Wow! What a great session at the 11th Annual YMCA Spring Training! As promised, here is a link where I’ve posted the music playlist and a sample template for the rating of perceived exertion cards.

Thank you to the instructors who took the time to attend my session. It was a pleasure to meet you all!  I appreciated the invitation to share my ideas and present to you today. Take those ideas and use them at your next class!

And don't forget to connect with me! I'd love to hear how your classes are going!

Connect via email, Facebook (just "like" my page) and/or LinkedIn.

Exercise Your Happiness!

Lisa :)

Recently, I was thumbing through iTunes podcasts and stumbled upon a fantastic find - SpinTastics playlists by Jason Hammers. It is a well stocked list of podcasts full of single one hour mixes of spin songs. And the best part is that they are FREE to download!

I contacted Jason to hear his take on his 20+ playlists.

He told me that initially he made the playlists available to his clients and cycle participants particularly for those who missed a session and wanted to get their workout in on their own time. The idea grew and Jason started to share his playlists with other instructors who needed help finding good music. At which point, he decided to design a podcast and post them on iTunes.

Jason’s playlists are chalk full of your favourite songs and they are all from the original artists. Take some time to listen to each and build your class drills based on the sequence of the songs. Songs can range in beats per minute from fast (140 bpm) to slow (90 bpm) so apply drills appropriately!

Jason also told me that he is considering building spin profiles/drills and packaging with his playlists for a small fee. Keep an eye out on Jason’s website for when they become available.

To get your copies of SpinTastics, simply download iTunes to your computer (if you don’t already have it) and search “spintastics”. It should be the first item to pop up in Top Results.

As you can agree, music is essential to our classes and making a playlist can take a fair amount of time. Thanks to Jason we’ve got access to an extensive choice of playlist podcasts.

Kudos to Jason for designing great playlists!

I’ve been working on a workshop for the upcoming 11th Annual YMCA Spring Training Conference on reinventing your spin classes and a word keeps coming up as I put it together: creativity. A colleague and friend of mine forwarded me this and wondered what thought! Take a peak!

 Not to give away what’s in store for the upcoming workshop, what can we learn from these daring acts on the bike? Let’s put on our creativity hats...

· A couple words come to mind – enthusiasm and energy. How do you bring these two attributes to your classes?

· The use of percussion and sound cues with clapping. The individuals are using clapping to set the rhythm and beat in the song. Could you add another layer of cuing to the music you use?

· Pedal cadence is consistent with the beats per minute (bpm) in each song. For example, in the first video, the song is 150 bpm and the cyclist is pedalling between 75-80 rpm. Look at how effective the music is setting the intensity and pace. Do you use the bpm of your songs to dictate cadence in your classes?

· Synchronization! Matching partner or group leg movements were set. This is a great way to foster teamwork in your class. How could you promote synchronization in your classes? 

· It is all about taking your cycle participants out of the norm for a spin class. How can you do this? Well, bike placement might just do it. The second video demonstrates a pace line option. Now, I don’t recommend the bounding over the bikes, but perhaps this could be the inspiration for participants rotate through bikes in a safer way? How can you shake it up for your cycle participants?

· Just like a round in music (two or more voices sing exactly the same melody, starting at different times), the cyclists in the second video glide into a round on the bike when each move from sitting to standing starting at the next phrase in the racing music. When can you include a round in your drills?

· Did you catch the theme in the last video? Kevin Bacon in a tight white shirt and jeans bring anything to mind? The cyclists are ‘dancing’ to the song Footloose on their bikes. Decked out in tight white shirts (minus jeans of course) and tapping their feet just like some of the moves from the movie. Now it maybe that we won’t ‘dance’ on the bike (although that might even be something to consider) but think about themes for you classes. What themes would interest your cycle participants?

Now I would be neglectful if I did not mention that some of these moves are not particularly safe for many (if not all) of our cycle participants. Uncontrolled high cadence, lifting the stationary bike off the ground, standing on the handle bars, uncontrolled single leg work, the v-sit on the saddle, and clap push ups are not recommended in a regular spin class. So maybe don’t try this at home or in the studio with participants.

Let’s look at these videos more as a spectacle versus functional training, but anything can be the inspiration for a great spin class!

Keep creative!

With the greatest love day of the year upon us, how can you infuse a little bit of L.O.V.E into your classes?

Simply using the word love might just help!

Start off with:

Long slow distance: an endurance ride of 10 minutes, adding a gear with each minute. Begin with setting tension at time trial with 80-90 rpm. Add a gear which will be set differently based on the bike style and model.

Obstacle course: set up a predetermined race course that includes speed bumps, pot holes, slippery bananas, gravel, etc. Take participants through the course of obstacles.

Velocity (sprints): what can your group handle? 100% effort sprints for 30, 60, 90 second sprints?

Elevations (hills): finish the class with a set of hill climbs.

If you have access to a white board, chalk board or poster board, write down the four letters and as you come to the next letter, add the details of the drill. Keep the class guessing as to what is next in store.

Think of your music and match L.O.V.E. songs to your drills. Check out last year’s post for song ideas and the list below for some new song options (watch the bpm for appropriate types of drills!).

Where is the Love?/Black Eye Peas (100 bpm)

What is Love?/Haddaway (140 bpm)

This Love/ Maroon Five (100 bpm)

Love is/ Alanna Miles (120 bpm)

You Suck At Love/ Simple Plan (145 bpm)

Love Somebody Like You/Keith Urban (120 bpm)

What About Love?/Heart (80 bpm)

Lovegame/Lady Gaga (120 bpm)

Somebody to Love/ Queen (80 bpm)

Finish the class with a bunch of hugs and kisses. Not literally of course, but of the chocolate variety!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

As part of my summer vacation, I was surprised with a trip to New York City. I was there last year only for a couple days and I knew I just had to get back to see all the sites. I was fortunate to spend a full day in Central Park and enjoy all the sights and sounds. I would love to share with you a ride in Central Park (and some of my pictures).

Just a bit of background ...the park was completed in 1870 and spans 843 hectares (think – Edmonton’s Hawrelak Park [at 130 hectares] times eight). It is huge! Around the park there is Central Park Drive which is open to walkers, joggers, roller bladders and of course, cyclists. Riders are a diverse group from seasoned cyclists to tourists riding rental bikes for the day. And I can’t forget the bicycle taxis!

Central Park Drive is a 6.03 mile (9.7 km) loop around the park. Set the scene by mentally taking your class participants to the park by picking the time of year (e.g., beautiful autumn leaves on trees or hot, sweltering days of summer).  List things that they may see on their ride such as the outside of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met), horse drawn carriages, lots of trees and wildlife such as extra large squirrels, numerous bodies of water (the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir), and of course, the world famous Great Lawn.

Instead of being one of the wide-eye tourists with cameras hanging around their necks, your cycle participants are the bicycle taxis drivers (see above picture) that drive tourists around the park. Cycle participants pick up a single tourist at the south east tip of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir (right by The Met) and he requests a ride around the Reservoir, which is 1.58 miles (2.5 km). Assume cycle participants ride at 25 km per hour, the loop will take 7.5 minutes to complete. What cycle participants don’t know that the loop varies in terrain and there are surprises on the way! Start heading north on the east side of the Reservoir.

0-1 minutes: slight incline to the terrain; add tension stay seated

1-2 minutes: seated time trial/steady pace with one tourist

2-2.5 minutes: you run into large group of runners who are taking up most of the road; you need to dodge runners by adding tension and riding out of the saddle

2.5-3 minutes: tourist is not happy with your swerving and requests to get out; light tension on the flat

3-4 minutes: two female tourists pick up the ride at the north end of the reservoir with many heavy shopping bags; add tension to compensate for extra weight; push hard!

4-4.5 minutes: the path curves and you meet up with other bicycle taxis; to show off your excellent cycling ability, you start to pick up the pace and move into standing jog

5-5.5 minutes: you round the northwest corner and leave the other bicycle taxis behind, keep the same tension as above but sit down into saddle, remember you still have the two tourists

5.5-6 minutes: two tourists request to get out as they are heading to the Upper West Side, you let them out and turn tension back to seated time trial/steady pace with no tourists; Freedom!

6-7 minutes: you are waved down by a family of three that want to squeeze into your small carrier. They insist so you let them in. Turn up the tension and stay seated. Hold the pace to pull them to the finish of the loop.

7-7.5 minutes: You hope and pray the family wants to get out at the Great Lawn and hurry pedal your feet (increase speed) only to run into a horse and carriage that makes you want to speed even faster (increase speed).

Unfortunately, the family won’t get out at the Great Lawn and you race back to the Met and drop them off with a huff and a puff!

Feel free to modify your ride as required with the well detailed map of the Park.

Why not include some New York City Themed songs. Here is my list:

Empire State of Mind – Jay-Z and Alicia Keys (censored radio version)

I Love New York – Madonna

NY minute – Mobile

New York Minute – Eagles (good cool down song)

New York City Boy - Pet Shop Boys

Sex and the City Theme Song

Theme from New York New York – Frank Sinatra

New York Groove – KISS

New York – U2

New York City – Boney M

New York is My Home – Ray Charles

Or check out more options on Wikipedia.

  I HEART NYC!