Here is the second of two playlists I’ve been using recently. When I don’t have time to generate an all-new list, I will often cherry-pick or re-organize existing profiles. This playlist shares eight songs with the Give Me Everything Spin Mix I posted back in June 2011, but it feels different.
Woke Up This Morning (Detroit Mix) – Alabama 3 (4:14): You may not have heard of this song, or of Alabama 3, but I’d bet money that you’ll recognize it from the opening bars. It’s the ominous theme song for The Sopranos, and I’ve been wanting to use it as a warm-up for a long time.
Megalomaniac – KMFDM (6:07): We’ve got another 45 seconds to finish our warm-up, then we’re going to begin with some surges. First 15 seconds on/off, then 30, 45 and 60. Want an extra challenge? Add some resistance and do ’em on a hill.
Fire – Scooter (3:30): More speed work, this time in a pace line. Split the class into three groups. We’re going to do 20 seconds of all-out, leave it on the floor effort, followed by 40 seconds of recovery. While one group is working (i.e. leading) the other two groups are drafting behind. The fun starts 20 seconds in when the lead singer shouts “fiiiiirrrrreeeeee!”
Group A sprints from: 0:20 – 0:40 / 1:20 – 1:40 / 2:20 – 2:40
Group B sprints from: 0:40 – 0:60 / 1:40 – 2:00 / 2:40 – 3:00
Group C sprints from: 1:00 – 1:20 / 2:00 – 2:20 / 3:00 – 3:20
Levels – Avicii (3:19): Move into a high tension out-of-the-saddle climb: resistance around 7/10 or 8/10.
Piece of Me – Britney Spears (3:32): Funny what you find when you root around on the iPhone. Keep the high resistance on the bike and move into 4 count jumps on a hill for the verses. Choruses? I coach one of two ways: either a move to 8 counts up/down, or (if you feel particularly evil, the much more difficult) 8 count standing run (basically stay up for the same amount of time as the four count jumps, but our legs go double-time). It’s okay to knock back the resistance a bit if you’re doing them this way – it’ll still be way hard. Three choruses at 0:43 – 1:00, 1:42 – 2:06, 2:40 – 3:14.
Wash My World – Laurent Wolf (3:33): Keep the tension at 7/10 but move into a seated climb here. We’re at the bottom of a challenging ten minute hill. We’ll stand up soon, but for now it’s a chance to get our heart rates down a bit from the last drill, but we’re still working, still aerobic. A resistance increase halfway through wouldn’t hurt anyone.
Check It Out (Main Radio Mix) – Will.i.am and Nicki Minaj (3:58): Finally, drop the tension back to 6/10 and stand up for some rolling hills. (Rolling hills are basically a standing climb where we play with tension – add a bit, add a bit, take it off, take it off). The challenge is to stay with the music, even as the resistance increases.
Sweat (Snoop Dogg vs. David Guetta) [Remix] – Snoop Dogg and David Guetta (3:16): More rolling hills, but at lower resistance, 4/5/6 out of 10.
Bon Bon – Pitbull (3:36): Thank God that’s over – but wait? You want jumps? On a hill? Ratchet the resistance up to 8/10 and get going: 4 counts, all-the-gruelling-way-through.
Glasgow – David Guetta (5:13) Sit down, roll back the resistance and take a drink. This is a tempo drill with a 60 second sprint hidden in the middle (from 2:50 – 3:50).
The Edge of Glory – Lady GaGa (5:20): I am self-conscious about using this song now, since I was recently accused of over-playing This is How a Heart Breaks by Rob Thomas. When I offered a recent class a choice between Thomas and another sprint tune, two regulars roundly vetoed Thomas. Whoops. So, Lady GaGa – only if you haven’t played the crap out of this song already. It’s a combo drill, climbing out of the saddle for the verses, standing sprints for the choruses: 30/30/60 seconds at 1:04 – 1:34, 2:28 – 2:58, and 4:02 – 5:02.
S&M – Rihanna (4:03): Another combo drill, this one with an out-of-the-saddle climb for the verses, then adding some tension and moving to 4 count jumps for the choruses.
Dread Rock – Oakenfold (4:39): 30 seconds for recovery, then we return the resistance to 5/10 and climb for two minutes (0:30 – 2:40) as the music builds. We’re going to wind things up with a race to the finish line, an all-out, heart-pounding, teeth-gritting, wind-sucking standing sprint that is two ungodly minutes long (2:40 – 4:40).
Give Me Everything (feat Ne-Yo, Afrojack and Nayer) – Pitbull (4:16): You did, right? Give me everything? But the “me” isn’t me, the instructor – it’s you. I’m just along to coax you into doing what you weren’t sure you could do on your own, to keep you true to yourself. Time to cool down and stretch.
Ghetto Love (feat. Kardinal Offishall) – Karl Wolf (3:04): A bit more goodbye music, just in case.
S p i n n i n g M u s i c 
Another good workout music playlist site (free of charge, of course) is at http://gym-music.blogspot.com
Cheers!
I really like that song – added it after seeing your post recently. What I do is use Rhapsody on my Iphone – I pay a monthly charge around $10 and have TONS of playlists I’ve compiled, then download them to the phone (they are not truly downloaded, but I can then put the phone on airplane mode when I teach and have uninterupted play).
Brenda, my gym has no cell service so I’ve wondered if I could use services like Rhapsody or Spotify. You mentioned airplane mode so they must actually be on the phone, independent of any internet or cell connection?
Not sure if this email will make it directly to Cynthia, but I was wondering about Dread Rock by Oakenfold – I LOVE it but iTunes only has it available as the Matrix full album to purchase. Do you know of any way to download just that one song? Your playlists are fantastic, keep ‘em coming!
Hi MNSU, this is a one-horse blog, and I’m the horse. I just double-checked – on the Canadian iTunes at least, you can buy the song for $.99, which is how I got it. Does anyone else have a source for this tune? It’s perfect for winding up a class and getting everyone into a last gruelling push to the finish.
Great Mix!!!
Thanks Alexis!