Tuesday Night Spin: Sweat & Salt

As I sent him off to work, I told my husband since I have to focus on putting together tonight's playlist and brushing up on my exercise physiology, he's in charge of dinner. He's not exactly the apron-wearing, beurre blanc-making type, and honestly we've both learned a lot from trial and error in the kitchen. But that's not to say I wouldn't enjoy seeing him sampling sauce while comparing it to to the flavor profile of the bottle of wine he picked out.

[source]

Actually, there's a lot I needed to learn when it comes to cooking. The ghosts of dried out chicken and overdone steaks still haunt me every time I fire up a burner. Many a main dish has gone cold on my counter because I forgot to start the rice. And seasoning! It took me forever to learn how to make food taste good!

One thing I discovered, much to many a health professionals' chagrin, is that everything needs salt. The pasta water needs salt. Chicken needs salt. Veggies need salt. Even desserts need a dash of salt. Fleur de sel caramel? Yes, please!

But if you're concerned about sodium and hypertension, here are a few tips, based on information in Exercise Physiology: 6th Addition (Powers, Scott K. and Howley, Edward T.):

•  Reduction of sodium in the diet can help lower blood pressure in individuals sensitive to excess sodium. This can be as easy as not eating fast food and cutting out processed meats. This does not mean you can't season while you cook. In fact, I'd say the best way to reduce sodium is to cook at home, where you can control what goes in to what you eat.
• Reduction of sodium is not THE one solution to eliminating hypertension. Above reducing sodium in the list of recommendations for lowering blood pressure is to lose weight, limit alcohol intake, and exercise moderately 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week.
• Any exercise is good, but cardiovascular exercise that focuses on increasing VO2 max (simply put, trains your body and heart to learn to work harder for longer), such as interval work or maintaining a "comfortably hard" effort for a few workouts a week, is especially effective in lowering blood pressure.

The flip side of sodium intake is when you don't get enough. As a profuse sweater - seriously, you can see the salt streaking my face after a run - I know I have to make sure that I get my electrolytes. We know they are vital for extended duration of exercise, but why? And how much? Again, I turn to my text books (see, I'm already studying like a good girl).

• Most Americans take in enough salt at mealtimes, but those new to moderate to intense exercise will sweat more salt than an acclimated individual. So it is important when embarking on a new exercise regimen, not to eliminate all sodium from the diet at the same time.
•  Exercise lasting less than an hour requires .5L to 1L of water consumption during exercise. Carbohydrates and electrolytes are not required for efforts lasting less than an hour. If you plan on running in the heat or sweating a lot (like coming to my class), however, and are concerned about electrolytes but maybe don't want the extra calories, an electrolyte-enhanced water is a perfect option. Smart Water and Victory H2O are great, and Trader Joe's even makes one, too!
• Exercise lasting one to three hours (for us mere mortals, say a half marathon) requires .5L to 1L of fluids per hour containing 6%-8% carbohydrates (by volume) and 10-20 mEq (don't worry about that unit) of Na+ (sodium) and Cl- (chlorine). What this means for those of us who don't like numbers and math is that a basic sports beverage is more than sufficient. For a half, I usually like to alternate taking water and sports beverage every other aid station starting after 5 or 6 miles. On a less supported course, you might consider wearing a belt with one bottle of water and the other with Gatorade or Powerade.
• Exercise lasting longer than three hours is a bit beyond my territory. Save for the occasional marathon, I don't typically run for this long. Additional nourishment containing carbs and electrolytes might be necessary beyond fluid consumption. I might take a gel every hour in addition to alternating between water and a sports drink. Ultramarathon territory is a completely different game. There's where you'll read about runners drinking pickle juice and eating salted pretzels.

As with everything else, it's about moderation. I salt my food, I cook with butter, and I enjoy chocolate. That is because I run and spin like a crazy mother. I can tell you what I don't do: I don't eat McDonald's or Burger King. I don't always clean my plate. I don't eat fried candy bars or butter (*barf*). In a nation of excess, it's easy for us to want to believe something as simple as not salting our food will be the answer to our waistline woes. I'm here to tell you that it's not. Show restraint and caution before putting food in our mouths? Yes! Live a dull, bland, tasteless life? Absolutely not!

Alright, now let's get sweaty.

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Hot Spin #2 (click here for Hot Spin #1 and other hydration tips)

1) "Mr G" (original mix) Deadmau5 - Warm up, flat road, alternate lead legs and spend a little time in all 3 positions. Add a gear half-way through song.

2) "Sweat" Snoop Dogg vs. David Guetta - Add another gear. Seated steady pace with bursts in position three (no added resistance, just pick up the pace)

3) "All Along the Watchtower" Jimi Hendrix - Hill #1: Sit and climb for the burst, add a gear and take it up to 3 for the chorus. This time, leave it on when you sit.

4) "The Boys of Summer" The Ataris - Runs on a flat road (or light resistance) on the chorus.

5) "Hot in Herre" Nelly - Jumps! Add a gear and jump on an 8-count, 4-count, 2-count, then repeat for 2nd half of the song with an added gear.

6) "Firestarter" Prodigy - Hold steady drill: Starting with light resistance, try to match your cadence to the beat (we're looking for 70-80bpm, not double-time, which would be too fast at 140). Starting at 40s in, add a gear and hold your pace. Add another gear every minute and don't slow down!

7) "Santa Monica" Everclear - Hill #2: Seated, heavy climb. Don't dip below 60rpm, but crank that resistance until it feels challenging to do so. If your legs aren't aching by half-way through, add a gear.

8) "Cupid Shuffle" Cupid - Back to a flat road for a second to recover, then add a gear or two (for the safety of your knees). We're going dance a little and go through all 3 riding positions. Starting at 15s in, we'll start in position 1 for 20s, then 2 for 20s, then 3. Then we'll cycle through each stance for 15s. each. Then 10s, then 5... etc. Work your way down til shifting every 4 beats

9) "We Will Rock You" Queen - Hill #3: start at medium resistance and add a gear and take it out to 3 every time they sing "we will rock you!"

10) "We Are the Champions" Queen - From where you left off, sit (if you can pedal smoothly - if not, take off a gear or two 'til you can) and grind it out to get to the top.

11) "Lonely Boy" The Black Keys - Take a couple gears off and start in position 2 at a nice jogging pace. We'll pick it up a little in position 3, taking 1 gear off at a time as we recover.

12) "Sandstorm" Darude - Freestyle runs - these 2 sets of runs are your last 2 chances to get that cadence up, push yourself to your limit, and give it all you got!

13) "Mad Season" Matchbox 20 - cool down

14) "Traffic in the Sky" Jack Johnson - stretch

Happy Sweating!

Tuesday Night Spin - We Will Rock You

Mixing it up this week with some new tunes... and by new I mean oldies but goodies. I took time off from mileage this weekend but now I'm feeling a little bloated and sluggish with a stuffy nose to boot. Since I don't want to wind up knocked on my ass in bed for 14 hours from lack of sleep or medication (like a certain significant other I know) I think I nice adrenaline-pumping spin class is in order. It could just be placebo affect, but I really do believe there is a window of opportunity when it comes to how you treat an oncoming ailment.

As I am not one to just drug myself up and lay on the sofa all day watching Cooking Channel or Bravo (as tempting as that may be some days), I feel like if I can break a sweat and get in a solid workout before the full onset of symptoms, that the duration severity of my cold will both decrease compared to doing nothing. A major factor in that is that I start paying attention to things like vitamins and hydration much more from the first nose blow or tickle in my throat.

So I'm off to kick the crap out of this threatening cold before it has a chance to fully set in. Don't get comfortable, boogers. I'm goin' all Trogdor on your ass. Er, ya know, the spinning equivalent.


5/8/2012 - "We Will Rock You" Spin

1. "The Bomb" Sunrider - warm up, flat road, go through all 3 positions and add a gear half-way through. This is a longer warm-up song so we're going to get right down to business after this.
2. "Brasiliera" Veron & Praia Del Sol - add another gear. #1: first minute, 70%, minute break at 60% (warm-up pace). #2: 75% for one minute, then another minute break. #3: 80% effort in position 3. Sit down and dial the pace back to 60% to recover.
3. "The Golden Age" The Asteroid Galaxy Tour - add another gear. Take it up to position 2 to jog for the verse. On the chorus transition to position 3 then back to hover over the saddle.
4. "The Distance" Cake - finishing out our first hill. Start seated in position 1. On each chorus go to position 3 and add another gear, leaving it on each time you sit.
5. "Sunday Morning" No Doubt - back to your flat road/light resistance. Pick up the pace for a flat and fast run, maintaining 70-75% effort.
6. "Breath" Prodigy - add a gear back in. For two sets we will gradually increase resistance a hair at a time while maintaining the same pace. Once you feel like you can't add any more or you will slow down, that is where you will hold your pace and resistance for a full minute. Dial it back to recover for a minute, then repeat.
7.  "We Will Rock You" Queen - start of our second hill. Standing attacks in position 3 with an added gear every time you hear "We will, we will rock you!" Leave it on when you sit.
8. "We Are the Champions" Queen - leaving resistance where it is, sit and climb it out for 1:30, not dropping below 60rpm (take a gear off if you can't maintain that pace). For the last 1:30 take it back up to position 3 (another gear optional).
9. "Jackass" Green Day - back to flat road/light resistance: flush it out and let the heart rate come down.
10. "Shake it Out" Florence and the Machine - Back up to heavy resistance one last time and take it up to position 3. For each chorus take off 2 gears and sit, trying to pick up the pace. Put it back on when you stand.
11. "Sandstorm" Darude - First minute is a full recovery before last two runs. If your bikes have monitors that show you your power output (usually measured in watts), you are going to try to max that number out any way you can. You have two runs so do something different for each run and see which one increases your power output more. No monitor? No problem. Use your HR as your gauge or your perceived exertion. We're pushing it up to 90% but again, that's not necessarily flying away on a seated flat. Challenge yourself with more resistance or a different riding position!
12. "Wheels" Foo Fighters - cool down
13. "Be Like That" 3 Doors Down - stretch

 (this one's definitely going on my next "rock of the ages" mix!)

Tuesday Night Spin - exercise to purge the brain

I have a tendency to shift my focus to something and begin to mildly obsess. I'll get it in my head to find a bargain for a road bike or finally buy another pair of running shoes (rather than always just wearing one pair to death) and I'll spend hours on Craigslist or Zappos. I'll spend an equal amount of time looking at race calendars and comparing the cost of travel for events I'm unlikely to ever make it to. Perhaps it's better to have a proactive brain than to not attempt to plan for anything at all, but it can also send you into analysis paralysis.

It's that time that I need to close the laptop and take everyone out for a walk, or lace up my shoes and head out for a run. Because I can spend all day internet-window shopping or fake-planning for a race, but nothing will prepare me for anything if I don't actually shut my brain up for a second and physically get up and DO something.

One benefit to my recent obsessing, though, is it makes for a fun theme for class tonight. So once I finally commit to the shoes I want..

Merrell Women's Pace Glove

... and the race I think I want to die trying run...

trail marathon at Pine Mountain, GA

... I'll put together this fun little playlist:

5/1/2012 Spin: Where's Your Head At?

1. "All Mixed Up" - 311 - Warm up, flat road, alternate lead legs for 30s-1min each
2. "Where's Your Head At" - Basement Jaxx - Quick pace, light resistance (add 2 gears from flat road) in the seat for 1:30, position 2 jog for 1 min, back up to pace and run in position 3 for last 1:30.
3. "Perfect Situation" - Weezer - Add another gear, position 2 quad isolation (no bounce) on the chorus ~or~ position 3 climb for new spinner.
4. "Hysteria" - Muse - Climbing through increasing resistance; starting at about 30s. you'll charge in position 3 and add a gear for 30s, leaving it on when you sit. Continue to alternate 30s in the seat and 30s charge until you reach your highest gear (keep at or above 60rpm)
5. "Clint Eastwood" - Gorillaz - Dial it back 3 gears and sit and ride it out - envision being on a flat road in a high gear or on a low-grade incline - keep on the beat!
6. "Castaway" - Green Day - Flat road (+ a gear or two for control or challenge), quick pace to "flush out" the legs.
7. "Just Like a Pill" - Pink - Medium resistance, moderate pace on the verse in position 1, transition up to 2 before the chorus, then pick it up and go double-time in position 3.
8.  "Climbatize" - Prodigy - Another long stretch of high gear/resistance; starting at light to med. resistance, adding just a hair at a time every minute and trying to hold the same cadence.
9. "Ain't No Rest for the Wicked" - Cage the Elephant -  Last heavy climb, make it steep and take it up to position 3 to crest this mountain.
10. "Maximal Crazy" - Tiësto - Light resistance, flush it out alternating 30s runs with 30s rest - take your runs up to 90% effort!
11. "Lancaster Gate" - Enter the Haggis - Last set of standing runs (light to med. resistance) with one last, very short steep climb at the end before flattening out and running it home.
12. "Pinch Me" - Barenaked Ladies - cool down
13. "Chasing Cars" - Snow Patrol  -  cool down

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Does your choice of music have to suit your mood or contrast it (ie, something calming if you're feeling a bit nuts) when you choose what to work out to? If I'm feeling a little nuts, I definitely can't just put on some Jack Johnson. I obviously use my music to expunge all residual energy!
 

Tuesday Night Spin - Pace it Out

When it seemed that everyone skipped from using Walk-Mans straight to iPods, I was the last person clinging to my portable CD player. My friends had to convince me years after they'd join Facebook that I should leave MySpace. Only just now, in 2012, have I gotten a grasp on this whole tweeting thing.

At the time of her passing, Ivy Bean had 57K Twitter followers and 25K pending FB friend requests. Clearly, I have some catching up to do.

So it should come as no surprise to anyone that I only recently became privy to the awesomeness that is StumbleUpon.com, which in turn, brought me to Jog.FM.

Not that I ever sat down with a stopwatch and metronome to time the pace of the music I run or spin to, but I've always chosen songs based on what's worked best for me to work out to or songs that I see pop up often on other peoples' playlists. Come to find out, there's this magical website that has compiled songs by running pace AND beats per minute (bpm)! And as it turns out, a whole bunch of songs I already use fall perfectly in that 7:45-8:00min/mile range.

Of course, this discovery would come after reading an article in Runner's World suggesting to its readers to take a "tech time-out," pointing to a study that suggests that music loses its motivating effects over time. Has that ever happened to you? Maybe I'm alone in this, or just very simple-minded and easily entertained, but "Hive" by 311 makes me push just as hard now as when I ran with my old CD player. "You Can't Always Get What You Want" seems to always give me goosebumps when it hits its crescendo with the choir and the organ. I can't ever listen to "The Pretender" unless I plan on launching into an all-out sprint.

Personally, I think music lends itself perfectly to the principle of specificity:

Definition: Specificity is the principle of training that states that sports training should be relevant and appropriate to the sport for which the individual is training in order to produce a training effect. (about.com)

Not that I wouldn't ever run an 8:00 mile without Eminem or Gorillaz, but the fact that I already gravitated toward certain songs for my runs probably means that they did help me remain on pace, even on days when I felt tired or unmotivated.

So with all this in mind, I'm doing a pace/bpm-specific workout tonight. I designed this playlist to really help riders focus on how each cadence feels and the kind of effort they should be putting forth with each drill. This is a pyramid-style workout, where the cadence will drop as the resistance increases, and vice versa. We'll start quick with some runs, slow down with some drills out of the saddle, take it way down to 60 RPM for a big long hill, then quickly pick it back up as we work our way back down and race toward the finish.

And don't worry, even if you're not as hip and with it as I clearly am, I've found some music to suite each generation (and those of us who are happier to be left behind).



4/17/12: BPM Blast Spin

"A Little Bit of Riddim" Michael Franti (feat. Cherine Anderson) [102 bpm] - flat road, warm up alternating leading with the right and the left legs.


"Are You Gonna Be My Girl" Jet [105bpm] - add a gear, alternating positions 1, 2, and 3 with the verse, bridge and chorus, respectively, giving all muscles of the leg a chance to thoroughly warm up.

"Disease" Matchbox 20 [115bpm] - first set of sprints, stay at light resistance (a gear or two above your flat road), pick it up to match the beat on the chorus.

"Get Back" Ludacris [86 bpm] - first little hill, adding another gear, then an additional gear each time we take it up to position 3 on the chorus, maintain your cadence throughout!

"Lonely Boy" The Black Keys [83 bpm] - take it back to medium resistance (my frame of reference for "medium" is that you feel like you're pedaling in sand when you sit, but it's not too challenging when you stand). Stand and jog in position 2 to recover on the verse then go double-time on the chorus in position 3.

"Sugar We're Going Down" [81 bpm] - quad isolation drills (don't forget my disclaimer on my "spinning" page for those of you new to cycling). Pedal easy with the beat at medium resistance on the verse, take out the bounce on the chorus.

"Cannonball" Breeders [75bpm] - time to really slow it down and add it in. Add 2 gears from your medium resistance for the start of this climb. Stay in the saddle and on the beat.

"Ready to Go" Republica [65bpm] - dial the resistance back a hair for a quick break, then add it back in 1 gear at a time with each chorus until you feel the hill get nice and steep.

 "Livin on a Prayer" Bon Jovi [56bpm] - seated climb to the max: If you are already working as hard as you can to stay on the beat, or if you get most of the way there but must stand to maintain your cadence, do whatever it takes to get to the top. If you have to take off a gear or two to keep from mashing the pedals, you can do that, too, just don't forget, you're almost to the top!

"Wheels" Foo Fighters [81 bpm]  - take off a couple gears and start off in position 3. With each chorus, take off another gear and sit, repeating until back to light-to-medium resistance.

"Fighter" Christina Aguilera [95bpm] - time to pick up the pace and push toward the finish! Stay at light resistance (to protect those knees) and do a nice solid pick-up in position 3 on each chorus (stay seated and recover for each verse).

"Devil Drums" Scooter [140bpm]  - sprints- 3X30s at 90% with equal recovery, break, then 4X15s all out with equal recovery. NOTE: Please don't worry about actually reaching 140bpm- 120 is a better, and safer, goal, if you're following a monitor on your bike. If there's no monitor, go by how you feel for this last-ditch effort to make that HR climb.

 cooldown
"21 Guns" Green Day