‘Some riders may experience altered spacial awareness’. This warning might be enough to make some people reconsider participating in this particular exercise class. Not me. I was intrigued. The last time I took a class which involved spinning madly on a stationary exercise bicycle was a decade ago – right before I bought my first adult bike. From then, the trees, the breeze and helmet hair had me hooked. I never returned to an indoor group cycling class… well… until now, that is.
I found myself at the Melbourne Fitness and Health Expo, suitable dressed in my active-wear, and ready to participate in ‘The TRIP™’, the latest and greatest Les Mills indoor cycling workout. Perhaps you’re familiar with some of the inaugural Les Mills fitness programs: BODYPUMP™, BODYCOMBAT™, and RMP™? The TRIP™ is in the same vein as RPM™… but with a sensational new ingredient: virtual reality. This new program allows you to ride through digital worlds, projected onto huge curved screens. You are guided by a live instructor, who cues the moves, all of which are perfectly choreographed to the music and graphics.
Would I be climbing virtual mountains? Or traversing digital plains? Oh no. This trip was a little trippier than that. We passed through imaginary worlds, starting in a futuristic city with towering spires. As we sped along a neon edged superhighway, I was reminded of Tom Cruise’s high speed chase in Minority report. The technology even played around with gravity and our sense of balance, looping us through corkscrews. Altered spacial awareness: check.
As we raced through a land of glaciers and rugged icecaps, I became so fully immersed in the experience that at one of the bends, I momentarily forgot that my feet were strapped into the pedals of a stationary bike. As I attempted to freewheel around a bend, I was almost flung off my bike onto an unsuspecting neighbouring cyclist! I was able to laugh, regain my composure, and pedal on. After 35 minutes, I left the studio sweaty and satisfied.
Intense? Yes. Yet for this demonstration at the Melbourne Convention Centre, we apparently only experienced 40% of the full immersive effect. The 7 purpose built studios (not yet in Australia) boast 270° screens that span 3 entire walls.
So – are you wheely tyred of the same old exercise routine? Are you geared up for the next level of fitness product? If you want to try The Trip™ right now, you’ll have to book a ticket to Auckland, London, Paris, New York, Santa Monica, Stockholm or Hong Kong. But if you can wait, immersive fitness should be in Australia by the end of the 2016.
-Anna E.
Anna E. is a Melburnian bike-rider, coffee-drinker, and dog-lover who is always up for trying new experiences. You might find her balancing on a slackline, training for a triathlon, or building a terrarium.
Check out Les Mills for further details on their classes and to keep updated on THE TRIP.
