I’ve been teaching for about two years now in San Francisco, and am always trying to keep it fresh and exciting for the class (and for me). I have a few that I would love to share as well, with the most recent one being a “themed” class around each song having a MESSAGE (it was a bit cheesy, but hey, it kept me and the class entertained). I teach a 50 minute class, so you can always just add to it:
1. Brave, Sara Bareilles (3:40): Warm-up, nice and easy, 90-100 RPM, flat ride to get the legs moving. About half-way, class starts to increase resistance a little turn at a time, keeping the RPM steady. I tell them they are BRAVE for showing up for today’s class.
2. I Like to Move It, Frog Song (3:00): Starting to get the heart rate up, we increase resistance just a bit, and I tell them to MOVE IT, in and out of the saddle, I do a 10/10 or 8/8 count or even a 20/10 Tabata type interval to get the heart rate elevated. Resistance is still fairly easy / flat ride.
3. Work Work, Britney Spears (4:08): Now we get ready to really WORK. The next three songs are a set, where I don’t give them much rest. We set resistance on a medium hill (effort level 6/7), i encourage them to sustain 70-80 RPM for the next 3.5-4min. Key is keeping the RPMs steady, for this 4 min interval. I keep this one in the saddle.
4. Burn, Ellie Golding (3:51): 20 second recovery but still on the medium hill resistance (active recovery), just moving the legs a bit more slowly. Then they have a 3.5 min medium hill with jumps on a hill. This is where our quads are just starting to BURN. I encourage them to feel that burn and breath and ride through it, because it is only going to get harder and better. On the jumps, I focus on having them accelerate out of the saddle and go at least 5-10 RPM faster for the 15-20 seconds of the chorus. (3 Jumps);
5. Sweat, Snoop Dog vs David Guetta Remix (3:16): This is our final song in the three set, or about 11 minutes of medium/hard hill. No break other than active recovery, so about 15-20 seconds before they start to crank it up to a hard hill. This is where they should be showing and feeling a good SWEAT. We keep it simple – at least a 2.5 minute set where they are on a hill somewhere between 8-10 effort level; start in the saddle, where they go about 60-65 RPM, 1 min in saddle, then rest out of saddle; before they get out, they reach down and add some resistance for good measure.
6. Because I’m Awesome, Dollyrots (3:20): this is partly a recovery ride – I give them a full minute to go back to a flat and just let their legs go fast and easy – 90-100 on a flat; They are AWESOME for making it through the 11 minute hill. After that, we add some resistance, to what I call a false flat, it looks flat, but it ain’t flat, so you feel a bit of resistance, and then we do a 2 minute fast ride; easy on the legs, but gets that heart rate back up to where we want it.
7. Rock That Body, Black-Eyed Peas (4:29): Now they are ready for round number two of a long medium/hard hill. Same idea as the first set, medium hill, 70-80 RPM, 4 minutes, hold it steady. It is all about the consistency of RPM on an effort level around 6 for hill; I ask them to ROCK THAT BODY.
8. Right Round, Flo Rida (3:23): Jumps on a hill. Same as above, stay on that medium hill, and on chorus, accelerate out of the saddle to position 3 and push those RPMs. The first jump is 1:08 – 1:24. That is why they are here, right? To SPIN IT RIGHT ROUND.
9. Scream & Shout, Will.i.iam feat Britney (4:12): At this point, they are ready to SCREAM & SHOUT (at me), because their quads are feeling this hill. Their heart is beating fast. This is what they came for today….I encourage them to channel the power in the legs for four more minutes and they get a break. Have them crank it up to the 8-10 effort level. 2 minutes in the saddle and 2 minutes out of the saddle. I guide them to the 60ish RPM and nothing less, because the idea here is to keep the hard hill for the 4minutes and make it through all four minutes.
10. Sexy People, Arianna feat Pitbull (3:29): This is another recovery song like #6 above. A full 90 seconds of nice easy flat moving their legs 90-100 RPM but should feel very easy like their warm-up. Good time to grab water. The last 2 minutes we move into slightly higher resistance and keeping those legs moving fast. Easy on the legs, but gets the heart rate up. Well, the fact that they made it through another 12 minutes of a hills, makes them SEXY PEOPLE in my eyes.
11. Play Hard, David Guetta/Neyo (4:58): Alright, break over for the finale. About 8ish minutes of a hill. This one we start at the flat, and increase resistance every 30 seconds. Effort level 2/3; should be at about 6/7 by end of this song. Usually, I go: 30 seconds in saddle, increase resistance, 30 seconds in the saddle, then up 30 seconds out of saddle, reach down increase resistance and other 30 seconds out of saddle, then back down, and so on. Make it your story, but I love to WORK HARD AND PLAY HARD and that is what we are doing in class today!
12. 4 Minutes, Madonna feat. Justin. I am out of time and I only have 4 MINUTES of torture/hard work left! I actually only do 3 minutes of this, because we don’t take a break from the previous hill and just do a 1.5 in saddle at level 8/9 and 1.5 min out of saddle at level 8/9. Then we reduce the resistance by at least half a turn, get back in the saddle, and ask them to keep moving those legs at least at 75-85 RPM and take one full minute to let our heart rate settle.
13. Relax, Take It Easy, MIKA (3:45): Cool Down / Stretch. They get to RELAX and TAKE IT EASY.
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