Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Tough Love

I thought about it today and realized that not only have I not made a new CD for my Spinning class in ages, but it's been a long time since I posted anything about it. I think it's time to dust it all off and remember why I enjoy doing it so much, and in the process, maybe either give you guys a window into Jen's crazy mind as a Spin instructor or at least give you some fun CD ideas. :-)

Anyway, it being February, I decided to pull out my Valentine's Day "Tough Love" CD. All songs have the word "Love" in the title, if not in the intent. A little something for everyone - the lovebirds and the disenchanted. And a good workout too. Win-win!

The profile starts off getting the heart rate up with some jumps (lifts in and out of the seat) and some speed work, then gets into some SERIOUS speed followed by one hell of a climb. It's a nice endurance ride until about halfway through, and kicks in with the second half.

So, before I post the profile, I should probably give you the "Jen to English" Spinning dictionary:


Flat Road

Seated, low resistance, higher cadence

Climb

Higher resistance, simulating the difficulty going uphill. Lower cadence. Seated or standing.

Lift

Standing, out of the saddle.

Jumps

Alternating standing and seated, usually to the beat (4-counts, 8-counts, etc.)

Surge

Added speed.

Breakaway

Adding speed AND resistance (simulating the power needed to "Break away" from the pack in a bike race, kinda-sorta)



Now that we got that out of the way, this is what I played today:


1

Friday, I'm in Love (The Cure)

3:38

Warmup (Flat Road)

2

Somebody to Love (Jefferson Airplane)

2:58

Warmup (Lift at Chorus)

3

Cupid / I've Loved You for a Long Time (The Spinners)

3:56

Jumps: 8-counts / 4-counts

4

Radar Love (Golden Earring)

6:24

Speed drills - cumulative surges, bringing it back at the break, then back up again.

5

The Game of Love (Santana feat. Michelle Branch)

4:15

Seated climb with breakaways at chorus. Leave resistance on after each breakaway, bring cadence back to starting pace

6

Lucky Love (Ace of Base)

3:41

Jumps: 8-counts / 4-counts

7

The Age of Love (Scooter)

2:37

FAST cadence (push past aerobic threshold) - recover during break. Repeat for second verse

8

Feel Like Making Love (Bad Company)

5:13

Climb, add resistance each minute, or as desired.

9

Love Stinks (J. Geils Band)

3:44

Continue with climb

10

Used to Love Her (Guns and Roses)

3:13

Cooldown, stretch

11

I've Been in Love Before (Cutting Crew)

5:32

Cooldown, stretch



Like I said, a little something for everyone (and probably a little something for NO one as well ;-). Time to start making some new playlists!