Marsha Maung:: Freelance graphic designer and writer

Raw power in motion, that’s what RPM stands for…and let me tell you one thing…it is raw power and it is pure power!! Nothing less, that’s for sure.

RPM is a program that is available through any gym in the world enlisted with the Les Milles program. And if you think RPM is something you can kid around with, you’re wrong. In the eyes of those who have never tasted the pure torture of going through RPM, you’re in for the RIDE of your life! RPM is one hour of cycling that will rip your muscles apart and dry your sweat glands out.

Oh, of course, it’s fun most of the time. The music thumping through your brain, every ounce of your body fat burning. 45 minutes to 1 hour of competition-style cycling that sets you off on an hour of nothing but torturous adventure. You love it, and yet you hate it. You want to go on but you wish the instructor will stop asking you to ‘PUSH YOURSELF!!’.

In fact, sometimes I find myself thinking that RPM is nothing less than a small rock concert. You’re smashing your muscles into smitterins and there’s the music that keeps you going. The people who design this program knows how to choose their music. Music that goes, ‘Don’t give up now’, ‘Go on, go up, go on, go for it’, or ‘Move your body, move your soul’. Yeah, the likes.

It is, however, an awesome workout every single time. You go in thinking you’re just going to cycle your way through the hour and then you’re required to set up, sit down, lean over, sit down, arrow style, over the top…etc. the basic concept of RPM is to push people to their limits.

Frankly, I’ve never sweated so much in my life. I remember sweating just as much when I used to train in badminton with my dad. Badminton, as some of you will know, will make you sweat like your pores are open taps. There are those stationery bikes that looks absolutely harmless. When you get on, the music is turned on and the instructor starts saying ‘roll your shoulders’, you know you’re in trouble. At the end of the session, you notice a puddle of sweat at the bottom of the bike that is your own, your towel is soaked too, your water bottle is empty, and you can’t feel your legs.

Sometimes, I think RPM is made for those who either like to torture themselves or those who are sweat fanatics. How else do you explain the ‘YEAH’ and the ‘MORE MORE MORE’ in the middle of the session. You’re panting and practically going into a delusional state and people are still yelling for more??? You’re kidding!!!

People actually go there to torture themselves! For one, my sister and my cousin goes there to sweat! They attend more RPM sessions than me – and honestly, RPM scares the panties off of me. Everytime I go in there, I say a silent prayer…to whomever is out there, up there, listening. My main motivation is to remain in the game for as long as I can.

But the good thing is that RPM is a cardiovascular program that does not require you to jump, skip, hop, run, or perform acrobatics in an effort to sweat. All you have to do is to sit on the rock-hard seat of the bike and move your legs in circles REALLY fast. Some instructors are actually kind and say things like, ‘Do what you can, don’t stress yourself out’. But with an instructor we personally know, she is intent on giving us heart attacks. Every time I stop or try to cheat, she will wrinkle her nose and notify me, ‘I said move up two notches, not one’.

Blast you.

But how come I am still going back for more every single week? Has it got anything to do with the rate I sweat or is it because I am a sadomasochist in hiding?