“You get caught up in the intensity of the lights and the music, so that after an hour of exercise, you’re sweating like crazy, but smiling and laughing at the same time,” said Melissa Beretta ’14.

The sport that Beretta refers to does not involve shoulderpads, cleats, expensive equipment, or gratuitous amounts of violence.

Spinning, with which Beretta has become intensely involved in, is defined as working out on a stationary bike for full one hour without stopping. Some classes also include upper body workouts, while on the bike, such as lifting body bars or doing mini abdominal exercises. Individuals improve their cardiovascular aerobic capacity and body strength.

Among the Staples population, spinning is a rising sport. Recently, there has been an increasing popularity in teen spin classes, which take place at JoyRide in Westport, Conn., Intensity in Norwalk, Conn., and a handful of other local studios.

JoyRide opened this summer, and was originally exclusively geared towards adults, and a teen spin class was not available.  Rhodie Lorenz, a founder of the spin Studio and its Creative Director, soon realized, however, that kids would enjoy the class, and so he added it to JoyRide’s weekly schedule. At 4:30 – 5:30pm on Wednesday, teens engage in the activity.

Athletes can train for competitive sports, and people who want to lose weight may burn up to 900 calories per hour.  Like other effective forms of cardiovascular exercise, spinning builds up an individual’s heart rate to a point, and then allows one to recover quickly before pushing him or herself once again.

With great choreographic music and cool lighting, participants are inspired to push the pedals harder and faster.  “Spinning is an incredibly good substitute for those of us who hate to run”, said Beretta

However, engaging in an intense workout is not the only benefit of these classes. “Teen classes are geared more toward teen music and being social,” said Lorenz.  In addition, many other forms of exercise, such as Zumba, a dance workout class, put a little bit more spotlight on the individual. Lorenz explained that spinning allows people to go at their own paces, and to not feel self- conscious. No coordination or remarkable athletic skill is required to be very successful as spin.

Instructor of the teen spin class at Intensity, Elisa Carvalho, added that spinning classes are a noncompetitive environment that accommodate all fitness levels. People have claimed to become ‘obsessed’ with spinning, once they start. “You gain a sense of accomplishment, confidence and a higher self-esteem. Those feelings can be addictive…. and why shouldn’t they be?” said Carvalho, who teaches the Teen Spin Wednesdays at 4-5p.m..

Spinning has become very useful for off-season training for Varsity Sports. Staples’ Girls Lacrosse team goes to JoyRide every Tuesday and Thursday for a class that is over an hour long.

One captain of the lacrosse team, Kenzie Roof ’12, loves the class, and thinks that her teammates would agree that it is a blast. “All of our preseason work is designed to help form bonds before the season starts, but the spinning has been awesome because it’s difficult but fun at the same time,” said Roof.

Lorenz said that she is really happy to be able to let students use the studio for their use and thinks that spinning is a great form a training to stay conditioned.  “As an instructor and owner, we want people to have fun while working out because it’ll have them commit to keep coming and in return stay healthy,” said Lorenz.

Whether it’s the blasting music, dim lights and cool atmosphere, choreography, or pure workout that attracts teens, the enjoyment that radiates from these classes doesn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon.

For JoyRide registration: http://joyridewestport.com/

For Intensity registration: http://www.intensityclub.com/default.asp?cat=adults&sub=adultfitness&page=187

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Staples students warm up and get their blood flowing before their spinning class on Wednesday, at 4:30p.m. at JoyRide in Westport, Conn.