On Thursday evening, I had the pleasure of participating in a spinning class at The Handle Bar in South Boston. I was invited””along with some friends””to try out one of their classes for free. And, let me tell ya, it was a great time!
The Handle Bar is located in Southie on the corner of Dorchester and W. Forth, right across from the Broadway T station, which is great for people who work in the city and take the Red line south. You could easily hop off the T for a class and then continue home after, which is exactly what one of my friends did on Thursday night.
Oh, and the parking isn’t that bad in this part of Southie. A bunch of us found non-resident, 2-hour parking with no problem.
The class schedule at The Handle Bar varies a little bit from day-to-day with five weekday classes (early morning, lunchtime, and evening) and few on Saturday and Sunday. Each class is 45 minutes. We took the 7:15 PM class with Jess, who is the owner and manager.
When I arrived at The Handle Bar, I was warmly greeted by a few different employees. Jess and another woman were working the front desk””checking people in and renting out spin shoes. There were also a couple of people helping newbies set up their bikes for class.
The bikes at The Handle Bar are not compatible with regular sneakers, so they offer shoe rental for $2 per pair or you can wear your own. I usually just wear my sneakers for spin class, so I was excited to try cycling shoes for the first time. I definitely liked “clipping in” and felt more connected to the bike during the workout.
The class itself was great. I loved that Jess had us moving all over the bike””2 counts in the saddle, 2 counts standing, etc. I felt like we were never sitting for more than a few minutes at a time (on a hill or something), so it kept things interesting and fun, and the time really flew by. I also really liked that the studio had cool air blowing the entire class, so it never got hot and muggy like it sometimes does.
I also really loved the live DJ at class. I loved the music he played and he worked with Jess to coordinate his music with our workout. It was so cool. It also made the class a bit more challenging because 1) there were no music breaks and 2) the music pumped me up and pushed me harder. I’m a huge fan of the live DJ.
CrossFit 781 ladies at The Handle Bar! Thanks so much for coming, lady beasts! Let’s do it again soon!
Questions of the Day
Have you ever done a workout with live music?
What’s the coolest workout you’ve ever done?
Do you know what the pricing is regularly? looks great!
Here you go: http://www.handlebarcycling.com/pricing
I love cycling, it’s probably my favorite work out! I’m jealous of the live DJ that sounds like so much fun.
This looks like so much fun, I wish I had this type of studio near me. The look of the studio is so cute! Doesn’t it make you want to open something like that?
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Ohh that looks like such a nice studio. And live DJ? Are you kiddin’ me? Sign me up!
I’ve never attended a cycling class but I’ve heard such awesome things about spin. It’s on my must-try this year.
Great post – really informative!
A live DJ?! How awesome! Music definitely pushes me to work out harder! I wish we had something like that here. I think barre classes are quite neat. I was surprised by how challenging they can be.
Nice! I’m not a big fan of cycling, but I love that they had a live DJ. I feel like that would be extra motivating!
Thanks for the review! I heard about this place but didn’t know if it was good or not. I just moved out of Southie but I’ll definitely head back for a spin class! 😀
Happy Saturday!
Oh wow the studio looks absolutely amazing!
I love love love indoor cycling and spin classes so this would be amazing.
And a live DJ would be awesome too. Sounds like a lot of fun!
I’ve also been loving the Handle Bar! You have to check out Elise’s classes if you go back!
I will! Thanks for the suggestion. I definitely want to go to another class!
I live about a 1/2 mile from this studio in Southie & after our post I’m going to check it out next week! I can’t wait!! Thanks!
I love going to spin class! I’ve never been to one with a live DJ though, so cool!
How fun! I haven’t done spin in ages, and this makes me miss it!
One of my old ballet teacher’ sister was a professional harpist and she play the music for class one time. It was so amazing, I don’t think I’ll ever forget it!
The DJ is my cousin! I let him know you enjoyed the music, he was happy to hear! That’s awesome you included him in the post.
Cool! What a small world!
Omg the live DJ would be awesome!
That is so awesome. Coolest work out for me would have to be one of the races I’ve ran. I love the energy!
I absolutely love spinning! No live DJ but one the guys in my gym who teaches it is in a band, the lead singer and sings along with the music during the class here and there! Great fun!
I took biology in college with Jess the owner! So cool, I really want to try a class!
Live music would be so motivating! The best class I’ve done was is Real Military Fitness, which I do now. You can’t beat training outdoors.
sounds like so much fun!! never taken a class with live music, but I bet it’s an awesome experience.
I’ve never exercised to live music, but it sounds like it would be a great time. I bet there is so much energy in the room. I always loved cycling, when I was a member at the gym.
Whattttt? Live music, wow that sounds pretty awesome. I would love to try something like that! And maybe cycling too 🙂
That does sound like fun! My gym’s spin studio is really cramped, hot room that makes spin classes very unappealing. It wish it wasn’t that way–I know it’s great exercise.
Wow that sounds like such an awesome class and workout! I’ve never been to a class before with live music but I love the idea it sounds great. As do clip in spin shoes they sound like they would let you push harder and not worry so much about your feet staying in.
I’ve never been to a spin class (though I would LOVE to) and I’ve never had a live DJ!! That’s fabulous!!
A live DJ sounds amazing! Love the jar with the gum & hair bands, too!
I’ve never heard of a live DJ for exercise classes. That sounds like a lot of fun! And I really like their logo.
That place looks fantastic! I have done midnight yoga classes to live music, which was really cool. I think the coolest workout I have ever done was a spin class (my first and only) at the Solage resort in Calistoga.
I love spinning! That sounds fun. Great post!
I’m leaving today for vacation with my husband’s family in Dartmouth, Massachusetts. Are you familiar with this area? Any recommendations? Good runs?
I’m not familiar with that area. Sorry! Enjoy your time there!
i used to do ballet to live piano music! how lucky was i!
i used to spin in high school i should get back to it!
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That looks like an amazing workout!
I think the closest I got to a DJ in class was a yoga class with a drummer 🙂
Coolest workout is a trekking class–about 30-35 min on the treadmill with varying incline, speed, etc and you cover an intense 4-5 miles. And then there’s another 10-15 minutes off the treadmill for core.
That looks like an awesome studio! Very clean, attention to detail, and LOVE the idea of live music. I have never taken a class with that, but it seems like it’d be a blast. I’m getting back into spin again and love it, but also hate it too. HA!
I need to come and move where you are Tina! Your area has so much to offer! I love spin but I have never had a live DJ in my class before! Besides crossfit, spin has to be the best interactive workout/class I have attended. I wouldnt turn them down anyday.
Love your review of Handlebar! I have seen it just driving around Boston and always wanted to venture in. Your article gave me so many reasons to actually do it. Super excited to see a new form of spinning, live DJ sounds pretty cool.