Spinning Workout 5: Cadence

SPINNING WORKOUT 5 - BIG CLIMB, BIG DESCENT (45 minutes)

This workout focuses primarily on cadence, so you should keep your turnover constant. The roadmap for the workout is primarily climbing in the first half, primarily descending in the second half. However, you'll notice that the resistances stay within a relatively small range. So don't go crazy with the resistance; make your primary focus on keeping the pace and maintaining form. Once you've got that down, you can start to add more and more resistance.

Mama Told me not to Come (3:19) : Pre-workout
Strength, Courage, and Wisdom (4:57) : Pre-workout
Call in the Cavalry (2:26) : Warmup
Satin in a Coffin (2:37) : +(4) at 1st verse, +(5) at 2nd verse, +(7) and up at slow bit, --(5) increase cadence at 3rd verse to end
Detective (2:55) : -(4) pick up at cadence at beginning, down at 1st verse, +(5) at chorus, up at chorus, pick up cadence at instrumental, down at a cappella
Cheryl Tweedy (3:28) : in (5), find a steady cadence, pick up after chorus, +(6) and maintain cadence (attack on uphill) at 2nd chorus, back off after chorus, climb to end (try to maintain or increase gap
I Wanna Love you Forever (3:22) : -(5) and pick up cadence, down and maintain cadence at 2nd verse, jumps at bridge, down at last chorus and maintain cadence to end
We're Not Gonna Take It (3:34) : +(6) up at musical intro, +(7) at chorus, -(6) at 2nd verse, +(7) at bridge, --(5) at guitar solo, +(6) at bridge, +(7) at chorus
The Dirty Glass (3:38) : ----(3) spin it out for intro, quick legs at tempo pick up, sprint at first chorus, +(4) and up for 2nd verse, sprint at chorus, down at 3rd verse, sprint at chorus, -(3) and spin out, sprint at final chorus, maintain to end
A Praise Chorus (4:03) : +(4) and quick legs, +(5) at chorus, -(4) and up at end of chorus, +(5) at chorus, -(4) after chorus, down at 2nd time through "crimson and clover," +(5) at chorus, pick up to end
Overrated (3:12) : --(3) quick spin, sprint at chorus, +(4) and up at pre-chorus, sprint at chorus, down at bridge, GIVE PLENTY OF WARNING FOR seated sprint to standing sprint! go at chorus, stand at second chorus, back off after chorus, stay quick to end
Are You Gonna be my Girl (3:38) : +(4) and down, establish a quick rhythm ("Close to the end now!"), pick up at chorus, fast time trial through verse, pick up at chorus, accelerate through last chorus (about :40)
Bad Reputation (2:48) : maintain intensity from acceleration, last mile, maintain intensity to end, +(5) at modulation, quick quick quick! up at guitar solo, accelerate through last repetition of "oh no! not me!" (at about 2:28)
The City (4:44) : Cool down
Back to the Middle (5:11) : Stretch
Satan Lend Me A Dollar (2:45) : Post-workout
Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall (4:49) : Post-workout

We Interrupt Your Regularly Scheduled Podcast . . .

You know how difficult it is to do Tabata intervals on the bike by yourself? It's a frickin' pain in the butt. I did a set the other day, trying to balance my stopwatch so I could see it the whole time, trying to push through every interval when I was ready to stop after two, trying to look at the time through the pain.

So I thought I'd give my fellow cyclists a little help in this respect. Set your bike up on the trainer and get ready to work!

(For more on Tabata intervals see the following:
http://www.active.com/triathlon/Articles/Go-for-Broke-with-Tabata-Intervals.htm
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8897392)

Tri Harder Podcast: Tabata Intervals

Spinning Workout 27 - Sweatfest

Have I ever mentioned that the middle-aged women of my cycling classes are often uninspired by my musical selections? Um, to the point that they have walked out in the middle of class. "I'm sorry, but I just couldn't take that music!" they say. I don't understand. Muse, Less Than Jake, Yellowcard . . . it's good music!

Anyway, the music of this podcast was all selected from a pool of what I thought my class would accept. So lots of 70s rock, with a few more modern songs that have the same sound and feel.

Now without further ado:

Spinning Workout 27 - Sweatfest
One Way or Another (3:29): Warm up
Gimme Gimme Gimme (4:50): Warm up
White Room (4:57): Terrain track
Born to Run (4:31): Climb
I Believe in a Thing Called Love (3:36): Terrain
Hit me With Your Best Shot (2:51): Spin
More Than A Feeling (4:45): Terrain
Life in the Fast Lane (4:47): Chase
All Right Now (5:34): Terrain w/ big climbs
Dani California (4:40): Spin
25 or 6 to 4 (4:53): Climb
Kyrie (4:26): Cool down
Dream on (4:28): Stretch

Spinning Workout 26 - Slow Burn

Spinning Workout 26 - Slow Burn 

One Sweet Love (3:59) - Pre
Working for the Weekend (3:25) - Warm up
Supermoves (4:49) - Jumps
Welcome to the Jungle (4:34) - Climb
We're in Heaven (3:55) - TT w/ bursts of high cadence spinning
Mustang Sally (3:59) - Standing TT
Mama Told me not to Come (3:20) - Climb
Paranoid (3:03) - Fast spin w/ standing sprints
Time After Time (3:27) - Ride into wind w/ quick spinning in between
I'm Outta Love (3:49) - Hard TT w/ standing intervals
Under Pressure (4:04) - Hard Climb
Come to Me (2:49) - Cool down
The Story (3:58) - Stretch

Oh guys. Get ready for this one. This is one of those workouts where you think, "Am I going to make it all the way through this?" My cycling classes and I had a lot of fun doing this one together.


I recommend that you start with pretty high resistance on your trainer, enough that you can feel a little bit of push in your lowest gear. That should give you room to get enough resistance on the climbing tracks. And if you're on a stationary or spinning bike, you don't even have to worry about that!

Spinning Workout 18 - Rollers

A new workout! Woohoo!

SPINNING WORKOUT 18 - ROLLERS (45 minutes)

Higher (3:55): Pre
What I'm Trying to Say (3:23): Pre
Porcelain (4:01): Pre
Rockin' the Suburbs (4:29): Warm up with one light climb; +(5), up @ 2nd chorus; -(4), down @ last chorus
Karma (4:18): Moderate to high climb; +(5) @ beginning; +(6), up @ verse, stay quick; +(7), stay quick @ “I remember when”; -(6) @ chorus; +(7) @ “I remember when”; +(8) @ 2nd time through chorus to end
Hey Baby (3:29): Descent; quick break to coast and bring resistance back down; beginning in (3), easy, quick spin; small increase every 64 counts (just enough to feel a little change); at (4)-(5) @ chorus; in (4), easy, quick spin; small increase every 64 counts; (4)-(5) @ chorus; quick in (5) at chant; add a little bit @ last chorus; pick up tempo @ 2nd time through chorus
Can't Stop (4:29): Moderate climb; intro to cruise, build to cadence; in (5) or just a little above, find climbing rhythm; add a little at 2nd half of verse; +(6), up @ 2nd verse; add a little at 2nd half of verse; down in (6) @ bridge, guitar solo; +(7), up @ last verse
Way Away (3:22): Descent; coast @ intro; begin in (3), easy, quick spin; add a little resistance @ 2nd half of verse; pick up tempo @ chorus; back off tempo at MT; +(4) @ 2nd verse; add a little at 2nd half of verse; pick up tempo @ chorus; back off @ bridge; add a little resistance every 16 counts; pick up tempo @ chorus
Satin in a Coffin (2:37): Moderate climb; ++(6), up, @ verse; +(7) @ 2nd time through verse; standing recovery @ slow bit; follow rhythm as it builds speed; back off resistance, cruise as music fades
The Machine Gun Song (2:51): Descent; in (4), match cadence; +(5), up @ chorus; -(4), down @ 2nd chorus; +(5) @ bridge; up @ next verse, stay up until end
Everlong (4:11): Descent; in (3), build to cadence; add a little at full entrance; add a little more every 32 beats during verse; don't add at MT; add every 32 beats during verse; +(5), up @ chorus; repeat sequence; rest during quiet interlude; build during song build; +(5), up @ last chorus
We're Not Gonna Take It (3:35): Moderate climb; stay in (5), down, quick; +(6), up @ chorus; down @ 2nd verse; +(7), up @ 2nd chorus; -(6) @ guitar solo; +(7) @ last chorus; -(6) @ fade
Carbon Monoxide (3:10): Moderate to hard climb; find rhythm in (6), standing; sit, maintain rhythm (adjust resistance if necessary) @ 2nd verse; +(6), up @ chorus; -(5), down, at quiet part; +(6), up @ chorus
I Ain't Saying my Goodbyes (3:43): Hard climb; cruise during intro; find rhythm in (6), up, @ full instrumental intro; add a touch @ 2nd time through verse; +(7) @ chorus; option to climb seated @ instrumental break; +(8), everyone up @ chorus; extra credit addition @ “you don't get upset,” stay consistent
Are You Gonna be my Girl (3:39): Cool down; cruise @ beginning; if you want to spin out quick on the descent, also acceptable
Somewhere Only We Know (3:57): Post

Spinning Workout 21 - Building Cadence

Since it takes so long to record each podcast episode, I've decided to start publishing my workout playlist with instructions here and on itunes (you can find Spinning Workout 21 as an imix on itunes, also). This way you won't have someone telling you what to do and when, but you'll at least have access to the music and the workouts.

Spinning Workout 21 - Building Cadence
Match cadence to song BPM throughout
The Tide is High (4:42): Pre-workout
One Way or Another (3:29)--81 BPM: Warm up
The Breaks (3:23)--90 BPM: Work form, establish baseline effort
Paper Thin Hymn (3:15)--92 BPM: Fast, short climbs
I Am the Man (3:58)--96 BPM: High effort TT
We Float (6:08)--98 BPM: Quick effort with bursts of high power, 1/2 cadence
Nikita (4:42)--105 BPM: TT
Heart of Glass (3:38)--110 BPM: Jumps at: 2nd verse, 3rd verse, last verse
Stupid Girl (4:19)--118 BPM: High intensity TT
Playgirl (3:51)--120 BPM: TT with standing intervals
Inside of Me (3:42)--132 BPM: TT, faster than tempo if possible; add an extra kick 30 seconds from the end
Sayonara Senorita (4:11)--126 BPM: Cool down
Time of Your Song (4:26): Stretch/post-workout
Kissy Kissy (5:02): Post-workout

One of the greatest things about spinning bikes is that you can spin your legs much faster with a flywheel than on a regular bike. This workout uses that advantage to train mental toughness (believe me, doing 132 RPM for three and a half minutes will be tough) and neuromuscular speed. By the last song, your legs will be going at near-sprint speed. This is also a perfect base building workout, because most of the songs keep you at an aerobic level, while the last few songs should push you over the top into Zone 4.

I will also still publish my workouts as podcasts; it'll just take a while.

Spinning Workout 4 - Intro to Climbing

It's here! It's here!




SPINNING WORKOUT 4 - INTRO TO CLIMBING (45 minutes)




Black and White (3:47) : Pre-workout

Don't Stop Believing (4:10) : Pre-workout

Goody Two Shoes (3:29) : Warm-up in saddle, turn up to (3) halfway through

Back in Black (4:15) : +(4), get legs going, up at 2nd verse, +(5) at guitar solo

Bathwater (4:04) : down, stay in (5), pick-up at chorus, up and pick up at chorus, +(6) at bridge, -(5), down at coda, pick-up at chorus, up, stay quick at last instrumental

Step Away From the Cliff (2:48) : down, stay in (5), push it out

Breaking the Girl (4:57) : -(4), get legs going, +(5), up at chorus, down at 2nd verse, +(6), up at instrumental

Youth (4:20) : -(5), stay up, ++(7) at chorus ("Young man"), --(5) after chorus, ++(7) at chorus, -(6) after chorus, +(7) at chorus, --(5) after chorus, pick up slightly through end of music

Neighborhood #3 (5:15) : -(3), downhill, high cadence, +(4) after brief interlude (about 1:32), pound through brief flat

One More Sad Song (3:03) : in (4), get cadence going, +(5), up at pre-chorus, +(6) at chorus, -(5) at 2nd verse, +(6) at chorus

Yellow (4:29) : -(5), down, +(6), up after "For you I'd bleed myself dry"

How (2:51) : pick up cadence a little, +(7) at 2nd section, +(8) at 3rd section

For What It's Worth (2:43) : Cardiac cool-down

Papa Loves Mambo (2:43) : Stretches

One Sweet Love (3:58) : Post-workout