Spinning #124: The Experiment

You know I love the Steady130 website, right?  I often use their remixes in both my own workout playlists and in my Spinningâ playlists.  Back in February Steady130 posted their first mix created specifically with indoor cycling in mind.  The beats range from 128-146 and they promised no explicit language in the hour long mix.   I immediately downloaded the mix, and then promptly forgot about it. 

I forgot about it that is until last week when I started planning a new ride + playlist.  I gave it an initial listen, and immediately knew I could work with what I heard.  I just wasn’t sure how it would be received in my classes.  Below is the breakdown of the songs and how I interpreted them. (The numbers in the parentheses indicate how long the individual songs are), and [the numbers in the brackets are roughly where they songs show up on my iPod, so I wouldn’t have to do math during the ride.]

Spinning #124 :: Interval Energy Zone ::  1 hour, continuous mix of 15 songs

The workout mix:  Steady 130 Presents Spin Cycle Mix

Shut It Down—Pitbull feat. Akon (3:46) 128bpm [0-3:46]:  Seated Flat Warm up.  Loosen up the body

Turn Me On (David Guetta & Laidback Lucke Remix)—David Guetta feat. Nicki Minaj (4:50) 132bpm [3:46-8:33]:  Pick up the Pace….1 minute of each movement:  Seated Flat, Standing Flat, Jumps

Running Away—Space Cowboy (3:30)  142bpm [8:33--12:08] :  Seated Flat…find the heaviest resistance you can hold at the fast cadence x 3minute30 seconds. 

11:56…start to find the hill

The Catalyst (Rubber Spanner Remix)—Linkin Park (3:30)  138bpm [12:08-15:39]:  seated climb moving to jumps on a hill x 30 seconds

Show Me What You’ve Got—Powerman 5000 (2:20) 144bpm [15:39-17:59]:  Flatten out the road and speed up

Walking With a Ghost (Araz Remix) (5:38) 140bpm [17:59-23:42]:  1 minute each move: Seated Flat, Standing Flat, Jumps, Seated Climb (tiny hill), Standing Climb

Don’t Stop (The FatRat Remix)—Foster the People (3:44)  134bpm and  Sexy & I Know It (Mord Fustang Remix)—LMFAO (4:30)  132bpm   [23:42—27—31:30]:  1 minute recovery, then gradually add resistance every minute.  This hill sneaks up on you. (8 minutes total)   

Temperature vs. Satisfaction (DJ Monster Mashup)—Benny Benassi vs. Sean Paul (3:30) 134bpm [31:30—34:30]:  Keep the hill, then find 30 second valleys, 30 sec hills.

Harder Better Faster Stronger (Ohai Remix)—Daft Punk (3:30) 132bpm  [34:30-38] Flat road, if you need a recovery take it.  Otherwise keep a working flat road. Play with the resistance. 

Everlong (DiscoTech Remix)—Foo Fighters  (3:55) 146bpm [38-42] 2 minutes standing flat (increase resistance after first minute), 2 minutes seated flat (increase resistance after first minute in the saddle.)

Raise Your Weapon (Madeon Remix)—Deadmau5 (3:45) 130bpm [42-46]  Seated Climb

I Am Strong (Airspark Mash)—Tiesto (6:00) 134bpm [46-52] Standing Flat/Seated Flat Combo

• 40 sec stand/20 sec sit
• 35 sec stand/25 sec sit
• 30 sec stand/30 sec sit
• 25 sec stand/35sec sit
• 20 sec stand/40 sec sit
• 15 sec stand/45sec sit (begin to find a hill at 51:36)

Rumor Has It (Joe Maz Remix)—Adele (5:25) 130bpm [52-57] Seated Climb with Standing accelerations on Chorus

Cinema (Extended Mix)—Benny Benassi (4:10) 130bpm  Cool Down

Overall the ride was well received.  I asked for a lot of feedback from the 3 classes I used it.  Here’s a little sampling of what my riders thought:

“Great Music”

“Loved it, awesome class”

“So good, that was fun”

“I like your music choices better.”

“Too much pop music, I didn’t really like it.”

“Usually I know at least one or two songs, but I didn’t recognize these.”

I personally loved the flow of one song into the other.  The BPM felt really good to ride to.  However, I found myself getting tired of it.  I started to crave a little more variety about ¾ of the way through the ride.  I wanted a couple of songs that sounded totally different from one another thrown in there.   Yeah, I got a little bored.   

But, I will use this mix and ride again.  I also think it is perfect for instructors at the beginning of their career who need a little musical guidance (their riders will think they are genius.)  A ready-made mix like this is awesome for those times when it’s nearly midnight and you have to teach at 6am the next morning & have no idea what you are going to do for class.  It’s all laid out for you!

Though I created an interval ride out of the mix, you could easily turn it into a tempo ride working on proper form while locking in the steady beat.  So, what do you think?  Have you used a mix like this before?  What did you think of it?