It’s just like riding a bike

I did not set out to become a spin instructor but I always secretly wanted to be one. I think it was because of the headset, I could see myself wearing a headset à la Britney Spears. I started attending spin classes because I got sick of running. For me, it was one of the few times where my mind was clear and the only thing I would focus on was moving my legs. I forgot about everything else, even my kids lol. Then one day an  instructor didn’t turn up, and the rest is history.

It’s taken me nearly 3 years to feel comfortable in front of a class and I still sometimes get nervous.  I’m responsible for making sure 25 people walk away knowing they’ve worked their hardest, and that’s a lot of pressure! I love finding a new song that I know will get everyone amped. I love a good classic rock track (there’s a pretty epic one in the playlist below), but I balance those out with pop/dance/club tracks. I will never , ever play Justin Bieber, but I do have one Britney track.

I belong to a fabulous blogging group called NZ Bloggers. It is a great source of inspiration and advice and we also have a monthly brunch club.  We usually head to a different cafe each month, but last month we did something a little different – we had to work for our brunch first! I hosted a private spin class at my gym, Health & Sports. Most of the girls had never ridden a spin class before, so I wanted to give them some real variety in the tracks. And then afterwards, we headed to Crave for a well deserved brunch.

About 8 months ago, I changed the way I set the level in my classes. Now, at the beginning, I ask my riders to find a nice flat road, i.e. just a bit of grab on the wheel, somewhere they could sit all day and that’s their level 5. Then we wind on up and find the top of our hill, our absolute heaviest, and that’s our level 10. Now everyone knows their parameters.

You can find this playlist on Spotify, username bec-p, playlist #brunchclub.

Tracklist (notes following):

Riding notes:

• Gasolina – warming up on a nice flat road, it’s only a short track as we continue warming up in the next track.
• Wake me up (workout remix) – level 6, a good old tabata track. 8 x 20 second sprints with 10 second rests. I challenge everyone to stand for all of the sprints and push their fastest speed. Otherwise, alternate with one standing, one sitting. I like to add a tiny bit of load after every 2 sprints.
• We trying to stay alive – around level 8. Seated climb on the beat. It’s not a long track so load up with as much as you can.
• The time (dirty bit) – around level 8. Straight up into a nice slow hover. 3 rounds moving from a slow hover, into a faster hover (0.53), then right up into a climb on the beat (1.00).
• Bring it back – back to level 5. A nice little endurance track. Time to free up those legs and bring in some speed. Focus on keeping the same pace for the whole track. Add a tiny bit of load every 40 -ish seconds.
• Shot me down –  level 7. I quite often use these surges in my classes. We’ve got 2 surges coming. We start out of the saddle, pushing as hard as we can into the load then we drop into the seat and keep pushing. Tell your class that it’s good to build the momentum when they’re up as it will help when they sit. The first surge is at 0.42 – push out of the saddle for 14 seconds then sit for the push, you’ll hear the change in the music. I LOVE this track.
• Livin’ on a prayer – level 8. Same again but heavier. (I wouldn’t normally to do of these back to back.) 3 surges this time, heavy with not much turnaround in between. First one starts at 1.16, push for about 16 seconds then drop into the seat.
• Booyah – leave the load at level 8. This track is the big jumps where we come right off the seat. You need the heavy load otherwise you can’t stay on the beat. There are 2 big rounds, the first one kicks in at 1.22, you’re up for 4 beats, down for 4, sit back down when the music changes. Remind your class to come straight up and down, not to rock from side to side. Isn’t ‘Booyah’ one of the best words ever!!
• Bohemian Rhapsody – level 10, top of the hill, although we’re not staying there. I really love this as a finishing song. There are 4 gear changes to make coming down the hill. 9 (1.55), 8 (2.22), 7 (3.03, this is a brutal one) and 6 (.4.08). You all know how this song finishes so those legs are going to be pumping at the end.

Done! Finish off with a couple of cool down tracks, I used Born To Be Yours and Ho Hey  for this playlist.

Here we are post workout!