u/phillyyoggagirl

No real fanfare. Just a small acknowledgement from the instructor at the start of class. I'm good with that.

The real prize is my blood pressure went all the way down recently... 106/66. Even on the small dose of bp meds I'm on (2.5mg omlesartan) I've never had blood pressure this good. It used to be in the high 140s/low 150s and 90-something on the bottom number. I could actually walk decent distances now (compared to before) without the feeling of getting dizzy and wanting to sit down and rest. With just bp meds alone (and 3+ times per week of Bikram yoga) my bp was ~120/80 so this is a win for me.

The best thing about Turn It Up Challenges is not the prizes but the fact that I got myself out of my comfort zone by trying out instructors I wasn't familiar with or rediscovering how good certain instructors are. I like all the instructors in the Philly/Ardmore studios, but because of timing issues, I usually don't take many Corey and Alex classes. Corey and Alex are amazing.

Corey is built like a football player but he can really move on the bike! His classes are among the most intense I've taken. Alex, a triathlete, really brings it, especially on Tueslay rides that are also very intense with a ton of choreo.

Keith only teaches two classes in Philly, but I try to take them when I can. There is something very chill about his classes that sets them apart from everyone else's. I recommended Keith to one of my friends who was an OG rider from back in the day and she said that Keith's classes remind her of OG SoulCycle classes.

Lauren has some all-out, crazy-intense choreo and her huge fanbase in the front two rows all seem to be in perfect sync. I find it a win if I could keep up with these ladies who are less than half my age. Besides the extremely challenging classes, I find her playlists to always have a lot of variety.

Jess has some fun, intense energy in all of her classes. I remember when I was taking a lot of Lauren's classes, if I wanted a class that was a little less intense, Jess' classes checked that box. Since I'm a crazy pop queen, I find Jess' (and Lauren's) music most closely matches my own.

Bryant has drawn some divisive comments lately, but objectively speaking, his classes, when he's riding the bike, are very good. They are basic classes that don't have that all-out intense choreo like others, but this is good when you want a class you can do after a long day of mental drain from work.

My favorite instructors are Wonder, Matt, and Meg. Wonder goes all out with choreo and her enthusiasm is infectious. She also has great messages about self-empowerment during the chill-out song. The cool thing is even though her tracklist has slower BPMs than many of the other instructors, I find her classes work my core harder than everyone else's.

Matt has such wonderful instructions for beginners at SoulCycle. His classes are hard but are very much worth taking. He teaches only a couple of classes at odd times so he doesn't get the large numbers of riders as others. If you're a Bad Bunny or Demi Lovato fan, you have to go take his classes.

Meg is a newer instructor and one of my favorites. She has that kind of chill demeanor that hides a very intense class. She teaches early early or late late classes because she has a day job as a college professor. She gets us to understand that we should always try to find joy in what we're doing, which is a very valuable lesson indeed.