Indoor cycling is the new fitness at Electric Studio Philippines

Indoor cycling is the exercise program that got me hooked in 2015.

It all started last April when a work colleague clued me in on this invite only pop-up cycling studio in Makati that was offering a free trial class. The word FREE was enough to make email the folks of Electric Studio for a slot. I didn’t have have an inkling that I was asking for free punishment as well, LOL.

There was too much pain after my first ride with the Electric folks, maybe because my muscles were a bit rusty from sitting too much in the office all day. For one week, I winced every time I walked or sat on the toilet to pee, never mind all the saints I called in heaven 🙂

But as they always say, no pain, no gain. The first ride led to a second one, and I was surprised that my legs were no longer cramping. So I signed up for a pre-opening package and followed the Electric folks when they opened their swanky cycling studio in Eight Forbes Town Road BGC. The house has been full since and has sure got Manila’s fitness fanatics addicted too.

Photos aren’t allowed to be taken inside the studio so let me just take you into a run-through of what makes Manila’s first, exclusive indoor cycling place unique:

(Photos courtesy of @teamelectricph on Instagram)

1. They have top-of-the-line indoor cycling equipment with a clipless pedal system. Guests use cycling-specific shoes that have velcro straps and holes at the bottom where one can attach a cleat. The cleat, in turn, attaches to the pedal. The whole design ensures efficient, uninterrupted movement when you ride on the saddle.

2. The instructor’s musical playlist is what makes the place rockin’. It can be anywhere from Florence & the Machine to Marc Anthony and yes, Taylor Swift and Katy Perry!

3. In session, the studio gets romantically dark because there’s only the warm glow of candle lights brightening up the place. This mood you can’t possibly get at your local gym.

4. The local gym gets very crowded too. Electric Studio just gets comfortably full of people. Cycling shoes, nice-smelling towels and filtered water are free to use. There’s hot water in the shower too and organic Human Nature toiletries.

5. The instructors are hot! 🙂

6. I was able to talk with Electric Studio’s young owner Kristina Sy (girl at right in photo above) and she told me that indoor cycling is different from spinning in the strict sense of the word.

With spinning, one duplicates riding a bike in the great outdoors at different endurance levels.

On the other hand, with indoor cycling, you do things that are not allowed in the standard spinning class like doing push ups on the handle bars and lifting weights, all to the beat of lively music.

Kristina says that depending on the efforts you exert on the bike, one indoor cycling session can burn from 700 to 1,000 calories. How cool is that?!

With this exercise being the hottest buzz in major cosmopolitan cities like New York and Hong Kong, and now immortalized in reality TV shows like Hollywood Cycle, rates in Manila’s first boutique cycling studio come with a price as well. The beginner package is only P1,500 for 5 rides but subsequent lessons cost from P800 to P1,000 per session.

I admit it’s expensive but I try to look at it positively. After all, a butt lift at your prominent beauty clinic can cost between P80,000 to P100,000. With cycling, you get your cardio plus the fringe benefits of having firmer legs and a firmer butt.

Electric Studio’s maiden branch at the Fort is on the Second Floor of 8 Forbes Town Road, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig
Tel. No. 8336051, 8336056
0915 212 4929
www.electricstudio.ph