On Saturday I took a great spinning continuing education class that focused heavily on the benefits of using heart rate zones to determine how your body burns calories, how efficiently it burns fat and how to make that happen.
I instructed my class (maybe 1/3 had HRM's) to try to keep their heart rates steady between 80-85% of their maximum heart rate for at least 25 minutes of our ride before we took some recovery. The folks that did not have HRM's on were instructed to try to keep working hard (85% is working VERY hard, but not out of breath completely and really struggling) without being in the anaerobic zone where they are breathless and exhausted.
I also prefaced the class by saying you will not feel as exhausted or that you are killing yourself on the bike, but you are working hard and burning fat rather than carbohydrates - which is the goal!
This ride would bust you out of any plateau you would be facing and also give you a great mind/body/bike awareness that you may not have had before.
I got a great reaction from almost everyone. One person had a problem mentally getting over feeling like she didn't work hard enough and/or got cheated out of a good workout. I answered that it may be perhaps that she didn't have the right heart rate numbers and perhaps could not have been working at that 85%.
In either case, this is not a ride we should do everytime, but it is good to do once in a while to retrain your body to burn fat efficiently because burning carbs is not the goal. I also managed to fit in 4 requested songs!!
Wednesday we will be right back to the fun sprints and jumps that everyone loves so much ; )
Warm Up
Tenderness Mashup - DJ Lobsterdust
Running Flats
Hello - Martin Solveig & Dragonette
Hills
Kiss - Prince
Hills
Rolling in the Deep - Adele
Hills
Space Junk - Wang Chung
Running Hills
Awake and Alive - Skillet
Running Hills
Nirvana Mashup - DJ Lobsterdust
Hills
New in Town - Little Boots
Running Flats
Sympathy for the Devil - Fatboy Slim - this was an 8 minute song. We took some recovery right after this one.
Climb
Road to Damascus - Missy Elliot
Cool Down
1234 - Feist
Just came across your blog. Love your music selections! Very different and fresh! I also love the simplicity of your profiles all while still being very challenging. It makes me realize I over think my rides sometimes. There doesn't have to be a million things going on to make for a fun, challenging ride!
ReplyDeleteAlexis
Hi Alexis! Thank you for the compliment:) I have really simplified my profiles on the blog, due to lack of time :(. If I do a "hill", for example, I usually have them switch from "1" to "3" a couple of times and also increase the gear occassionally. It is just enough to give their buns a break, but also increase the heart rate. Feel free to comment some more : )
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