Thursday, November 15, 2012

Two Foot Spins--the bad side

So I spent 15 minutes of my 30 minute group lesson practicing two foot spins. I had a couple that were stable and nicely centered. But, hey, I'm elderly, I've got inner ear issues. At first I was dizzy, then suddenly:
Tener mal cuerpo!
I just clung to the boards for a couple of minutes and frantically waved the coach away.

("Please, dear god, don't let me hurl over someone's boots.")

But, my stomach righted itself after a bit.

Maybe I'm not cut out for spins.


6 comments:

  1. Whoops! [I have yet to experiment with spins.]

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  2. I recently advanced my 2-foot spins from 4 revolutions to 7 revolutions...and let me tell ya, those extra 3 really make me dizzy! You are not alone!

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  3. It takes some time to get used to it. I've learned to recognize when I'm starting to feel a little queasy and then I have to skate around a bit and come back to it. I never practice spinning without a bottle of water nearby. I also make sure not to do it on an empty stomach. I learned that the hard way--I'd had brunch, so my normal eating schedule was off when I went to skate that afternoon and I had to teach an ESL class after skating. Minutes before class started, I was sitting on the floor of the church bathroom thinking I was going to lose it. Now, I always make sure to at least have a snack before spinning if it's been awhile since my last meal.

    If I manage it correctly, spinning doesn't bother me, which is amazing, because I can get motion sick sitting on an exercise ball at my desk.

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  4. I'm hoping that the dizziness and nausea caused by spinning (I'm also working on the 2 foot spin) will be kinda like back when I was assigned to a cutter in the Coast Guard, i.e. after an adaption period the motion of the ship was no longer a problem. But with sea sickness it always took me a couple of days to get my sea legs back--our ship would go out for 30 or 40 days and then come back to base for roughly the same amount of time. During the in-port periods I'd lose some of my resistance but once we were underway again I'd quickly get it back and the queasiness was never as bad as the first patrol. Interestingly, and unlike the experiences of alejeather, I discovered that I did better for the first couple of days out to sea if I laid off the chow. After getting my legs back I could eat greasy pork chops while the boat rolled around with the best of 'em.

    I'm guessing that nausea induced by spinning will be the same sort of deal: if I want to remain clear headed while spinning, I won't dare to have a big lay-off after becoming adapted!

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  5. I used to be fantastic at spins. Crazy fast. Had no trouble with dizzyness. When people would ask my secret, I remember saying I would unfocus my eyes. Scratch, sit, camel, even layback...the only spins I was bad at were back spins. Those were incredibly slow.

    After college, being poor and working, I took many years away from the ice. I'm trying to get back into it and have lost a lot of my ability. Including this magical ability not to be dizzy. My scratch spin is coming along again (altho very inconsistent)...when I'm able to get a nice centered fast one, oh my...I'm so dizzy after.

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  6. Yes, the dizziness from spinning goes away with practice. One way to help with this is to spin around in circles off the ice like children do. And if you have to be off the ice for a period of time, this is a good way to maintain your dizziness tolerance.

    ~Freestyler who loves spinning, and also does some dance

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