Bob Mendelson's father introduced him to a gym. "When I was 13, he said, 'Bobby, you're looking like you're not in shape.' So he started me running around the gym, and then he started me working out, and doing what is the equivalent of working on these lovely machines [at Wellbridge]."
It was the '40s. Mendelson was 13, maybe 14, he says, and soon he began to go up to the YMCA—which just offered calisthenics and barbells at the time—for day camp while his mother worked. He did his push-ups, sit-ups, knee bends, and played basketball. Now, at 90 years old, that lifetime of exercise might be how he is able to exercise every day, even teaching a spin class at Wellbridge Athletic Club in Clayton.
Mendelson doesn't look 90. Frankly, he doesn't look 60. Perhaps it's because of his attitude. "I believe that not only should you do something physical every day, but that you should do something spiritual and emotional every day, too,” he says. “Life is work, and the very joy you get out of it is the work you put into it.”
Six years ago Mendelson came to Wellbridge, and a few months in the gym gave him a tryout as an instructor.
“So spinning was just a wonderful thing for me and it matched right up with my temperament. It’s very soft on your joints. That and swimming, I think, are the best things you can do for cardio.”
Mendelson thinks everyone should set out to work their mind, their spirit, and their body every day.
“I’m in here on days that I don’t particularly feel good. Because the minute I start moving, I start feeling better. And I realized that just not too long ago, that I can wake up in the morning, and I have certain physical things—when you get to be 90, you’re not 30… I am just interested in functioning at whatever age I am at.”
And to function means getting his workout in while being mindful of his body's limitations. He warms up with 150 push-ups along with some stretching. If he sees a flight of stairs, he climbs it, and he avoids "pounding pretty good" on his joints with jogging and walking.
Personally, Mendelson's a fan of working out inside. “There’s a famous composer who wrote a song called, “I love the great indoors.”…That’s the way I feel,” he says.
He has become a master of making an indoor workout feel as if you’re getting everything the great outdoors offers. When you’re pedaling along with Mendelson, you’re cruising through various different virtual towns and cities—with him leading as tour guide.
Photography courtesy of Wellbridge
He matches the topography of these rides with music, supplied by his 25-year-old granddaughter, including everything from Tony Bennett ("I Left My Heart in San Francisco" for a ride through the Bay area) to Drake. Each class has five segments, usually about four songs in each segment.
On a ride to Pittsburgh, Mendelson has riders start at the Andy Warhol museum—“the largest single one-person museum in the country,” he adds this detail as he does with most stops on a ride, providing background for his class. He takes you across one of “20 bridges crossing the three rivers"—the Golden Triangle. "We climb up to the Golden Triangle and then we get to Mount Washington… Then we sprint down from Mount Washington, to the central business district." Lately the class has ended up at the Cathedral of Learning, a 42-story administration and classroom building at the University of Pittsburgh, but not without grabbing the greatest sandwich the city has to offer.
To be able to take his riders on journeys, he has to be an encyclopedia, rattling off maps of the cities the class is virtually cycling through. He offers trips to and from Great Lakes' Naval Station, three different rides through Boston, and, of course, about 20 through St. Louis.
Sitting on a bike for Mendelson’s spin class, you might not even notice how long or hard you’re going—many class participants take his course for the bonus of learning, or rather, distraction from the workout.
And if you do notice how worn out you are, well, you’ll just wonder how Mendelson does it. He takes pride in his caliber on the bike, saying: “If I’m riding hard and fast, that’s the best teaching I can do. You teach by your own performance, and I work very hard to try to have a good performance.” Prepare to wonder: "What's my excuse?"
