encouragement and some people in the class were woo-hooing and hollering like, “Oh yeah, baby, hurts so good!” Not me. When I felt like I hit my limit, I just got back in the saddle, eased off the resistance on the bike and guzzled some water. I figured I had to save some energy for the yoga class. But I was wrong.

Turns out the yoga class was a nice, relaxing way to stretch and come down from the spinning. We did plank pushups, warrior poses, downward dog, etc. Nothing too strenuous or difficult. But it was perfect because afterward I wasn’t in any pain at all, even the next day. I wish I knew that about the yoga class beforehand because then I would have pushed myself harder during the spinning class.

Anyway, the great thing about these classes, besides how nice everyone is, is that you have to reserve your spot beforehand and that prevents it from getting overly packed. No having to fight for a spot here. If you buy a package of tickets, you can make your reservations 24 hours before the class.

Since there is currently a special running until the end of March (tomorrow!) I bought a package of 20 classes for $210, which comes out to only $10.25 a class. A single class usually goes for $17! I highly recommend you score that special while you can. Don’t worry about your package expiring either as there is no expiration date. Natalie said she still had a package saved from six years ago and was still able to use it. That’s more than incentive enough for me, Queen of Expired Coupons.

The YAS classes are offered Monday through Friday at 5:30am and every day at 11:15am. And you don’t need to bring a yoga mat or special spinning shoes since they provide mats and straps for your sneaks. Just bring a bottle of water and a towel. Woo hoo! Here’s to fun weight loss.

YAS Venice
1101 Abbot Kinney Boulevard
Venice, California 90291 (map)
(310) 396-6993