Even though the name sounds breezy, Flywheel is hard. It's dark, and loud, and competitive, and the only person that knows if you're coasting along or actually pushing yourself is - you guessed it - you. And it's one of the best workouts you'll have.

Tucked away in a corridor at the Shops at the Prudential Center, Flywheel seems to be a world of it's own. Everyone is seriously pumped to be there. There's excitement, and Jay-Z's top hits from the 2000's, in the air. Beautiful, sweaty people, fresh off of the class that just ended, are teetering around on specially-made sneakers, enthusiastically squirting water into their mouths and toweling off the drippings as they discuss the ups-and-downs of their workout.

I strongly considered leaving.

But, of course, I didn't, even when my friend warned me not to go too hard or I will throw up. And not even when I felt claustrophobic when the square peg on my special Flywheel sneaker locked in to the peddle, ensuring I'd be able to peddle standing up when the instructor gave us the go-ahead. 

And I'm glad I didn't, because it was an amazing, cleansing, and energizing workout that I felt burning in my body for the rest of the weekend. For 45 minutes, I peddled furiously, speeding up and slowing down, standing up and falling back into the seat when the instructor called directions into her headset microphone. I didn't notice the music, and I tried not to pay attention to the monitors at the front of the class that ranked the top performers in the room.

For about an hour, all I cared about was RPMs, torque, and water. (And remembering which locker contained all my stuff after class - I forgot my locker number and received nothing but a sympathic shrug from the woman at the desk.)

As Flywheel's strong celeb following may suggest, it's pretty pricey - one class is $28, or 5/$125. You can incorporate some of the elements, like lifting light weights as you peddle, into your everyday stationary bike routine, but the high level of energy and the curated challenges of adjusting speed and resistance is irreplaceable, and addictive - it will definitely become an indispensable part of my workout rotation.

So what'd I wear? Marshall's hooked us bloggers up with a gift certificate for some gear to get sweaty in. (IRL, their activewear section is the first and last one I always check for new workout clothing.) I scored a Nike tank top (that I 100% plan to wear with jeans this summer as well) and RBX leggings (that I 100% wear all the time, including right now), as well as perfectly pink Fila sneakers that I wore for the brisk warm-up walk to the class, but stashed in exchange for Flywheel sneakers.

Fila Memory Foam Sneakers, Nike Tank, RBX Leggings were purchased with a giftcard c/o Marshall's. The class was c/o Flywheel Boston.