Keep on turning if you want to get fit enough to take on the ‘toughest event on earth’

We hope you enjoy this post about the effort the Holyrood PR team are putting into Total Warrior. We are raising money for a great cause – the SSC summer camp project for deserving kids. Can you help by donating as little as a fiver? Thanks for your support.

SPINNING. The PR industry is so often accused of it.

So much so that the top figures in our industry are typically referred to as ‘spin doctors’ in everyday parlance.

Ever the trailblazers here at Holyrood PR, we thought we’d try a totally different type of spinning, all part our admittedly bonkers quest to tame the North Berwick ‘Total Warrior’ – a daunting 12km run with 30 obstacles guaranteeing pain, terror and mud… a lot of mud.

Our PT from Studio EH1, Darren Danagher has so far helped us see and feel huge improvements in our cardio and muscular endurance – all from our once weekly sessions, often taking place in some of the great green spaces in Edinburgh.

We all then made the not faint-hearted decision to take the bull by the horns and ramp up our training even more. Darren was quick to point to our cardio – extolling the virtues of spinning as a means of boosting fitness levels significantly in a relatively short space of time.

A bit of research then took place and it didn’t take too long to learn that there really is one place and one place only, very much the ‘spiritual home of spinning’ in Edinburgh – and that is LifesCycles, located in Newhaven Road, Edinburgh.

Find out the real reason why each member of the team has *willingly* signed up to the self-acclaimed ‘toughest event on earth’

With this in mind we arranged a meeting with Jeannie and Andy, the charismatic owners and heartbeat of Lifescycle.  We were quick to learn from them that this is no spinning class of the type seen in corporate gyms. No questionable EDM, jock instructors or unnatural gyrations at this, Scotland’s original, dedicated spinning studio.

Lifescycle really is different, something plainly obvious from the moment you spring up the steps of the Newhaven Road base amid the Buddha masks, funky colour scheme and Tour de France memorabilia.

The entrance/reception/foyer which tends to be set to a psychedelic background soundtrack is where you are met by resident pooches Harvey and Canna who are as chilled as Andy and Jeannie’s welcome is warm.

The passion extends to the cycling – newbies feel instantly at ease and comfortable following a personal set up, to ensure the bike is as comfortable as is possible with a hard saddle jammed into your most tender parts.

As we saddled up for the first time, it wasn’t long until we were in amongst it with the peloton climbing the first stage of a virtual mountain.  Yeah, that’s right – you see the whole notion around this school of spinning is that it is to mimic a group cycle up a punishing but rewarding stage of the Tour. And everyone is into it, facing the headwinds together, stepping up to take the lead and sprinting at the opportune moment.

All set to a mesmeric upbeat soundtrack without the merest hint of David Guetta, it doesn’t take long until you are drenched with sweat, legs pounding, heart racing and endorphins fizzing. Read what he said about the effects of such a session.

Following our sixth session we are starting to really feel a difference and we are beginning to believe that Total Warrior might not be the step too far – the niggling voices in the back of our heads a few months ago would have certainly disagreed.

Pride is at the heart of everything that the team at Holyrood PR do. We surround ourselves with it at every opportunity. It is plain to see that Jeannie and Andy – and the whole Lifescycle family – pour a great deal of it into their spinning church and it really shows – you get a workout with heart for your heart (and legs).

Our pride will extend right up to the date of Total Warrior, exactly to the point of the first obstacle when it may come crashing down. Until that moment we will head there to set a great time knowing that we have prepared ourselves and overcome that original trepidation.

Even more importantly we want to raise a great deal of money for a cause that means a lot to a few of us Holyrooders.

We want disadvantaged kids to get the opportunity to visit a summer camp at the SSC, a 103 year old Scottish institution.

Kids who’ve had it pretty damn tough will mix with contemporaries from all walks of life, socialising, having fun, making lifelong friends and contacts – all out of reach of phone and wifi signals.

We chose this charity as we wanted to benefit young people close to home. We know through regular contact with SSC what a difference it can make to a child’s outlook on life – positively affecting their social habits, ambitions and happiness.

We ask you to donate anything you can, through our My Donate page.

Anything you contribute will give us that bit more encouragement to keep on spinning those pedals, not to give in on that painful twentieth burpee and eventually….to run over fire and swim under ice.