Wordless Spin

This week's class was all about pace and endurance. For each hill I did a set of runs to come back down the other side so that throughout the entire class, riders were encouraged to reach and then maintain their heart rate (or effort) at the top of their aerobic threshold. I really wanted everyone to focus on their own workouts so the playlist was completely wordless. That's not to say that I didn't speak up. I don't know how to shut up and if people look like they are slacking off, you bet I'm gonna say something!

"Wordless" Spin

"The Bomb" Hans-o-Matik
Warm up in all 3 positions, starting with position 1 for two minutes on a flat road, position 2 for 1:30 plus a gear, then pick up the pace a little in position 3 for the last two minutes. Moderate pace, just to start getting the HR up.

"Mr G (original mix)" DeadMau5
First hill: start by adding 2 more gears to start on a very slight incline, about medium resistance. Find the pace as you continue to work toward getting that HR up to the 75% range. Half-way through add one more gear and take it up to position 3 without dropping off your cadence. (75% = can't sing, can still talk, but must break for breath every few words)




"Brasileira" Veron & Praia Del Sol
30s/30s run and rest intervals for the first half, taking the effort/HR up to 85%. Move up to 45/45 run and rest intervals for the second half of the song. (85% = could talk but don't really want to. Breathing is heavy but rhythmic, not hyperventilating)

"Halloween Americana" Everclear
30/30 seated and standing hills. Add two gears and climb for 30 in position 3, take one off and sit for 30, repeat.

"El Distorto De Melodica" Everclear
Keep your resistance where it's at from the last song and sit and grind it out, adding another gear every 45s. Once it gets too heavy to pedal smooth in the saddle, stand and climb it out in position 3.

"Sandstorm" Darude
Free-style intervals. Start on a flat road and use the first 1:30 of the song to recover from the hill. For each interval either speed up, add resistance, or both. You can sit or you can ride in position 3. Regardless of what you do, it's near max effort:  about 90% HR Max or an effort of 9 on a scale of 1-10. The first interval is about 30s, the second is about a minute. Keep in mind that you will work harder and get that HR up faster if you do a combination of adding resistance and trying to pedal faster.

"Theme from the Pirates of the Caribbean" L'orchestra Cinematique
Recover + climb, medium resistance. Position 3 for one minute, pos 1 for one minute, pos 3 for the last minute. Steady on the beat, keep those muscles moving as you bring your HR down.

"Climbatize" Prodigy
Starting at medium resistance sit and start your climb. On the beat, this shouldn't feel hard initially. Starting at 1:00, you're going to add a gear and try to keep the pace. Each minute, add another gear. As it gets heavier and harder to keep up, you can take it up to position 3 to continue the climb. You should be climbing hard by the end!

"Devil Drums" Scooter
Discovered this awesome sprint song (and pretty much the entire format of this playlist) from Lisl, my first indoor cycling idol. Get right into it about 15s into the song with 3 X 30/30 run and rest intervals, pushing your effort up to 90%. Recover, then for the last 2 minutes of the song we are going to max out with 15/15 run/rest intervals at 100%. Max effort for 15s, then slow it WAY down for each rest interval. Your HR will continue to climb even as you rest so be prepared mentally to be completely out of breath by the end.

"Lancaster Gate" Enter the Haggis
Last little bump! Start at light resistance and climb in position 3 at a moderate pace. When the music slows down start adding it in for one last, short, steep hill. As the music picks back up take it off one gear at a time and pick up the pace to bring it home.


"#34" Dave Matthews BandSweet recovery! Cool down and stretch.