SpinFIT offers ‘eccentric’ cycling experience

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SpinFIT Bellmore, a spin cycling studio on Bellmore Avenue that opened just six months before the pandemic, is a family owned studio with fun and energetic classes open to new and longtime cyclists. Having spent nearly nine months completely shutdown due to Covid, they reopened in January, catering toward existing and new cliental.

“It was so immediate,” said Sandi Vega, SpinFIT’s manager, of the shutdown last March. “We had no virtual classes at the time.”

Celia Fox, one of SpinFIT’s instructors, who’s been teaching spin for 15 years and is also a personal trainer, said, “I kept my business alive through FaceTiming and Zoom. I said, ‘We need to do virtual classes.’ People were still spinning live, but virtually. They still got their training through the screen, and it was amazing.”

“It was very helpful,” Vega said. “The instructor would go into the room and stream classes. It brought us to place we needed to be.”

Upon reopening, the studio followed all cleaning and health protocols closely, including the masks and social distancing requirements, temperature checks on

clients and UV lighting sanitation.

“We had extra cleaning that we did in the day,” Vega added. “It was unfortunate that we had to exercise and wear the masks, but once you got used to it, a good amount of people didn’t mind — they were craving normalcy.”

“It was challenging to wear the mask as an instructor,” Tildy DeLuca, another spin instructor at the studio explained. “We had to double check everything — everything was totally sanitized. We followed total protocol.”

“It was a rocky start back,” Fox added. “We had the diehards who came back masked but a lot of people did get used to virtual fitness.”

Gyms and studios were amongst the last places to reopen, and according to Vega there were many times when they didn’t know when they’d hear from New York State.

“It was a little scary not knowing where the industry was going, but we got through it,” instructor Lisa Marquardt added. Marquardt, like Fox, has also been teaching spin for many years.

“Restrictions have loosened and vaccines have definitely helped. We’re definitely doing better,” Vega said.

SpinFIT is a unique studio, in that the classes are smaller and more intimate, leading to a more personalized experience for clients, according to Vega.

“Clients are able to purchases classes online. Classes are opened and closed by the instructor. There’s one room, with about 20 bikes,” she said.

“Our spinning is a little more eccentric,” Fox explained. “It makes it a little different, and that’s what makes people keep coming back. You have to try it once — it is so much fun. It is a party on a bike.”

With classes every day of the week, clients can download the Mindbody app, and view the schedule and pricing.

“I love it there,” DeLuca said. “I’ve built up confidence and great clients. I try to modify rides to the newcomers. I tell them to spin at their own pace and have fun, and to not worry about anyone else.

“SpinFIT is a very intimate riding studio,” she added. “It is not overwhelming and there’s a lot of personalized attention to people and their needs — it becomes a family.”

Marquardt agreed that the small studio feel does resemble a family. “It’s cohesive — a comfortable feel. The owners at the studio are also really great with communication.”

SpinFIT offers classes for experienced riders as well as newcomers, and they’re open to anyone who wants to try. On the Mindbody app, patrons can view individual class pricing, as well as packaging.

“It might take you weeks or months to get it,” Fox explained. “You have to learn it — learn the feeling of the bike. From head to toe, it is a full body workout. It brings such joy to me,” to see clients succeed.

“Even if you’ve never spun before, it’s a great opportunity to come in, sit in the dark, listen to music and ride,” DeLuca said. “Come in, get motivated, and get back into shape.”