Last Playlist of 2015!

Hi all – can’t believe this year is already over.  Here’s a little playlist to get you get excited for the New Year’s Resolution-ers!  You can find the spotify link here: cycle tunes 10.24.15

• Steely Dan – Peg (4:00) : Warm Up, stretch
• Josh Ritter – Getting Ready to Get Down (3:16) : Rolling hills
• Miike Snow – Animal (4:23) : Climbing.  Quickly building to a heavy hill, once you get there, moving in and out of the saddle.
• Katy Perry – This is How We Do (3:24) : Sprints.  Three sprints.  20 sec at 0:40; 20 sec at 1:30; and 30 sec at 2:20.
• Justin Beiber – What do you Mean? (3:28) : Recovery.  Build to climbing, surges in the saddle uphill.
• Benny Benassi – Cinema (3:03) : Lifts in and out of the saddle.  I LOVE this song.  You can also use this one for sprints if you want an extra challenge.
• will.i.am – THE (The Hardest Ever) (4:07) : Climbing, reaching heavy peak.
• Tove Stryke – Number One (3:25) : Flat road.  Keep it challenging with 60 second surges.
• Mumford and Sons – Lover of the Light (5:15) : Quick surges uphill
• Electric Guest – This Head I Hold (2:56) : Lifts, in and out entire song.
• Maroon 5 – Animals (3:51) : Sprints.  20 sec at 1:02; 40 sec at 2:03 and 40 sec at 3:06.
• Adele – Hello (4:55) : Stretching and cool down

WHOA! A new playlist!

I had no idea it had been 9 MONTHS since I last posted a playlist until I opened up wordpress for this new post.  so sorry for the lag everyone – I gave up my weekly class a little over a month ago and have just been subbing at the YWCA on an as-needed basis, typically on Saturdays.  I was super inspired last week by new music and had to create a new playlist for this weekend’s class.  Here is the spotify link, hope you enjoy!  cycle tunes 10.4.14

• tears for fears – everybody wants to rule the world (4:12) : warm up, stretching
• rolling stones – brown sugar (3:49) : this continues to be one of my favorite spin songs for getting the ride started.  getting everyone warmed up with a few surges up our first climb.  not super heavy, but just enough to get everyone warm.
• coldplay – sky full of stars (4:29) : more of a flat road here, but surges of speed in the saddle with the beat.  love this song!
• fleetwood mac – go your own way (3:44) : starting our first major climb of the day, this song gets you through the first half.  three increases to approx 80% of your max resistance.
• whitesnake – here i go again (3:54) : this one starts off slow – you’re at the top of the climb here.  take it out of the saddle, add one final increase.  drop it in the saddle, hold that gear.  back out of the saddle.  lower gear, and finish out the climb.
• john legend – all of me remix (4:12) : resistance at approx 70-75% of your max.  lifts in and out of the saddle.  quick pace.
• the cars – just what i needed (3:45) : recovery.  back to about 60% of your max resistance, two 60 second endurance pushes in the saddle.  not sprinting here, but focused on holding that running pace for a longer period of time.
• fitz and the tantrums – the walker (3:53) : steady, easy climb.  four increases to the top.
• matt and kim – daylist (2:51) : one, 60 second endurance push in the saddle.
• ram jam – black betty (3:56) : final climb, surges to the top.  try to keep the gear heavy, this is the last one!
• la roux – bulletproof (3:26) : lifts in and out of the saddle.
• peter bradley adams – the longer I run (4:11) : cool down, stretching

Hills, Hills and More Hills

Happy (almost) New Year!  Couldn’t let 2013 end without one final blog post.  I really loved this ride, but just to warn you– it’s 45 minutes of climbing.  I tried to keep it interesting with some lifts in and out of the saddle, short sprints uphill and some longer, in the saddle climbing, but regardless, no flat roads on this ride.

Each climb is rated by a PE level (Perceived Exertion).  This makes it a little easier to gauge the difficulty of each hill.  A PE 10 would be an absolute killer hill, either pushing yourself on speed at the peak of the climb, or a really heavy climb.  As a reminder, no hill should be so heavy that you can’t maintain at least a 60 rpm pace.  Enjoy!  Here is the spotify link:  climbing playlist

• duffy – mercy (3:39) : warm-up/stretching
• pitbull/t-pain – hey baby (3:56) :  seated, standing climb.  seated for one min, standing for one minute.  increase tension.  seated for one minute, increase gear.  finish out of the saddle. PE 4-5
• the clash – train in vain (3:09) :  steady climb, beginning in the saddle.  steadily increase gear, reaching PE 5.
• metallica – no leaf clover (5:44) : okay, i know metallica is a little out of the ordinary, but i really like this version.  starting in the saddle, speeding up on each pickup in the chorus.  this one starts out slow, so start moderately heavy.  PE 5-7.
• needtobreathe – let us love (3:42) : i know i promised no flat road, but this is a little break in the climbing.  keeping it active, around a PE 5-6, but workout is not from climbing.  moderate resistance, keep the pace quick.
• the white stripes – seven army nation (3:51) :  seated climb, increase speed during chorus.  there are three surges, 20-30 sec each.  add tension after each surge.  PE 7-8 (this is as heavy as we get).
• katy perry – birthday (3:35) : yes, katy perry talks about her birthday suit on this one.  i apologize in advance.  lifts in and out of the saddle.  keep it quick, 10 sec in the saddle/10 seconds out.  repeat throughout song.  enough resistance to keep your body stable out of the saddle.
• the rolling stones – gimme shelter (4:32) : slightly uncomfortable, seated for one minute, standing for one minute.  maintain cadence.  PE 7.
• police – every little thing she does is magic (4:20) :  seated/standing, surging in speed with every pickup in chorus.  PE 6-8
• the killers – human (4:05) :  seated in the saddle, standing push out of the saddle.  PE 5-6
• tim mcgraw – just to see you smile (3:35) : cool down, stretch

Something For Everyone

hope everyone is enjoying the olympics!  as of today, official USA medal count — 29 gold, 15 silver and 19 bronze.  woohoo!  i have definitely noticed an increase in my class size since the olympics started– so awesome.  i love that people are inspired by world class athletes, and jollyspins is a great place to start.  🙂

i found a playlist i had not yet posted.  just to warn you, it has a tiny cheese factor, but always fun to ride along to the songs that love to get stuck in your head.  enjoy:

• montell jordan – this is how we do it (3:59) : warm up / stretch.  blast from the past, i know
• minimalistix – struggle for pleasure (3:56) : seated sprints with standing recovery
• train – drive by (3:17) : flat road, endurance ride.  uncomfortable resistance.
• selena gomez – love you like a love song (3:08) : jumps out of the saddle.  this starts the beginning of 12 min of out of the saddle/climbing work.
• nina simone – sinnerman remixed (4:35) : out of the saddle, ladder climb
• steppenwolf – magic carpet ride (4:20) : heavy climb, increasing for first 2 minutes.  middle 2 min, climbing out of the saddle.  drop down and push last 20 seconds.
• republica – ready to go (5:02) : sprints
• christopher cross – ride like the wind (3:57) : flat road, endurance ride.  approx 5/10 PRE.
• nikka costa – everybody got their something (4:21) : seated at the start, moving out of saddle at end.  focus on speed.
• britney spears – i wanna go (3:30) : i have a love/hate relationship with this song.  but it has great energy, so a good one for jumps.
• dave matthews band – why i am (3:54) : last climb, steady up  hill.  in and out of the saddle at end.
• the doobie brothers – listen to the music (3:47) : cool down / stretch

 

Back to the Basics

this is my first attempt to link my spotify account with the Jollyspins blog.  if all goes well, you’ll be able to subscribe to my new playlists and link directly to my account if you are trying any of these rides on your own.  if you aren’t familiar with spotify, i highly recommend the app.  as an instructor, it is has given me the ability to create a new playlist each week, which is a huge treat for both me and my classes.  whether or not you’re an aerobics instructor, i highly recommend that you check it out!  this week’s playlist is a fairly simple profile: hill, flat road endurance and then sprint.  here is the spotify link : cycle tunes 5.25.12

• kris allen – live like we’re dying (3:33) : warm up/stretch
• shinedown – the crow and the butterfly (4:14) : steady, in the saddle climb.  one min quick seated, one min push speed 10%, one min out of the saddle.  increasing resistance every 30 seconds.  my classes love shinedown, so this is always a hit.
• young and the giant – my body (4:04) : flat road, steady push for the entire 4 minutes.  you can switch up by adding a little gear and holding for a minute, backing off, etc.
• FNA – take me home tonight (gregory ferguson remix) (3:25) : 3 sprints.  0:47 – 1:09 (20 sec); 1:48 – 2:17 (30 sec); 2:50 – 3:20 (30 sec).
• the beatards – don’t step on my sneakers (3:13) : back to the climb.  this one is in and out of the saddle.
• maroon 5 – moves like jagger (3:21) : flat road endurance work.
• elton john – saturday night’s alright for fighting (4:55) : sprints.  i usually go for longer sprints here.
• whitney houston – i wanna dance with somebody (junior’s happy handbag remix) (4:25) : this is a bit of recovery, finishing with an in and out of the saddle jog.
• thousand foot crutch – move (3:29) : i love this jam.  back to the climb.  heavy load and quicken speed uphill on the “move” command.
• john o’callaghan – find yourself (2:32) : quick, flat road endurance work.
• hinder – born to be wild (3:59) : sprints.
• florence + the machine – the dog days are over (4:13) : cool down and stretch.

rock and roll hills

i have been on a hill kick lately and have also been mixing things up with some rock n roll favorites.  enjoy this ride!

• taylor swift – eyes open (4:05) : warm up, stretch
• black crowes – hard to handle (3:07) : quick pace, continue warm up.  rolling hills
• marty casey & lovehammers – call of distress (2:59) : three surges uphill or out of the saddle – 0:24- 0:45, 1:09 – 1:30, and 2:14 – 2:59
• enur – calabria 2008 (3:54) : quick recovery and then move into lifts in and out of saddle – 1 min (6 count), 1 min (4 count), 1 min (6 count)
• flux pavilion – i can’t stop (5:04) : get ready for a tough climb!  first of two steep peaks in the ride.  start at slight incline (4-5 out of 10 for resistance) and then gradually add resistance every 30-45 seconds.  with 2 minutes to go, hit steepest point you can handle in the saddle.  last minute, bring out of saddle and add steepest gear.  this one will make your legs burn!
• van halen – she’s the woman (2:57) : i had originally planned on this one being surges uphill, but it ended up being a very quick flat road.  legs are engaged, but we’re not climbing here.  add one or two increases, but maintain speed.
• john o’callaghan – find yourself (radio edit) (2:32) : i had a music malfunction and added this one at the last minute.  turned out to be a great addition – out of the saddle surges during chorus.
• black crowes – heavy (4:43) : second steep peak of the ride.  steadily add resistance.  with two minutes to go, add steepest resistance you can handle in saddle, last minute hit the peak out of the saddle.
• busta rhymes – c’mon (catch ’em by surprise) (3:33) : another round of lifts in and out of the saddle.  1 min – 6 count, 1 min – 4 count, 1 min – 6 count.
• motley crue – kickstart my heart (4:43) & duff mckagan’s island – we win (4:04) : final 9 minutes, surge uphill.  moderately heavy resistance, but still light enough that you can maintain quick pace and have enough energy to surge during chorus.  kickstart my heart is quick enough for a faster pace.  i backed off resistance about halfway through, but add back in before you get too comfortable!
• maroon 5 – misery (acoustic) (3:46) : stretch & cool down