Half Century Cycling Mix (45 minutes),Get Lucky Extended Cycling

Half Century Cycling Mix (45
minutes)
A “century ride” (100 miles) is a goal for
many outdoor riders, sort of the way that a
marathon is a goal for many runners. As with
running, there are multiple shorter options
available as well: the quarter century (25
miles), half century (50 miles), metric half
and full centuries (50 and 100 km
respectively), and longer options: the double metric century
(200 km) and double century (200 miles).
Today’s ride is a
musical half century – we’ll start in the 1960s and travel,
decade by decade, through to the present day.
1960s
Jumpin’ Jack Flash – The Rolling Stones (3:43):
If this 1968
hit doesn’t get your heart pumping, I don’t know what will.
Plus, Keith Richards turned 70 yesterday. Take the resistance
up until you can feel a flat paved road and get ready to ride.
Fun, Fun, Fun – The Beach Boys (2:21): Released in 1964.
Moving into a surge (fast seated flat, not-quite-sprint, about
80% of maximum effort) for 30 seconds, followed by 30 seconds
at about 60% effort (a comfortable pace, but still work),
repeat.
1970s (Hill #1)
Stayin’ Alive – The Bee Gees (4:46): Leaving the 60’s behind,
you know we’re in the 70’s with this one (1977 to be exact).
Jumps on a hill, 8 counts up/down about 80% max effort.
Rock and Roll – Led Zeppelin (3:41): Released in 1972.
Sprints! Starting at 0:06 15/30/45 seconds on/off (recovery
on the off-bits).
1980s (Hill #2)
You Shook Me – AC/DC (3:55):
1980.
A standing climb,
starting moderate and increasing resistance every 60 seconds.
The last minute should be an uncomfortable challenge. Stay
with the music, don’t fall behind.
Raspberry Beret – Prince (3:33):
1985.
Four count jumps this
time, still on a hill, about 70% max effort.
1990s (Hill #3)
Fridays I’m in Love – The Cure (3:35): I could have sworn
this was an 80’s song but Wikipedia has the release date as
May 11, 1992. A fast, seated flat. Pick a resistance and
cadence you think you can maintain for 3+ minutes – don’t be
too sure – explore your limits here – and go. I don’t chatter
for this one, I let everyone ride with their thoughts.
Gonna Make You Sweat – C+C Music Factory (4:03): This song’s
release in 1990 marked a sea change in popular music: the rise
of house music, wide popularization of hip hop, and the
intersection between club music and workout music.
It’s
practically a musical history lesson, but for us today, it’s a
seated climb up a big-ass, two-song, 8-minute hill. Increase
resistance each minute, making the last minute uncomfortable.
2000s (still Hill #3)
Viva La Vida – Coldplay (4:04): 2008. Rising from the saddle,
we’re going to finish this hill standing, but thankfully, the
resistance backs off to a comfortable level as the hill levels
out and rolls (resistance up/up/up a notch, then
down/down/down again). Still my all-time favourite Coldplay
song.
It’s My Life – Bon Jovi (3:44): 2000. Wind ‘er up with some
sprints: 30/40/60 seconds (one at each chorus). They’re at
0:34 – 1:04, 1:40 – 2:20, and 2:38 – 3:38). Bon Jovi is the
only 80s ‘hair metal’ band to break the top 40 post Y2K.
Formed in 1983, the band achieved massive success with 1986’s
Slippery When Wet album, which contained both Livin’ on a
Prayer and You Give Love a Bad Name.
2010s
If you’ve got a 60 minute class, add a couple of songs from
2010-2013 here. Hill #4?
Get Lucky (feat. Pharrell Williams) – Daft Punk (6:10): Time
to cool down and stretch to one of the biggest songs of 2013
that harks back to disco and funk of the 1970s.
.
This ride would be a good bet if
you’re subbing a class and don’t
know the ages or musical
preferences of your riders. The
profile is simple and the songs
are well-known. It even got my
mom’s stamp of approval.
I’m
visiting her and as I write, we
are sitting at the kitchen table, laptop to laptop, me
blogging, her playing Bookworm. I was running through the
playlist on iTunes and she said, “Is that the music you use in
your cycling class?” I nodded, and she replied, “I’d ride to
that.” (That’s her, on the left, me in the middle, and my
sister on the right.)
I’m making up for lost time on vacation: there are two more
posts coming before year-end, another high intensity interval
ride and a ride that includes 220 jumps.
Both use my
favourite Top 40 tunes.
Get Lucky Extended Cycling
Mix (45 or 60 minutes)
This ride is a companion to the
Mortal Kombat HIIT ride I posted
in October. Both are made up
entirely of extended mixes: no
song under 6:00 minutes for the
working part of the class.
Longer working intervals = more
challenge.
Get Lucky (Joe Maz Remix) – Daft Punk (5:28): Warm up with a
peppy remix of one of THE songs of 2013, and it’s long enough
to increase to moderate resistance and move into some work
around 4:00: either a standing climb or some 4-count jumps.
Play Hard (feat. Ne-Yo and Akon) [Albert Neve Remix] – David
Guetta (6:53): This one’s a combo: climb/jump. Take it like
this: 0 – 2:00 Standing climb, 2:00 – 3:30 8 count jumps on a
hill, 3:30 – 4:45 seated climb, 4:45 – 6:15 back to 8 count
jumps on a hill, 6:15 – 6:53 recover, grab some water.
Ring the Alarm (Freemason’s Club Mix) – Beyoncé (8:34): I will
be forever grateful to Schwinn Master Instructor Keli Roberts
and reader Lisa Goldman for putting me on to this song. (I
don’t know Keli – the song came to me through Lisa Goldman’s
Sh*tload of Climbing guest post, which was based on one of
Keli’s rides.) It’s exactly the right kind of relentless. If
it is not on your iPod, for goodness’ sake, go download it
now. We’ll wait.
Back? Okay… the other thing I love about this song is, it’s
versatile.
I’ve used it here as a long series of rolling
hills, standing the whole way (yes, longer than you would
outdoors), with the resistance going up up up a notch at a
time, then down down down again.
I’ve alternated between
climbing and 4 or 8 count jumps (1 min each interval), or
perhaps my favourite: a bike race where each rider gets a turn
to attack (sometimes two!)
This last works only in a smallish class (say, under a
dozen). First I give everyone a number: 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. The
song is a seated climb up a medium hill. Whomever’s number is
up looks for a good time to attack. When they find it, they
come up out of the saddle and go like stink, with everyone
else following. I usually decide how long the interval will
be; when I sit down, everyone else can, too. If you have a
class of regulars, you could let the lead rider decide when to
attack and how long the interval will be. When the interval
is done, everyone sits and keeps climbing. It’s on to the
next person (#2) to decide when the next attack should
happen. And so on, until everyone has had a turn (or perhaps
two). I love doing the drill this way because I find that the
riders almost always work themselves harder than I would work
them.
The song generally ends with some very satisfying
sucking of wind.
The Veldt (8 Minute Edit) – Deadmau5 (8:40):
Another combo:
jump/climb/flat x2 with a recovery break in between. Start
with 4/8 count jumps (1 min) then on to a standing climb (1
min) and a seated flat (1:30). Recover from 3:30 – 5:00 then
repeat. I usually fast forward to the next song 40 seconds
from the end but you could also take it as recovery.
The Black Pearl (Caribbean Trance Mission) – Scotty (6:39):
Combo again: seated flat/standing climb (1 min each interval,
3 sets).
If you want to make this a 60 minute ride, add Palladio here
(totally cribbed from the Mortal Kombat ride):
Palladio (Symphony Mix) – Silent Nick (9:44): Big hill: from
0 – 2:45 a standing climb; 2:45 – 3:10 break; 3:10 – 5:10
seated, heavy climb; 5:00 – 5:25 break; 5:25 – 6:45 standing
climb; 6:45 – 7:20 seated climb; 7:20 – 9:20 standing climb;
9:20 – 9:44 recover.
Snakefood – Safri Duo (6:04):
Two seated flats with a long
break in between. This is the last work of the day, time to
get all that energy out, so I coach riders to choose a
resistance and a cadence that leaves them wondering if they
can complete 2 minutes without pulling back. At 1:00 they
should be worried, at 1:30 galvanized, and at 2:00 they’ve
earned a delicious 1:30 recovery interval. Time to reflect:
did they get to that ‘oh crap what have I done?’ place? Time
to adjust and go again: the second interval runs from 3:30 –
5:30 (you could take it right to the last drumbeat at 6:00 if
you like.)
Blurred Lines (feat. T.I. and Pharrell) – Robin Thicke (4:23):
Oh boy, do I have mixed feelings about this song. On one
side: one of the biggest songs of the year, it’s catchy, it
spawned a useful discussion about consent and rape culture.
On the other side: It objectifies women and presumes that they
are ready and willing (“you know you want it”) in virtually
adolescent fashion (and that’s just the lyrics – do not, under
any circumstances, view the uncensored video if the lyrics
make you angry). Plus, I can’t unsee Miley Cyrus twerking
against Robin Thicke at this year’s Video Music Awards, which
was to sexuality what Seinfeld’s Elaine Benes’s jerking
movements were to dancing. What to do? After a great deal of
thought, I decided to include it as a cool down song IF I
could also say a few words about the controversy (I do) and
mention the cheeky video parody made by a couple of Halifax
women called Ask First (in which they’ve rewritten the chorus:
That’s why you need to ask first / No way to know I want it /
No way to know I want it / Unless I say I want it / Ask first
/ Consent is sexy / Shows you respect me) and parade around
with sex toys.
Do not, under any circumstances, view the
parody video if you are prudish or easily offended.)
Personally, I think it is brilliant.
Anything – Hedley (3:11):
Some additional cool down and
goodbye music with inspiring lyrics from these Canadian
rockers. There is something that sounds like an f-bomb in
there but I’m hearing it on FM radio here in Canada. If it’s
unintelligible enough to make it past the Canadian Radio and
Television Commission (CRTC), it’s probably okay to play in
class.
Guest Post: Let The Sun Shine
In Cycling Mix (60 minutes)
Reader Fern sent me this ride
with a note:
Hi Cynthia – I have been following your blog for a
couple of years. You used to be so great about putting
up playlists. [Cynthia: Gaah, the guilt, the guilt!] I
found such great songs and learned a lot about how to
coach them. I have been teaching a really awesome ride.
I have taught it a few times and for me it is time to
retire it. [Cynthia: Nooo! You could easily pull this
one out again in a few months.] But I have had amazing
feedback from it and I thought I could put it into a
format and give something back to you so other people
who come to your blog could be helped. I just really
wanted to give something back to you. If you don’t want
to put it up it is totally cool. But if you want to,
[Cynthia: I do! I do! It looks like an awesome ride]
all you have to do is cut and paste. I see you haven’t
put something up in a while and I just wanted to give
you something back for all that I have gotten from you.
Please feel free to use it if you want. Happy Holidays!
Commit to Change – Finding Inspiration
This ride has 3 climbs. In each climb you will be challenged.
Most of the climb will build to the lactate threshold and we
will hold it there building aerobic endurance. Then you will
be challenged to dig deep inside to find more.
Three important things to keep in mind:
1)
Cycling is an aerobic exercise. The more oxygen you
inhale, the more you can fuel your working muscles. Make
your breath mindful and breath from your belly.
2)
Mostly we think about putting resistance on. On this
ride we are going to have some challenges where we are
forced to decide how much resistance to take off.
3)
Have fun. Make it your journey. Anytime you need to back
off or change something it is totally ok. Each rider must
listen to their own bodies.
This is what I use as a reference for Rate of Perceived Effort
[Fern sent me a fancy graphic that I loved and totally wanted
to steal, but it did not like being cut and pasted into
WordPress. I am not doing it justice but here’s the text:]
100%
Maximum effort
90%
Very hard
80%
Hard
70%
Somewhat hard
60%
Fairly light
50%
Light
40%
Very light
30%
20%
10%
Warm Up
Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine in (70-90 RPM) 4:52
–Peace People – Seated, Position 1 – Warm Up – This is the
first song to get your legs moving. It’s important to take
time to let your muscles warm and your joints loosen. Pick
a cadence between 70 and 90 rpm that works for you. Add 4
increases of resistance. Make them small changes, but feel
the difference through the pedals. Increases at 1:00, 1:55,
2:51 and 3:25. At 3:25 stand in position 2. What is your
inspiration to get on the bike? What brings you here?
Fitness? Training for a race? Burn some calories? Fit into
a new outfit?
about it.
Fun?
Your friend dragged you?
Just think
Hold Resistance through song 2.
2)
Castle of Glass (108 RPM) 3:25 – Linkin Park – Seated,
Position 1 – Fast Flat – Start out at 100 RPM – this is the
first opportunity to decide about resistance.
Take the
first 30 seconds to let your body adapt to the speed. Then
after 30 seconds, decide if you can maintain the speed.
Adjust if you need to.
There are 2 changes. The first
change at 1:30 increase cadence to 110. The second change
at 2:15 – Stand up – it is ok to let your cadence decrease
but try to keep it as high as you can. Keep your effort up.
Option to increase resistance at 2:40. At 3:25 Have a seat –
position 1 and slow your legs.
Building to First Climb
3)
Stay the Night (90 RPM) 3:32 – James Blunt – Seated
Position 1 – Seated/Standing Intervals – There are 3
intervals where you stand. Make 3 increases of resistance
along the way. We are building to the first climb. Increase
resistance just before the interval and then stand for the
duration of the interval, sit at the end.
Intervals
20/20/30 from 1st (:50-1:10) 2nd (1:50-2:10) 3rd (2:50-3:20)
Climb 1
4)
My Love is Not Blind (Vocal) (65-80 RPM) 6:25- Margaret
Grace – Seated Position 1 – Climb – Build resistance to the
lactate threshold at 8/10. You know you will be at 8/10
because we are going to increase our speed for 20 seconds.
You will know if you are 8/10 because when we increase our
cadence for 20 seconds you will feel mild hyperventilation.
You will have taken one foot over the line. Get to 8/10 by
1:36. From (1:36-1:54) increase cadence to 80 rpm.
Check
in. Did the increase in cadence cause your breathing to
become anaerobic? If not, add some resistance. Hold 80 rpm
once more for 1:40 from (3:06-4:55). Focus on breathing –
staying in control of your breath.
Hill continues – stand in position 2 at the end 6:25
One Thousand Suns (70 RPM) 8:01 – Chicane – Standing Position
2/3 – Working on aerobic endurance stay at 8/10 for the entire
song. Once you are settled into the beat ride in position 3
as long as you can. This is a great song with a really catchy
beat. Don’t need to say much here…let the riders have their
own space. Remind them to breath, to stand or sit as they
would like but to hold the effort of 8/10 building aerobic
endurance.
Hard change comes at 8:01 at the end of the song. You are
going to stand and increase cadence to 90 rpm. This will be
challenging.
5)
Torn (90-95RPM) 4:05 – Natalie Imbruglia – Standing
Position 2 Run.
Take 30 seconds to let your body settle and then decide how
much resistance you should take off. Stay standing with as
much resistance as you can. at around 2:00 ask – Did you take
too much resistance off? A break is coming in 2 mins, are you
working as hard as you want to? As hard as you can? Do you
think you could work just a little harder? Earn the break?
If you turn the resistance up, you can always take it down.
Recovery
6)
Brother Down (100 RPM) 4:24 – Sam Roberts – Seated fast
flat recovery.
Let your heart rate fall. Don’t drop down
more than 7/10, the bottom of your aerobic effort. Think
about your breathing, breath deep.
Think about your
position on the bike, soften your upper body, smooth pedal
strokes. As you start to recover, add resistance on. Make
sure you are connected to the road beneath you.
1:30, 2:30, 3:45.
Add 3 turns
Climb 2
7)
Get Lucky (60 RPM) 4:08 – Daft Punk. Power Burst Jumps
– Seated/Standing Position 2. Cyclists normally stay in the
saddle. They come out of the saddle for a reason. Usually
to get some power to speed up or when they are climbing.
Power Burst Jumps are done as follows. 1) Start with enough
resistance on the bike to feel like you are working at 7.5.
2) Stand and accelerate your cadence, as much as you can. 3)
Slow your cadence down back to 60 RPM. 4) Gently lower down
into the saddle. You will feel your heart rate increase and
your quads start to burn. Continue doing Power Burst Jumps
to the end of the song. Increasing 3 resistance turns along
the way. Cueing – Stand, Burst your legs, get some power,
slow the legs, gently slide back to the saddle. Check in
along the way and offer any rider the chance to sit one or
two out if it is too much. At the end stay standing.
8)
Feel the Love (feat. John Newman( ( 55-90 RPM) 4:05 –
Rudimental – Standing Heavy Position 2 Climb – Stand and
increase the cadence [Cynthia: I think Fern means resistance
here?] as much as possible to slow the legs down to 55 RPM
from (0-1:04). From 1:04 to 2:34 increase the cadence to 90
RPM decreasing as much resistance as you need but keeping as
heavy as you can. Match the cadence at 90 RPM and hold. A
good break comes at 2:34 – 3:22. Sit and slow the cadence
down. Recover 50 seconds – Big deep breaths. Don’t touch
the resistance.
At 3:30 ask could you turn up the
resistance just a bit. One Power Burst to Finish (3:22 –
3:50) Stand and go as fast as you can.
Recovery
9)
Suddenly I See (80/100 RPM) 3:22 – KT Tunstall –
Seated/Standing Position 2 Intervals – Recovery and then 3
intervals 20/20/45 increasing resistance before each one
building back to Climb #3. 1
(2:33- 3:12)
st
(0:40-1:00) 2
nd
(1:35-1:55) 3
rd
Climb 3
10)Zocalo (68 RPM) 8:32 – Armin van Buuren – Seated/Standing
Climb – Change positions as desired.
Work to effort.
Building resistance from 0 to 1:53. By 1:53 you want to be
at 8/10 perceived effort.
At 1:53, turn the resistance
until pedals start to slow just a little and stand. Hold
80% (1:53 – 5:13) working on aerobic endurance. 2 ½ mins
from the top ask for every bit of effort. Come back to your
inspiration. Why you are riding. Your body is tired but you
want to push through the fatigue and ask yourself for more.
Everything you have. Don’t leave thinking, I could have
worked harder. Know, it’s going to be worth it because you
did your best. Keep your thoughts positive and find your
inspiration. Ask for commitment. at 5:13 add resistance,
add speed, add whatever you can to get to 100%. Don’t talk
too much, just count the time.
Let the music move the
riders.
Cool Down
11)Say Something (feat. Christina Aguilera) 3:49 – A Great Big
World
12)Stay (feat. Mikky Ekko) 4:01 – Rihanna
Thank you so much Fern, for sharing this ride.
I love
the eclectic music – any ride that veers from cheeky disco
to Linkin Park to James Blunt, R&B inspired and Top 40 radio
hits gets my vote. I like your profile of three hills with
flats, power burst jumps (they are hard, oh so hard) and I
like that you included your coaching notes.
Happy holidays!
Readers, I have three rides of my own in the hopper.
Should get them all posted within the next week (promise!)
Look for one more post before year-end: my sixth annual Top
25 Indoor Cycling Tunes of 2013. Want to vote for your
favourite tune? Leave it in a comment.
S
Guest Post: Under Control-ish
Cycling Mix (60 minutes)
suggestions on it, and
least one “where did
deliciousness. Plus,
my list of the Top 25
Long time reader and contributor
Lisa sent me this ride in
November and I am just posting
it now (sorry Lisa!) If you’ve
checked out some of her other
guest posts to the blog, you’ll
know that your iPod will be a
hipper place with her music
every time she posts a ride, there’s at
she find THAT song?” moment of pure
this ride includes four contenders for
Indoor Cycling Songs of 2013. Here’s
Lisa:
In my September guest blog post I prattled on about how long
it can take me to put together a playlist and profile for a 1
hour class. Well, guess what? Sometimes it doesn’t.
Occasionally it gels really quickly. In this ride, I started
with Chris Spins’ Under Control Cycling Mix (thanks Chris!)
There were several songs I liked, but I ended up modifying it
quite a bit. Some of my modifications were due to simple music
preferences (e.g. I just needed a break from Tabata music),
and some of my modifications were profile driven (e.g. Chris
used Stompa as a heavy climb, but at 42/84 RPM I prefer it as
a flat [Cynthia: I’m leaning toward using it as a climb,
around 70 RPM]). I also mixed in some other music I’d been
wanting to use. And, so I offer up to you, my version “Under
Control-ish.” There are 3 stages, each with a 12-14 minute
hill. If you have bikes with computers, it can be fun to
compare efforts on each of the hills (tracking mileage, watt
average, or calories burned) and set goals (either matching,
or escalating targets for each segment). Since the hills get
slightly shorter in each segment, even matching efforts from
one hill to the next should result in greater challenge.
[Cynthia: I wish we had bike computers at my gym.]
Here is the Spotify link.
[KEY: song time, total run time; BPM &/or RPM, effort level
(easy/moderate/hard/very hard/breathless), Terrain (F= Flat,
SC= seated climb, StC= Standing Climb, CH= Combo Hill, J=
Jumps), + & – refers to increase or decrease in gear, ^ or v
refers to increase or decrease in cadence.]
UNDER CONTROL-ISH
Warm Up
1) Mat Kearney – Hey Mama 2:57,
to moderate, gradually +
80-100 RPM, F warm up, easy
2) Au Revoir Simone – Crazy 2:57, 5:54; 87 RPM, F warm up
continues. Hold RPM, gradually + (~3x), moving from moderate
to hard
Stage 1: 13.5 min Climb, 3 min Flat
3) Pitbull – Timber 3:24, 9:18; 65 RPM; Hard, CH, St :38-1:07,
1:37-2:20, 2:50-3:20(end) 30/40/30 (add gear in mid of each,
back off when S in between) [Cynthia: I used this song for the
first time a couple of weeks ago and have been humming it ever
since. Total earworm.]
4) NONONO – Pumpin Blood 3:29, 12:47; 60 RPM, Hard-Very Hard,
CH, 15/15-30/15-30 ^ :57-1:13, 20:01-2:15 or 33, 2:50-3:09 or
23
5) MIKA – Relax, Take It Easy 3:44, 16:31; 61 RPM, Hard-Very
Hard SC, -1:20, + 1:50, -2:20, +2:54, -3:25
6) Flo Rida – How I Feel 2:50, 19:21, 64 RPM, Hard-V Hard StC
[Cynthia: Great new Flo Rida]
7) Serena Ryder – Stompa – Radio Version 3:05, 22:26; 84 RPM,
Easy-Mod-Hard Flat, recovery, then into headwind.
Stage 2: 13 min Climb, 6.5min Flat
8) Alesso – Under Control 3:05, 22:26, 63 RPM; Hard-Very Hard
CH, St :45, +1:02, – S 1:28, +, St 2:10, +2:25, S 2:56
9) Joe Satriani – Crowd Chant 3:15, 28:46, 60 RPM; Mod-Hard
Jumps [Cynthia: would never have thought to use this in a
cycling class but it’s awesome!]
10) Goodwill – Take You Higher – Radio Edit 3:10, 31:56; 64
RPM, Hard CH, St :38-1:23, 2:22-end [For me, this was the
moment of musical deliciousness for this ride. According to
Wikipedia, this Aussie tune went Top 10 in Belgium and Poland,
but didn’t chart in Australia or North America. See? How did
she find it?]
11) Paffendorf – Welcome To Africa – Short Cut 3:26, 35:22, 69
RPM with surges, SC (3x 30 sec Very Hard pushes). Starting at
:30 Mod, 1:10 Very Hard, 1:40-1:55 easy, 1:55-2:25 Very Hard,
2:25- 40 easy, 2:40-3:3:20 very hard)
12) Vampire Weekend – Unbelievers 3:23, 38:45; 78 RPM, EasyMod-Hard Flat, recovery, then into headwind. Riders can start
this F at a higher cadence, but must + in the last minute to
bring cadence down to 78 (this is important for the drill in
the next song to work)
13) Jhameel – Feisty 3:01, 41:46, 99 RPM, Very Hard-Hard Flat,
1 min on/off/on, “off” at 1:03- 2:08. Keep gear where it was
in last song, but instead of going 78 RPM, ^ up to about 99
RPM (this should shift work into Very Hard territory) for both
of the one minute “on” segments. [Cynthia: this one has a cool
Michael Jackson vibe.]
Stage 3: 12.5 min Climb, 5 min Flat/cool down
14) Avicii – Wake Me Up 4:10, 45:56, 62 RPM, Hard CH St
:40-1:10, 1:24-56, 2:27-3, 3:29-end [Cynthia: I could use this
song every ride and not get tired of it.]
15) David Guetta – One Love – feat. Estelle 4:01, 49.57; 63
RPM, Hard-Very Hard, SC +1:16-50, 3:26-4/end
16) Britney Spears – Work Work 4:08, 54:05, 64-94 RPM, HardVery Hard – Breathless CH, 3 intervals 45/45/30, ^ & then St
for last 15
seconds of each interval to take it into
breathless.
:45-1:15-1:30, 2-2:30-2:45, 3:35-3:50-4:05/end
[Cynthia: this is the clean version.]
Cool Down
17-19) Cool Down Music du jour (in my Spotify playlist I
currently have A Beautiful Day by India.Arie, Feelin’ Groovy
by Simon & Garfunkel, and Salala by Angelique Kidjo).
[Cynthia: Gentlemen, you may choose to skip this next bit…]
In completely unrelated news, I thought I’d use this platform
to get something else off my chest (pun intended). The whole
brouhaha with Lululemon’s disdain for customers with touching
thighs got me thinking. [Cynthia: Full disclosure: I own
Lululemon stock. I was, and remain, mightily impressed with
the company for creating flattering, durable workout gear.
Not so impressed with founder Chip Wilson’s “thigh rubbing”
and other comments.]
I am getting seriously annoyed
at the poor choices out there in
athletic gear for well-endowed
women (D cup or higher). I teach
4-5 indoor cycle classes a week.
I wear a lot of athletic gear.
I’ve shopped at all the obvious
places
(Lululemon,
Lucy,
Athleta) and many less obvious
(Costco has surprisingly nice
workout
pants).
They
all
completely fail to address the
needs of us curvy-up-top gals. I am constantly struggling with
two things (ok, those two things, but two other things):
sports bras and tank tops.
My specific issues:
(1) Built-in Shelf bras (that are built-in to the majority of
cute tanks out there): Are they serious? At best they are
useless for even the most sedate activities. A downward dog in
a gentle yoga class with only a shelf bra built into my tank
top? -> boulder landslide. At worst, they cut across the bust
in weird places, rendering the top unwearable, even with a
better bra underneath.
(2) Tanks: What is the deal with 99% of the tanks having a T-
back, but 99% of the really supportive sports bras being
regular (non-T-back) style? I am almost always wearing a tank
that shows my bra straps in the back – a look I thought I’d
given up at age 19, but am forced to continue to flaunt. This
is made worse by the fact that I teach classes with my back to
the mirror, so everyone gets a clear view of this fashion.
Why, why, why can’t there be more non-T-back tanks???
Also, let’s talk about the scoop neck. Since I teach cycle
with my back to the mirror, it took me longer to realize this
than I’d like to admit, but one day while taking another
teacher’s class (so I was facing the mirror for a change), I
realized that my top that had seemed modest whilst upright,
became quite revealing when I leaned over my handlebars. Oh
my. Talk about your low hanging fruit. You wanna know what’s
even harder to find than a non-T-back tank? A tank with a
higher cut neckline. And if you’re in the market for a tank
that is non-T-back AND has a higher neck line … Good.
Freaking. Luck. In 6 years, I’ve found exactly 2. Between
wearings I store them in a fireproof safe, along with all my
other most highly prized belongings.
(3) Bras: Good grief. The selection for women with D+ cups is
pretty sad. We cannot wear those pull over stretchy things.
They’re like the shelf bras without the tank on top. Useless
for support, fantastic at creating mondo-uniboobs. Memo to
manufacturers – just do the world a favor and stop making them
in our size. The good news is that, unlike tanks, there have
at least been some attempts at creating other styles of sports
bras for the D+ population. I’ve tried many. The Enell High
Impact Sports Bra is a distant relative of the boa
constrictor, I’m pretty sure. Athleta has a better selection
than any of its competitors, but they are all cut pretty low,
and since I can’t find a tank to cover me up, I’m looking for
my bra to help in this area, so I haven’t found the perfect
one. Manufacturer Moving Comfort has the best choices. Right
now, I rely on the Moving Comfort Women’s Maia Bra because it
offers decent support as well as a high neckline (so it looks
almost as if I layered an additional tank underneath, rather
than seeing “my bra”), however, it does not come in a T-back,
so I’m always flashing my straps (super classy & professional
– not). [Note: the links are Amazon Affiliate links]
Some cyclists will tell me: just wear a cycling jersey. Thing
is, (a) I find most of those unflattering, and (b) they’re
overkill for an hour indoor class. I don’t need pockets to
hold snacks, or gloves, etc. like I would on an outdoor ride.
I’d just like an attractive, professionally appropriate tank,
like my lesser endowed sisters get to wear. Is that so much to
ask?
Now – who wants to start a business with me?
Cynthia again: Sadly, I am of no help to Lisa in this
department and I will leave it at that. But if you’ve found
the sports-bra-of-your-dreams, drop us a comment and tell us
about it!