Mercy Spin Mix (50 minutes)

Nothing new here, just a rearrangement of some of my favourite songs.

Sexy and I Know It – LMFAO (3:19):  Warm up.

Sinnerman (Felix Da Housecat’s Heavenly House Mix) – Nina Simone and Felix Da Housecat (4:35):  Surges.  From 0 – 0:30 keep it easy, then from 0:30 – 1:30 increase your cadence by 10%.  From 1:30 – 2:30 increase it 20%.  From 2:30 – 3:30 increase the tension and come out of the saddle to climb.  From 3:30 – 4:30, increase the tension and keep climbing.

What a Night – (DJ Kontrol Journey Mash) (feat. Claude Kelly) – Kontrol & L’il John (3:34):  One of my all-time favourite mashups, from Dirty Mexican Lemonade.  Jumps, one minute each for 8/4/2 counts.

Mercy (feat. The Game) – Duffy (3:50): An out-of-the-saddle climb on a muddy hill – tension 7/10.  Pick up the pace for each chorus.

This is How a Heart Breaks – Rob Thomas (3:51):  This song has possibly the most misguided title ever.  It should be a sappy ballad, but instead it’s a kick-ass sprinting tune.  Two quick intervals and one longer one: 15/20/1:15 at 0:44 – 1:00, 1:32 – 1:52, and 2:@0 – 3:35.  One of my all-time favourites.

Black Betty – Spiderbait (3:26):  Surging and sprinting here – from 0:12 – 0:50 surge; from 0:50 – 1:02 sprint.  Relax until 1:48 – 2:20 for another surge, and follow it up with a sprint from 2:58 – 3:13.  This song has been around for a long time.  It was first recorded in 1933, but could date as early as the 18th century.  Nobody is sure of exactly what ‘black betty’ is; the most likely meaning is a musket or a bottle of whisky.

Don’t Trust Me – 3OH!3 (3:13):  Sprints 30/30/30 at 0:30 – 1:00, 1:29 – 1:58, and 235 – 3:05.  I cringe at the offensive lyrics… but I keep playing it.

Clubbed to Death – Rob Dougan (7:27):  A seated climb starting at 5/10 and moving up to 9/10 or even 10/10.  Stand if/when you need to.  I like to get the riders to visualize a local hill and I point out the landmarks as we climb.

Lit Up – Buckcherry (3:37):  An unabashed love song to cocaine.  Come out of the saddle for this one and charge.

The Edge of Glory – Lady GaGa (5:21):  Spinning perfection.  Climb for the verses, sprint for the choruses 30/30/60 at 1:04 – 1:34, 2:28 – 2:58, and 4:02 – 5:02.  Ride like you stole it!

Stereo Love – Edward Maya and Vika Jigulina (4:08): Cool down.

If I Were a Boy – Beyonce (4:09):  Three years old now, and still as compelling as the first time I heard it.  Some extra cool down and goodbye music.

Water, Water, Everywhere…

Everybody knows that when you exercise, you’re supposed to drink as much as possible – right?  And if you exercise for more than 90 minutes, you’re supposed to switch from water to electrolyte-replenishing beverages, like Gatorade – right?

Not exactly.

A 2005 study of Boston Marathon runners found that 13% showed signs of exercise-associated hyponatremia.

Huh?  What’s that?  In a nutshell – it’s over-consuming liquids while exercising.  The excess liquid disrupts the balance of water and sodium in the body, causing all sorts of nasty symptoms, like nausea, spasms, cramps, vomiting, confusion, seizures, even death.

A recent Loyola University study concluded that up to half of recreational runners may be drinking too much.  Cyclists are also at risk.

The new advice?  Your body knows what its doing.  Drink to thirst.

Electrolyte beverages are still a good idea during lengthy workouts, but are too diluted to prevent hyponatremia.  You could take sodium tablets, but they can cause nausea – not exactly what you’re looking for during a race – and carry the risk of irritating the stomach.

The good news is that exercise-associated hyponatremia can be avoided, and is easily treated with IV saline once it is recognized.

All things in moderation… even water.

Adrenaline Spin Mix (51 minutes)

I’m back!  Had a great summer off with my daughter.  Well, not really “off” – I was home with her on weekdays, but continued to work nights and weekends, which sort of explains why I haven’t been posting much lately – no free time.  I’ve been jonesing for some new music for a while and finally got a chance to download some new stuff the other week.

Here’s my latest mix of radio-friendly tunes.  No creative digging on this playlist – I simply scoped out the iTunes Top 100 and downloaded my favourites.  I am still sitting on a bunch of tunes from David Guetta’s new album.  Haven’t quite decided what to do with those yet.  A Guetta-themed ride, maybe?

This ride starts with an eight minute endurance segment, followed by seven minutes of rolling hills, then fifteen punishing minutes of jumps, and winds up with nine sprint intervals over the last eleven minutes.

Beautiful People (feat. Benny Benassi) – Chris Brown (3:46): Warm up with Brown’s first number one single.

Adrenaline (Original Mix) – Liquid Soul (7:51):  Listen to the music for a bit, then choose a tension and a cadence that is slightly uncomfortable for you.  The challenge here is to get into a zone and maintain the effort for the full eight minutes.  There are two options for coaching this one: chatty for distraction, or encourage everyone to leave the day behind and focus inward.  They can close their eyes if they wish – it’s just them and the bike.  I coached it the latter way and when I asked for feedback, about 75% of the class said they preferred it like that to chatty.

February 29, 2012: An alternate way to cue this song:  I did this ride again tonight (a jump ride on Leap Day!) but cued it as an 8 minute race: two minutes of flat road, one minute of seated climb, one minute of standing climb, then reverse: one minute of standing climb, one minute of seated climb, and finishing with two minutes of flat road.  I asked my riders to dig deep – they’re fresh – and aim to be spent when the song ends.  I promised if they gave me everything, we’d have the next song (Moves Like Jagger) for recovery.  My riders really liked the race; there was lots of positive energy that carried us through the rest of the ride.

Moves Like Jagger (The Voice Performance) [feat. Christina Aguilera]  - Maroon 5 (3:21):  The first 45 seconds are for recovery.  Increase the tension and come out of the saddle for some rolling hills.  Cue small tension increases every 15-30 seconds; once you’ve hit 2-4 increases, cue small decreases until riders are back where they started.

Good Feeling  - Flo Rida (4:07): Brand new Flo Rida.  More rolling hills.  Yee haw!

Rain Over Me (feat. Marc Anthony) – Pitbull (3:52):  Here come the jumps.  Are you ready?  Resistance to 5/10 and see what you come up with – any combination of 8/4/2 counts works here.

Brand New Chick – Anjulie (3:32):  Take the tension up a notch to 6/10 and keep jumping.  I am delighted to showcase Canadian artist Anjulie, who hails from my home town of Oakville, Ontario.  There are two versions of this song, but I’m assuming most won’t be able to play a song called Brand New Bitch – especially not Judy!

Pumped Up Kicks – Foster the People (4:00):  Next tension increase to 7/10.  This song has been going through my head since I first heard it.  It’s the kind of quirky tune that Apple might use in a commercial, but the lyrics are dark, dark, dark.

Tonight Tonight – Hot Chelle Rae (3:20): The tension goes up for the last time, to 8/10.  Keep jumping to this juicy pop deliciousness.  If you’re not thinking curse words by now, you’re not working hard enough.

Jet Lag (feat. Natasha Bedingfield) – Simple Plan (3:25): It’s just sprints between us and the showers now.  Nine of ‘em.  We’re going to do 30/30/40 here – they’re at 0:40 – 1:09, 1:35 – 2:02, and 2:32 – 3:10.

Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.) – Katy Perry (3:51):  Perry is the current Queen of Pop.  Three more 30 second sprints  at 0:38 – 1:08, 1:54 – 2:24, and 3:10 – 3:40.

My Body – Young the Giant (4:04):  When I heard the chorus to this song, I knew I had to use it: “My body tells me no, but I won’t quit, ’cause I want more!”  30/60/30 second sprints at 1:00 – 1:28, 1:58 – 2:58, and 3:28 – 4:00.

Sexy and I Know It – LMFAO (3:19):  This is the other song that’s been going through my head since I first downloaded it.  The tongue-in-cheek lyrics never fail to make me smile.  We deserve this cool down.

I’m Too Sexy – Right Said Fred (2:49):  Sexy and I Know It brought to mind another tongue-in-cheek sexy song, Right Said Fred’s 1991 charmer, I’m Too Sexy.

Had a great treat a couple of weeks ago when reader Elizabeth joined my spin class.  Of course, it was Murphy’s spin class – I was fighting a cold, only one of my regulars showed up, and to cap it off, the microphone died halfway through the class.  Had a lovely chat with Elizabeth and her husband afterwards.  It turns out we had each brought the other a gift.  I gave Elizabeth a Bondi headband that said ‘Addicted to Spinning’ and she gave me an iTunes gift card.  (Thanks, Elizabeth – it was awesome to meet you.  This playlist is yours!)  Here’s a pic of us taken right after class.  If I’d been more on the ball, I would have gotten the pic before we were all sweaty.

Readers, if you are ever in Halifax, Nova Scotia, I would love to meet you!

Spinning Music Hits One Million Views!

For this, we need our special announcement hats.  (Sorry, Sandra Boynton toddler in-joke.)

Folks, the counter on the blog rolled over on the Labour Day weekend as Spinning Music welcomed its millionth page view in just over three years.  As Arlo Guthrie would say, “Friends, they may think it’s a movement!”

A million of anything calls for a celebration, so it’s time to break out the Spinning Music swag.  I’ve got a Bondi Band and a $25 iTunes gift card to give away.  (What, you expected a Cervelo?  Hey, we’re a volunteer blog here.)

What’s a Bondi Band?  It’s my favourite head band of the moment – and I am tough on head bands.  This one stays put, wicks sweat, looks good, and amazingly, works equally well for men and women:

I have three colours to choose from: black, orange, and lime green.  The saying on the front?

What else?

Here’s how it works: to enter the Spinning Music 1,000,000 Views Contest, leave a comment on this post telling me your favourite Spinning song of all time, and why.  (Don’t leave your address, e-mail or contact info – I can still get in touch if you win.) 

The contest closes at 11:59 p.m. on Friday, September 30, 2011.  I’ll do a random draw of everyone who comments, and one lucky commenter will win the Bondi Band and $25 iTunes gift card.