Maybe they’re getting “frequent-cycler miles.” Or maybe it’s the music. Wait, there’s no miles program, and it’s definitely not the music. So what would possess someone to get up pretty much with the sun on Monday and Thursday mornings to
Maybe they’re getting “frequent-cycler miles.”
Or maybe it’s the music.
Wait, there’s no miles program, and it’s definitely not the music.
So what would possess someone to get up pretty much with the sun on Monday and Thursday mornings to climb aboard a bike that does not move and pedal, pedal, pedal for an hour?
“It’s something you addicted to. Either you really like it or you can’t stand it. I set my alarm, but I get up anyway,” said Carol Cummings, one of a devoted group of cyclists who belong to Rosa Minjares’ 6 a.m. cycling class at the Kauai Athletic Center (KAC).
“Cycling is my passion, and I really focus on teaching my students technique,” said Minjares, who has been on Kaua‘i about a year.
Minjares is a certified Spinning instructor who first started Spinning in the 1990s when she was working for United Parcel Service in Salt Lake City, Utah.
KAC General Manager Phyllis Stanwood said that, because of trademark issues, KAC is not allowed to call the cycling classes Spinning classes, because Spinning classes require the use of Schwinn bicycles. The cycling classes at KAC use Reebok cycles.
There’s still another spin to this story.
Minjares estimates her cyclists pedal anywhere from 20 to 30 miles per class, uphills, high resistance, and sprints included.
Besides the Monday- and Thursday-morning classes, Minjares, who works at H Hawaii Media, also teaches a Friday-afternoon class.
Minjares said the advantage of teaching multiple classes as opposed to being a one-on-one personal trainer is that trainers often get a client, bring him or her to a certain degree of fitness, and then the client goes out on his or her own. Rather than always trying to find clients, she prefers the continuity of her classes.
Minjares said her workouts are safe, but tough.
“It’s hard work, and I do push them to work with resistance, but I don’t push them beyond what they can do. I want to motivate them.”
Minjares, a natural athlete who plays softball and volleyball, is originally from Mexico.
She wanted to be a gymnast when she was younger.
“I always liked to be up on stage,” she said. But despite her vocal and insistent approach to training her loyal group of six to nine sunrise cyclists, Minjares prefers to keep things professional.
“I find I have a lot of strong-minded well-educated people in class,” she said, referring to the physician, college instructor and other professionals she instructs.
“I don’t get too personal. I come and teach, and guarantee them at least 500 calories burned.”
Some of those calories belong, or used to belong, to Sheila Harlin.
Harlin is a KAC regular who lifts weights and plays racquetball, among other things.
“It’s very challenging. If you make it through a full class, it can be exhausting, but it’s a great accomplishment,” Harlin said.
Susan Neil said she hadn’t missed a Monday or Thursday since she started the class.
“It’s a good way to start the day. It’s very invigorating,” said Susan Neil.
Stanwood, who teaches three cycling classes and a number of other fitness classes, said what she and other instructors like Minjares do is more a labor of love than a grab for profit.
Stanwood, who teaches in the neighborhood of nine classes a week, and subs for other instructors when needed, said all the classes offered are free to KAC members. The pay scale for instructors ranges from $18 to $30 a class, depending upon certification and seniority.
“Instructors pay for their own expenses, like the music. Some of us to do it for the love of it. When you add it all up, we’re not getting that much,” she said.
“I get to ‘torture’ people, and then have them thank me for it,” she said jokingly.
Stanwood said all instructors who teach aerobics classes, like Minjares, must be certified.
Back to the dawn patrol.
Cummings pointed out that members of the class, age-wise, run north of 35. OK, due north.
There is also a shortage of men. Minjares has a couple of regulars in her morning classes, but, as she put it, “I’m trying to recruit guys.”
Minjares thinks more women take the class because it is her opinion that women carry more of their bodily strength in their legs and core, while men tended to carry more muscle mass in their upper bodies.
Dennis Chun, one of Minjares’ regular male cyclists, said it didn’t really make a difference to him how the class was composed, gender-wise.
“It might be an ego thing. Maybe they think they won’t be able to keep up and finish. But there are benefits either way, and people (who don’t cycle) are losing out. I never thought cycling on a stationary bike could be so hard,” he said.
Minjares said her goal is to teach more classes, and to “recycle” her energy and enthusiasm to help her students.
