Warmup songs are totally different from cool down songs. A good warmup song has a certain expectant energy to it – the music primes you for the ride to come. These are my favourite warmup songs.
Candy Everybody Wants – 10,000 Maniacs (3:10)
Nothing to Worry About (Jocko for Teddybears Remix) – Peter Bjorn and John (5:18)
Running – Jully Black (3:48)
Pump It – The Black Eyed Peas (3:33)
The Time (Dirty Bit) – Black Eyed Peas (5:08)
I Gotta Feeling – The Black Eyed Peas (4:49)
Today I Started Loving You Again – Bobby “Blue” Bland (3:49)
I Like the Way (Radio Edit) – Bodyrockers (3:20)
Rasputin – Boney M. (4:27)
Smalltown Boy (Club Trax version) – Bronski Beat (3:51)
Ta Tienne – Carla Bruni (2:40)
Saltwater (Original Radio Edit) – Chicane (3:30)
Viva La Vida – Coldplay
Clocks (Dance Remix) – Coldplay (6:18)
Fortunate Son – Creedence Clearwater Revival (2:22)
Soak Up the Sun – Sheryl Crow (4:53)
She Sells Sanctuary – The Cult (4:23)
Listen to the Music (DJ Malibu Mix) – The Doobie Brothers (5:01)
Break on Through (to the Other Side) – The Doors (2:30)
Take it Easy – The Eagles (3:31)
Calabria 2007 Club Mix – Enur (6:30)
Stop! (Vince Clarke Sync 82 Remix) – Erasure (6:06)
Ride Like the Wind (54 Remix Edit) – Fab (4:01)
Relax – Frankie Goes to Hollywood (3:57)
Two Tribes – Frankie Goes to Hollywood (3:56)
Naturally (Dave Aude Radio Remix) – Selena Gomez and the Scene (4:01)
One Day – Delta Goodrem (3:38)
Welcome to the Jungle – Guns ‘n Roses (4:34)
Just a Ride – Jem (3:20)
Let it Happen – Jimmy Eat World (3:26)
Don’t Stop Believin’ – Journey (4:09)
Your Love is My Drug – Ke$ha (3:09)
All Summer Long – Kid Rock (iTunes version by the Rock Heroes) (4:56)
Channel Kgbs (TNT Remix) – the KGB’s (5:42)
Professional Killer – KMFDM (4:34)
Telephone (DJ Dan Extended Vocal Remix) [feat. Beyonce] – Lady GaGa (6:03)
No Love Lost – LCD Soundsystem (3:40)
You Crack Me Up – Huey Lewis and the News (3:40)
What I’ve Done – Linkin Park (3:29)
Jump – Madonna (3:59)
Crash (Remix) – Dave Matthews Band with Incubus (4:43)
Ride Like the Wind – Michael Mind (4:58 )
Mother We Just Can’t Get Enough – New Radicals (5:48)
Hey Ya! – Outkast (3:56)
Taxi (Original Mix Edit) – Simon Patterson (4:32)
Get the Party Started – P!nk (3:12)
Good Vibrations (Workout Remix) – Power Music (4:54)
When I Grow Up – Pussycat Dolls (4:05)
O…Saya – A.R. Rahman and M.I.A. (3:34)
Jai Ho – A.R. Rahman (4:15)
Jumpin’ Jack Flash – The Rolling Stones (3:43)
Sympathy for the Devil – The Rolling Stones (6:19)
Chant – Xavier Rudd (4:10)
I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’ (Radio Edit) – Scissor Sisters (4:11)
To the Club (Highpass Radio Cut) – Spankox (3:09)
Black & Gold (Marcussen Album Version) – Sam Sparro (4:35)
Let’s Dance – Chris Rea (4:15)
Jessie’s Girl – Rick Springfield (3:14)
ChainLightning – Steely Dan (3:00)
Bounce with Me – Kreesha Turner (3:08)
867-5309 – Tommy Tutone (3:51)
We Will Rock You (Ultra Club Sounds Edit) – Alex Twister (2:56)
Beautiful Day – U2 (4:08 )
Going Wrong (DJ Shah feat. Chris Jones) – Armin van Buuren (5:36)
In and Out of Love (feat. Sharon den Adel) – Armin van Buuren (6:01)
Unforgivable (First State Remix feat. Jaren) – Armin van Buuren (6:22)
100% Pure Love – Crystal Waters (4:39)
Saturday Night – Whigfield (3:44)
Last Updated: January 24, 2011
S p i n n i n g M u s i c 
hiiiii what about ANOTER LOVE as a warmup song
I am getting ready to teach my first spinning class and this site was a huge help! Thank you so much. Any tips or pointers for my first few weeks of being a new spinning instructor?
Congratulations on becoming an indoor cycling instructor Jordan! I’ve been doing it for going on 7 years now and still love it. Some of the regular contributors on the blog have been cycling for much longer. Here are some ideas:
When I was first teaching, I often practiced my new profiles/playlists once on my own before doing them for my class. I don’t need to do this any more but for the first couple of years it was instrumental in helping me teach with confidence. I knew the songs would work because I’d ridden to them already. At the beginning, there was a song that didn’t work, or one I needed to tweak, on almost every playlist. Practice rides enabled me to fix the bugs and swap these out. You can also experiment with the tougher aspects of coaching, such as using visualization techniques. (Yep, I was the person talking away to myself in an empty room.)
Rely mostly on songs you enjoy and know – they are much easier to cue.
Arrive at class EARLY and keep your gym bag packed with items that will enable you to trouble-shoot. Spare batteries, spare iPod cord, CD in case iPod dies. Even when you know the gym really well, stuff can happen. Today when I arrived to teach my class, the sub from the previous class had locked the stereo system and taken the key out of the room. After a frantic search, we finally located it in one of the drawers at the front desk. I’ve also arrived to sub a class to find the previous instructor had taken the pedals off the bike and replaced them so I couldn’t clip in. (Who does that???)
Go to other instructors’ classes as often as you can. You will learn something from each one, especially now that you are riding with an instructor’s eye. If someone has them lining up out the door – go see what the fuss is about. But you can learn from anyone. I don’t get out to as many as I used to but I’d pick up song suggestions, cues, profile ideas, the list is endless. And don’t limit yourself to your city or area – check out other studios when you travel.
Do your research and learn what is widely accepted and what is contraindicated for an indoor ride. (Try Googling Spinning + contraindication). Most certifications don’t spend a lot of time on what you shouldn’t do. (Most of these are bad habits picked up from folks who just copy what they see other instructors doing, or make up moves themselves.)
Be 100% yourself. If you’re funny, be funny. If you’ve got related expertise, share it. (For instance, if your background is in nutrition, why not offer a nutrition tip at the end of every class?) If you just love indoor cycling, let that shine through.
Get to know your regulars. Find out and remember their names, greet them, learn something about them.
Good luck! Come on back and let us know how it is going for you.
I’m getting ready to teach my first spin class the 2nd week of September. So, excited but a bit nervous. Is it ok to put 5-10 seconds of silence between your songs in your playlist, so you can prep your class as to what is going to happen in the next song? Or is it best to just prep them when the next song begins? I have taken classes where instructors have done both. Thanks in advance for any feedback! Keep spinning! :)
Hey Kristi,
By now you have a month of experience as an instructor. How’s it going so far?
I set the crossfade on my iPhone to zero seconds between songs but there is still a very short gap (a second?) between them (you’d need a program like MixMeister to remove it entirely, I think). I found that, especially with shorter songs (3-4 min) a 5-10 second break after every song can leave some riders with the “not working hard enough” feeling. I try to keep the music streaming and coach breaks at strategic points, plus encourage riders to break at other times when needed. I think this serves the advanced riders as well as occasional ones. If a song winds down at the end, I’ll set up the next thing during the last 30 seconds or so, or perhaps the first seconds of the next song. Occasionally I will pause the music to explain. This way I can make the break as long as I need.
Hi Cynthia!
It is going great! I am teaching at 2 different gyms with 3 of my own classes and subbing for others. Thanks for the advice! I’ve been keeping a 5 second break between songs but feel like I can do away with that now, since I am more comfortable with teaching. Love this site!
Thanks for the update Kristi – so great that you have three classes of your own already. Sometimes it takes folks a year or more to get there. Three classes is enough to build your experience really quickly. C’mon back and post one of your favourite profiles for us.
Just stumbled accross this website – what a god send!
Only taught spin twice (tomorrow is my third class) and its gone OK so far because i’m a pretty musical person so can stick to a beat, but the song selections on this site have been a massive help!
I bet my class tomorrow goes really well because of it :)
Hi i just became a instructor and reading about all things that can go wrong during a class is laughing it off. My first class was crazy althe music i had selected i couldnt get right so i just winged it and all i can say everyone loved it lol. So all ican say is keep on thinking positive and love the ride .
Hi Donna, that’s great that you were able to wing it, especially for your very first class – it isn’t easy! I subbed a class a few weeks ago and couldn’t get the iPod cord to work – I thought I was going to have to scrounge for a CD and hope for the best, but managed to get it working.
Katie..
I just taught my first class tonight! ( i dropped the damn ipod 2x and had to restart my songs over, ahhhh) but I would say try and have a mix of music to get everyone’s musical tastes played and keep it fairly simple. I did straight hills, sprints and some heavy intervals. Once I get super comfortable Il try to incorporate jumps.
To everyone else….how much talking to you do aside from the commands of turning on resistance or ‘get ready to sprint’? i also had a hard time with the mic, most ppl said they could not hear me too well but i was afraid id be breathing super heavy if it was too close. Any suggestions would be welcome. Also….in an hour class, i see that I have at least 20 minutes or 5 songs of straight up hills…is that too much?
Hi Annie,
Congrats on teaching your first class!
I try to maintain a balance with some chatting (especially during the warmup and cool down and recovery periods) but during working periods my talk is limited to cueing, motivation, and timing. I will tell the riders how much time is left (30 sec, halfway there etc) and they tell me they like that. If I see bad form I’ll cue the class (e.g. “shoulders down and loose”). I also make a point of minimal talking for at least a couple of songs in each class and sometimes will even say, “for this one, it’s just you and the bike” and I will remain silent throughout. For some drills (like jumps, where you’re counting) it is almost impossible to say much of anything else.
I have developed kind of a routine with talk. During the warmup I usually share some small thing that’s going on in my life, water cooler stuff, and give some basic instruction about good form.
If I have some trivia about a song I mention it during a recovery period for that song (I like to look up the songs I use on Wikipedia for interesting tidbits).
During the cool down I try to offer a health or fitness tip. I get most of these from Women’s Health magazine and from the Life section in the Globe and Mail newspaper. Most are brief summaries of recent studies condensed into a takeaway point. If there are any new spinners I get the class to give them a round of applause for completing their first spin class. I always finish by thanking participants for riding with me.
I use a headset mike and I don’t find it picks up my breathing at all.
For a 60 minute class you’d want about 10% warmup and 10% cool down leaving 45-48 minutes of work. Doing 20 minutes of hills doesn’t sound like too much if you’ve spaced them out between other types of drills.
All the best,
Cynthia
Hey Guys Im in need of some quick and fast help. I am supposed to be teaching a spin class tomorrow night. I have never taught spin before and I don’t know how to form a class. Can anyone send me a format? I could really appreciate the help. Thanks,
Katie
Hello Cynthia,
THANK YOU VERY MUCH! and I’ve decided to teach “interval” as my main profile vs. incorporating all energy zones for now. I’m keeping music selection to “what works for spinning” and the great news is.. it’s working. It’s been great!!! Staff and members have been very, very complimentary. I’m teaching more, enjoying it more ,and I’ve been offered several classes at different locations, two of which will begin shortly.:-)
Thanks again for taking the time to post. I will stay in touch. Have a great summer.
NO LONGER FRUSTRATED! :-)
Hey No Longer Frustrated – that’s fantastic news! It feels so good to start with a half-full class and get it full! Thanks for coming back to tell me how it worked for you. Consider posting one of your favourite profiles on the Reader Playlist page when you get a chance.
Happy spinning,
Cynthia
Hi Frustrated,
I hear you. With music selection, there are three ways to go: safest: use a mix of current hits (I do this when subbing classes); next: mix it up with different genres, but keep your playlists thematically connected (e.g. dance, classic rock); riskiest: become known as an instructor who plays mostly a certain type of music (e.g. trance, house, alt rock, hard rock etc.) Some people will love it and come to your class especially for it; others who don’t like it will stay away. I’ve seen very successful instructors using each of these methods.
Try asking riders for song requests or genres. I will sometimes come to class and say, “what’ll it be today, hard rock or dance?” I’ve got profiles for both, and I let the majority of the class decide what to ride to.
With drills, an interval class is the all-round safest bet. I use mostly interval classes because the ridership at my gym varies from week to week. It’s not as sophisticated as (say) Spinning’s energy zones, but it is easier to use when you’re not teaching to classes full of the same regular riders.
Nobody can please 100% of the people, 100% of the time. Just do your best and observe carefully to learn what your riders want from their class. It takes time to build a class. If your numbers are steadily increasing, even if it is slow, you’re doing it right.
Good luck!
Cynthia,
I’m so glad I came across your site. It comes and it goes, but I’ve been having much axieity with creating profiles that “EVERYBODY” likes. This is the most difficult task I’ve ever encounted in all my years on this planet. My lord. How can all expect the music/intensity is going to be over the top, especially when the bike their riding, isn’t going to ride any closer to the mail box down the block? I don’t GET IT!
(sigh)
Sign: FRUSTRATED!
Hi Oscar,
Hola! Thanks for visiting the blog and leaving a comment. I love hearing from instructors and riders from other countries. It makes one realize how global the Internet really is.
I’m glad you find the blog useful in putting together your classes. Look for more posts in a couple of weeks,
Cynthia
hello everybody.
I am a spiining instructor and indoor cyling programs, this site have a lot ideas for my classes.
i from spain
thanks
so organized! i love it!
Hi Marc,
Congrats on becoming a certified Spin instructor. Drop by anytime,
Cynthia
hey just done my spinning course and i love it.
web site is a massive help putting together my first playlist so thanks
Marc
Thanks Becky! Come by again and post some of your favourite songs on the page where you think they fit best, or post an entire playlist/profile on the Reader Playlists page.
I have been teaching cycle sport/ spinning/ RPM for over 5 years and your music selection gives me great ideas. Thanks!