Happy National Bicycle to Work Day!! It is May 15, and yes, today is the day that we celebrate by doing something good for our bodies and good for the environment. You did ride your bike to work today, didn’t you? If you are already at work and wondering why nobody told you, rest assured there is still time for you to get in on the fun! Here are some songs about bikes, working, riding, and going to school that you can add into your class mix this afternoon or next week. It’s never too late to encourage your riders to get their bikes out of the shed and get on the roads!

• Metro Station – Shake It (Lenny B Remix)
• Queen – Bicycle Race
• A Tribute to the Beatles – A Hard Day's Night
• 16 Bit Lolitas – Passing Lights
• Coldplay – Viva la Vida
• Mamma Mia! (Soundtrack) – Money, Money, Money
• Donna Summer – She Works Hard for the Money
• Hexes & Ohs – Try So Hard
• Busted – What I Go to School For
• Goldfrapp – Ride a White Horse
• Freezepop – bike thief
• The Pussycat Dolls – When I Grow Up
• Jem – Just a Ride
• Huey Lewis & The News – Workin for a Livin
• Cake – The Distance
• Eagles – Life In the Fast Lane
• Peter Gabriel – Don't Give Up

Have a Happy Bike-to-Work Day!!

Getting back on the bike after my maternity hiatus has been an amazing learning experience for me. I have not worked my way into a permanent class slot, so all of my practicing and tweaking has been just for me. But the new insights I’ve gained into my own body and how I’m feeling and functioning right now are only going to improve the quality of the classes I will be teaching in the future, no doubt.

In that light, I’d like to present another Endurance Profile for you to digest this week. I call it the “Know Thyself” ride, because it is meant to allow your riders to explore what is happening within themselves while Spinning. This ride will keep the heart rate under 80% for the entire duration. Naturally, if you have riders who need to top this heart rate, the ride can be easily modified for their needs without sacrificing the experience for your other students.
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Happy Valentine’s Day! 

As a fitness instructor, you are always looking for ways to spice up your next class to make it memorable for your participants. What a more perfect reason to add some themed music to your classes this week and weekend?  No, you don’t have to go crazy and further saturate their ears with notions of cupid and hearts and doilies, but you can give a nod to Hallmark’s greatest accomplishment. If you haven’t already put the finishing touches on your Valentine’s Playlist, check out these suggestions on iTunes and Napster.  There is something here for every style: warm ups, cool downs, step, sculpt, Pilates, yoga, Spinning, boot camp… These lists are not just for my cyclists! You’ll notice there are two separate lists since V-Day is sort of a love it or hate it kind of holiday.    Enjoy the music!
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Y’all have heard me sing the praises of Cadence Revolution as a great way to get pre-mixed playlists for my Spinning classes.  While it has been a while since I used them, mostly because I am in the middle of my maternity leave, I still like checking out their mixes and finding new musical inspirations from their site.  This week, they began offering “the workout” — a very loose profile based on exertion levels — to accompany their mixes.  What a great way to cut down prep time even further for busy instructors who need to put it all together fast!  The workout provides very general cues, which can be taken as good or bad, depending on how much hand-holding you need.  If you are looking for a pre-choreographed, just-read-the-script kind of ride, this isn’t it, but if you just like some easy suggestions that you can take in any direction you see fit, then I think you’ll really like this new feature.   So, take a look at their latest release and see what you think! 

This morning in Spinning class, I did a lot of harping about sprints.  We didn’t do that many, only two, but I had some new folks and wanted to get the point across.   Basically, we were doing the Pace Line Ride, and the concept of “pulling the line” seemed to be lost to a few who thought they were supposed to pedal fast and furiously instead of going HARD.    My first sprint description came as I needed them to focus on a heavy resistance as they pulled their team members.  The second came as we were actually doing a sprint to the finish.  However, the mechanics and the reasoning are the same, and I’m going to share the basics with you now.

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The Tour de France is here!  If you are looking for a great way to add some spirit to your summer classes, the tour is a great way to do it.  Today, we’ll take a look at several resources available that will help you bring the Tour to your classes.

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