Spinning Redux …
01. Jai Ho – A.R. Rahman: Warm Up/Run/Burn (L+) Slumdog Millionaire ranks as one of the best movies I’ve seen this year. It’s based on the book Q and A written by Vikas Swarup. Jai Ho is the song that plays at the end credits but I think it makes for a great start to a spin class. Do some light stretching and then it’s time to GO, GO, GO! Throw in a couple of burns to keep it exciting!
02. Name Of The Game – The Crystal Method: Pioneers of the big beat electronic dance genre … despite it’s massive popularity, The Crystal Method almost never play it live. I re-discovered my love of this song when I heard it on the movie Tropic Thunder. It seems to be a staple movie song and perfect for a heavy out of the saddle climb.
03. Let Me Think About It – Ida Corr vs. Fedde le Grand: There are so many remixes for this song that it was hard to pick one. I stuck with the Fedde le Grand version that has a more upbeat ‘house’ feel. This song works well for a fast climb with moderate tension. Just tough enough to burn those legs but not so tough that we slow down to a crawl.
04. The Way I Are – Timbaland: How does he do it? So many catchy beats in his arsenal … you could run a whole class playing practically every Timbaland song. We’ll stick to this short song for today. Heavy tension, standing when Keri Hilson sings and sitting for D.O.E. We should be crawling by the end.
05. Candy Shop – 50 Cent: Written by 50 Cent and Scott Storch who also produced. Obviously influenced by middle eastern music and that’s what I love about it. Turn the tension down just a bit and alternate between hovers and standing climb. Always keeping up with the beat of the music.
06. Fire – Scooter: These guys are intense! Their trademark sound features spoken or shouted vocals, pitch-shifted vocals and live performance elements such as crowd samples. Time to put some fire into those legs! All out lung-busting run with burnouts on each chorus!
07. Let It Rock – Kevin Rudolf feat. Lil’ Wayne: Listed #28 on Rolling Stone’s list of the best 100 songs of 2008. Good enough for us! After that punishing sprint, it’s time to stand up tall and climb. Crank the tension up until you are moving in tune with the song. Continue adding a bit more tension after each chorus and don’t ever think of slowing down!
08. It’s Going Down – Frontline: This SF Bay Area group stand apart from the pack. They don’t consistently make records about violence and they often bring up the topic of being positive role models for youths in their lyrics. This song samples a Steve Miller song, the name of which I cannot recall. Here we stand and slow it down by adding more tension. Throw in a couple of hovers to really punish those glutes!
09. Let Go – Paul Van Dyk: One of the top dance singles of 2008. I really like this song because I hear a bit of U2 in the way it is sung. Let’s release some tension here and just go for an all out run with burnouts. There’s a bit of time in the middle of the song where we can catch our breath, then ride it to the end!
10. Man Eater – Nelly Furtado: Another great tune that will keep our legs pumping now matter how tired we are feeling! Add enough tension to feel like you’re pedaling against the wind. This is a climb and burn drill! We’ll stay seated except on the chorus, during which we will stand and hammer on the pedals as fast as we can. Tension up each time we come back to the saddle. Whew!
11. Inspection (Check One) – Leftfield: Yes, I went all the way back to 1996 for this one. This song is from the movie Hackers. One of my all-time favourites! Yes, Im a huge techno-geek but I’m not ashamed to admit it. I could teach an entire spin class to the Hackers Soundtrack but I don’t because I want everyone to like at least one song during the ride. For this one, we tack on just a bit more tension and do intervals in and out of the saddle with a few hovers in between.
12. Whine Up – Kat DeLuna: The title of this song comes from the Caribbean English (West Indian) pronunciation of Wind up meaning to move one’s hips on the dance floor. So let’s wind up and run switching between seated and standing. Steady pace with a little tension for the whole song.
13. Drive It Like I Stole It – Apathy: I first heard this song while playing Midnight Club 3. Yes, I play video games too. 😛 Bums back to the saddle, adding enough tension to feel like we’re pedaling against the wind. Again, steady pace and cranking it up every 30 seconds ’til the end. Feeeeel those legs burn! We’re almost there!
14. Slam – Onyx: Let’s go back to 1993 and slam this mutha! Everyone knows this song! Crank up the tension and slam down on those pedals! Standing climb all the way to the top!
15. Khalghi Stomp – Transglobal Underground: I love the eastern flair of this song. I found this gem in Thievery Corporation’s Versions album. Perfect for cooling it down.
16. Transcendence – Thievery Corporation: I use a lot of downtempo/electronica for cool downs and TC is one of my faves. Last song for clean ups and goodbyes!
Total Time: 57:34
First spin class of the year …
01. Jump – Madonna: A fitting beginning to our first challenging class of the year. We’ve got to just jump into it and not hold back! This song copies its groove from Pet Shop Boys’ “West End Girls”, I love that song! Very little tension here, breathing, stretching and getting mentally prepared for the challenges ahead which start with …
02. She Sells Sanctuary – The Cult: The best intro ever! Keeps you rocking until the end and wishing it was longer. Add a little more tension and off we go! Keep adding a bit of tension every minute but try to maintain the same pace on this seated run. Throw in a few 10/20/30 burnouts to keep them honest!
03. The Saga Continues – P Diddy: I wanted to not like him but then I heard this song. ‘The Saga Continues’ heavily builds around samples from The Alan Parsons Project song “Sirius”. Once you catch the beat, your legs will not want to stop! So stand up and stretch those legs, crank up the tension until you can only move to the beat of the song and add on every minute for a quad busting finish!
04. Jumpin’ Jumpin’ – Destiny’s Child: This was their last single to feature vocals from original members LeToya Luckett and LaTavia Roberson. Again, the beat makes it very easy to pace yourself. This song’s a bit slower so we will slow down too but remain standing. Hands on #3, hips pushed all the way to the back for some hovers in between the chorus. Feeeel those buns burn!
05. Gimme That – Chris Brown: This one is taking us to the top! This is no Everest climb people, this is K2! Keep the tension where it’s at and settle into that saddle. Chin up, chest proud, hands at your side or behind you. Pure unadulterated leg power here. Keep adding on the tension and make that summit!
06. Breathe – Prodigy: So we made it to the top. What now? Time to go down the other side of course! After crawling up one side, we fly down the other … going for extreme manic energy here people, this is after all Prodigy!
07. Discipline – Nine Inch Nails: I love the melody in this song. We start off with a little bit of tension and at a fast pace. Increasing every 30 seconds until we are basically doing a fast climb at the end. All in the saddle and fast, fast, fast!
08. Show Me the Money – Petey Pablo: Crank the tension up some more, come off the saddle to stretch those legs! This song is like spinning to an action scene in a movie. It’s so over the top that you want to GO, GO, GO! Keep adding tension every minute or so and whatever you do, DO NOT LOSE THE PACE! PUSH THOSE LEGS!
09. Bang It – The Frontline: Still standing but turn the tension down just a wee bit and settle in for some hovers. No bouncing! Feel those glutes and push those hips all the way back. Spine inwards, focus! When those glutes are buuuurning we can stand up and bounce in between the chorus.
10. Diesel Power – Prodigy: Did I mention that I love Prodigy? Here we come back to the saddle keeping the tension high and do a reverse climb? What’s a reverse climb you ask? Well, quite simply we start out with so much tension that we almost want to stand up but we don’t! Gradually reducing the tension and increasing the pace to finish at a nice light run!
11. Young’n – Fabolous: Keeping that tension light, do a posture check, drink up and settle in for a steady run. Going at about 75% of our max and switching between in and out of the saddle.
12. Throw it On Me – Timbaland: Break time is over! Hands on 3, hips to the back and hammer on those legs. This is one long burnout but do a couple of countdowns for extra encouragement.
13. Breath – Swollen Members feat. Nelly Furtado: Now that our legs feel like jello, let’s sit and climb again. Increase the tension every minute. One song left!
14. Jump Around – House of Pain: This song is known widely by its distinctive horn fanfare intro, sampled from the Bob & Earl’s 1963 track “Harlem Shuffle”. The squealing sound at the start of every bar of music is a scream sampled from Prince’s “Get Off.” This song is high energy and who doesn’t love it? A great song to finish out this ride! Let’s keep the tension high, lift our tired bodies out of the saddle and go for broke! Ride low, hips to the back, no bouncing. On the chorus, stand up tall and pedal to the beat…
15. Rehab – Rihanna: This song is sometimes referred to “What Goes Around…” Part 2, with good reason; it was written by Justin Timberlake and Timbaland who contribute backing vocals on the bridge. Perfect for a cool down. Drink up, mop off and let’s stretch those muscles out.
16. Waves – Hooverphonic: Pats on the back for everyone and great job!
Total Time: 1:00:37
Until next time, I leave you with this funny write up about a spin class.
-Gabriela
Spin DJ 