Fall Sports Sports

Andover Outdoor Spin Provides Stress Relief from Remote Learning

One of the new offerings this fall is Outdoor Spin. Without the pressures of a game or team, it provides a space to relax the mind during workouts.

“[Outdoor Spin] gets students moving more than just walking around campus, but more, the opportunity to still a mind, if they take it. Unlike playing sports when your mind needs to be very active, gathering information and making decisions to compete, in spin it is just you and the bikes. If you really still your mind, you practice mindfulness,” said Instructor Karen Kennedy. 

According to Dora Lu ’24 and Kaia Heslin ’23, everyone is able to go at their own pace, which motivates students to focus on their personal goals and achievements instead of comparing themselves to others.  

“I like [Outdoor Spin] because you can make it as hard or as easy as you want, so if I am feeling really motivated I might do a hard workout, and if not then I might just do some easy stuff,” said Heslin. 

Lu added, “I think my favorite thing about spin would probably be how much it does for me. I can get rid of my stress from school and just think about something else while building up my strength and sitting alongside other people without really having to worry about ‘Oh, am I being as great as them?’”

According to Kennedy, remote learning can induce bad posture from sitting in front of a screen for hours at a time. Kennedy encourages students to maintain a good posture during spin, providing a break from the physical pressures of the day.

Kennedy said, “I have taught them positions and changing position, changing pace, and changing resistance, but the students are really, particularly during the pandemic, working at their own levels. It kind of releases what a day of being on devices does to your body.”

According to Heslin, Outdoor Spin incorporates a variety of different exercises and mindfulness techniques. 

“My favorite thing about spin is that we don’t really do the same thing every day. Most days we do a spin workout, and then maybe once a week we will do a workout that is not spinning like running or workout with resistance bands and sometimes we also do meditation, so it is also really calming,” said Heslin.