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Amanda Hinds, 31, loved indoor cycling, but over time, she grew bored with the music and found the classes didn’t feel right for her. She gave it up.
Then, she heard about a class that was different, tried it and loved it. “I was able to relate to the instructor because she was younger and Black, like me. She played hip hop, bounce and Jersey club music,” Hinds tells TODAY.com.
Hinds took more of those classes, and she realized she wanted to be that person on the podium, leading the other riders. COVID-19 derailed her plans, though. Her gym closed, and she bought a Peloton bike but quickly stopped using it. She gained a lot of weight.
“A little after COVID, I went on vacation, and I couldn’t even walk. My feet hurt just from walking and standing. My athleticism was really bad. I went to the doctor, and I saw that I had gained 100 pounds in a year. I couldn’t believe it. I was so frustrated and disgusted with myself,” she says.
Since then, she’s reached her dream of becoming a cycling instructor, lost 80 pounds and improved her fitness and stamina. She shared her inspirational journey on TikTok in a video that went viral.
Here’s how she got there.
She reconnected with her dream of teaching cycling classes
One day, Hinds decided it was time to dust off that Peloton bike and get back in the saddle. “I told myself, ‘Stop being afraid of the bike. It’s hard. Just try it. Take it day by day,’” she says.
“That was a big pivot in my fitness journey — admitting that something was hard, but could be done. It’s supposed to be hard, and it’s not going to be hard forever. Our bodies can do it. It’s just our minds telling us we can’t. When you’re trying to grow and challenge yourself, you have to remove all of that noise.”
That was a big pivot in my fitness journey — admitting that something was…
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