Levi's & Emerald Eyes: A Big Bang Ride

When scientists announce that a South Pole telescope detects ripples in space that provide a 'smoking gun' for the Big Bang Theory, the reverberations make their way into our spin studio! 



Playlist
1.  Counting Star/Timber Mash-Up -  One Republic vs Ke$ha
2.  King For A Day (Live) - Green Day
3.  Silent - Archive (Levi's & Emerald Eyes)
3.  Animals - Martin Garrix
4.  Don't Bring Me Down Remix (DJ Lucky) - Electric Light Orchestra
5.  Bigfoot - W&W
6.  Eye of the Tiger - Survivor (The original must be played in class at least once a year.)
7.  Face Down - The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
8.  This is War - Thirty Seconds to Mars
9.  Enjoy the Ride - Krewella
10.  We Are The Champions - Green Day Live in Reading
Cooldown
11.  Stanford Professor learns his "Inflation Theory" (something he came up with 30 years ago) is proven to be the "smoking gun" in the Big Bang Theory! Very touching surprise.
12.  Lady - Regina Spektor (with performance by Ukraine's Got Talent)

See video open for Class Profile.

The Big Bang news made me think about forces colliding in the universe.  Coupled with Archive's video for Silent - that shows other kinds of forces colliding in our world - I found myself connecting the two with poetry.  The vulnerability and longing that defines so many pursuits - artistic and scientific - is first and foremost found in love.  Pablo Neruda at his best:

After everything,
I will love you
As if it were always before
As if, after so much waiting,
Not seeing you
And you not coming,
You were breathing close to me forever.

Close to me with your habits,
With your colour and your guitar
Just as countries unite
In school room lectures,
And two regions become blurred
And there is a river near a river
And two volcanoes grow together.

Close to you is close to me
And your absence is far from everything
And the moon is the colour of clay
In the night of quaking earth
When, in terror of the earth,
All the roots join together
And silence is heard ringing
With the music of fright.

Fear is also a street
And among its trembling stones
Tenderness somehow is able
To march with four feet
And four lips
Since without leaving the present
That is a fragile thing
We touch the sand of yesterday
And in the sea
Love reveals a repeated fury.

Week's BEST OF

We've had some great times this week!  And in the spirit of the mash-ups that have defined many music choices, this class profile is a mash-up of our favorite cycling training moments over the past seven days:  Power Techniques, Sprints, Climbing Walls.



Playlist (and Class Profile)
1. Beast And We All Feed It - Jake Bugg [Warm-Up]
2.  Come With Me Now - Kongos [Warm-Up]
3.  Lighting Bolt - Jake Bugg [Warm-Up/Openers]
4.   Betty Got Jacked Mashup - Loo, Placido [Power Technique and your Zeitgeist Moment Of The Day:  the strangers-kissing-for-the-first-time stills that have been all over social media the past few days? Here's the video!]
5.  Sharp-Dressed Man - Nickelback [Sprinter Hell Ya!]
6.  Barracuda (DFuse Hiratzka Mix) - Heart [Climbing Wall]
7.  Heads Will Roll (ATrak Remix/Project X Movie Music) - Yeah Yeah Yeahs [Power Technique]
8.  One For the Money - Escape the Fate [Sprinter Hell Ya!]
9.  Enjoy The Ride - Krewella [Climbing Wall]
10.  Shoot To Thrill (Iron Man) - AC/DC [Power Technique]
11.  Trouble - Neon Jungle [Sprinter Hell Ya!]
12.  Bring Me The New Little Sickness - Evanescence vs Disturbed vs Marilyn Manson [Climbing Wall]
Cooldown
13.  Happiness Has a Hole - Marie Louise, Michael Fragstein
14.  Take Me To You (Social Butterfly Soundtrack) - Rim Laurens feat. Daisy Stoloff

Fun Thought
Today is a finger-snapping kind of day!

Mash-Up Madness

Oh this is a fun one!  In all my 25 years of teaching and training, this is one of the playlists I've enjoyed the most.  So much so that I used it twice in as many weeks - with two different class profiles. Every song is a mash-up and It. Is. Madness!

Playlist
1.  Stayin' Hot - Nelly vs Bee Gees
2.  Timber Counting Stars - Ke$sha vs One Republic
3.  Where Have You Been Judas - Rihanna vs Lady Gaga
4.  Careless Rebel - George Michael vs Billy Idol
5.  Can't Hold The Fire Starters - Macklemore, Ryan Lewis, Prodigy, Talking Heads
6.  Sweet Dreams Without Me - Eminem vs Eurythmics
7.  Livin'  La Vida - Coldplay vs Bon Jovi
8.  Time For Our Little Talks - Of Monsters and Men vs Imagine Dragons
9.  The Gang Bang Theory - Madoona vs Nancy Sinatra Kill Bill
10  Lady Judas - Lady Gaga vs Judas Priest
11. Germany The Rock Harmony - Avicii, Awolnation, System of a Down, Fifth Harmony
12.  All the Boulevard Storytime She Said - Nightwish, Greenday, Katy Perry, TATU
Cooldown:
13.  Fat Bottomed Girls Come Together - Beatles vs Queen
14.  Shake The Scientist - Florence & The Machine vs Coldplay

Class Profile
My favorite profile with this playlist is a Power Technique Class.   This workout gets progressively harder, and challenges us to maximize our power while pedaling as efficiently as possible.  Knowing how to activate different muscles at different times is a helpful and powerful skill that this class will help you refine.


Five Sets of Five Techniques: 
1.  Shoe Scraper.  This pedal stroke activates the butt cheeks, glutes and hamstrings for more climbing power and cycling speed.
2.  Knee Thruster (or Thurster as I saw fit to spell it in the video open).  Unlike the Shoe Scraper that activates the back side of the body, the Knee Thruster does the opposite.  This pedal stroke is all about putting the front of the body to the test - the hip flexors, quads and tibialis muscles.
3.  Scissor Kick. Combo of Shoe Scraper and Knee Thruster. While one leg does one pedal stroke, the other leg does the other.  Then switch.
4.  Wagon Wheel.  Big Daddy of the pedal techniques.  Full stimulation of all the muscles simultaneously.
5.  Hover.   Standing version of the Wagon Wheel.  Ouch!

Techniques are done in order for one minute each.  Each set is 6 minutes (because the Scissor Kick is done for two minutes - one minute with L Shoe Scraper, R Knee Thruster, one minute with R Shoe Scraper, L Knee Thruster). After the 5 sets, I cherry pick my favorite techniques for varying amounts of time with varying tension/speed.  Sets progress in power output by adding tension (1 gear for each set) while maintaining a cadence range of 85-95RPMs.

Pedal to Palate
One of my favorite things about class is our healthy recipe swapping!  Ever tried Greek yogurt french toast?, William asks innocently on his way out of class.  Stop right there! Couldn't be easier:  For the egg/milk dip, just replace some milk with Greek yogurt.  On the plate you've got a creamier, sweeter breakfast - that gives you a little protein boost to boot! 

Great Quote!
Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of the human race.
- H.G. Wells

Sprinter Hell...Ya!

I started with this name for the class:  Sprinter Hell.  Because a class focused on speed training to develop quickness and explosive power is hellish.   But in an effort to embrace it... to cultivate the craving for it... I opted for Sprinter Hell Ya! 

This is a full-gas, high velocity-level workout.  The challenge is to do various sprint-level efforts with minimal recovery, calling again and again on your anaerobic energy supply until your body is shaken to the core. I expect that after the first set you'll be feeling pretty great. And you should! But the thing about anaerobic training is that you feel it the most after the work is done.

There are three energy systems in the body (ATP-CP, Anaerobic Glycolysis and Aerobic Glycolysis), and two of them are anaerobic energy pathways (ATP-CP and Anaerobic Glycolysis). That means they function without oxygen. These are the two that we're tapping into with this workout in a major way. 

It helps to understand how the body converts energy in order to understand what's happening in your body and to improve athletic performance.

ATP-CP:  Sometimes called the V8 of the energy systems, ATP-CP stands for Adenosine Triphosphate - Creatine Phosphate.  Both ATP and CP are stored in muscle cells.  There isn't much stored, but that's okay because the importance of this energy system comes from how fast the energy is available (immediately!) not how much.  This system gives you the ability for maximum intensity over a short (10-15 second) duration before fatiguing. Our Sprinter Hell Ya! training will help develop this energy  system.

Anaerobic Glycolysis:  If ATP-CP is the V8 engine of the energy system, then consider anaerobic glycoloysis as the V6.  This system produces a lot of power, but not quite as much or as quickly as the ATP-PC system.  And because the fuel supply from this system is bigger, it doesn't conk out as quickly as the ATP-PC system.  This energy system uses carbohydrates to create ATP for energy.  Glucose is broken down to make ATP and lactic acid. Training this system is aimed at increasing tolerance to lactate, the removal of lactate and improving the rate at which glycolysis produces ATP.  Developing it is going to increase anaerobic power, local muscular endurance, speed and muscular power.


Playlist
We Will Rock You - Britney Spears, Beyonce, Pink
House vs Rock 2012
Gorky Park Electro House Rock Agosto 2012 - Nivana, Red Hot Chili Peppers
House Electro Mix 2013 (April)
Cooldown
I Wanna Be Sedated - Ramones
Tous Les Même - Stromae

Class Profile
Warm-Up
:30 Sprint / 1:00 Recovery x5 [Z5/Z6 Power - that's 5-25% above Threshold (Z4) Power, 95/100 RPMs in Sprint, whatever you want in Recovery]
Full Recovery
:20 Sprint / 1:00 Recovery x5 [Z6/Z7 Power]
Full Recovery
3:00 Lead Out [Z4] / :30 Sprint [Z6/7] / 2:00 Recovery x4
Cooldown

Great Quote
...to those of you who have ever felt injustice because of who you are or who you love, tonight I stand here in front of the world with with you and for you.  - Jared Leto, Oscar Speech