I’m a Spin Instructor and These Are My Tips for Creating the Perfect Cardio Playlist.
When I first started taking spinning classes almost ten years ago, I was convinced that one of the teachers at my gym was subconsciously broadcasting the state of her love life with every playlist, simply based on how often we transitioned from soft love songs to sad love. . songs after songs about being an independent and confident boss, and then back again. When I eventually received my cycling teaching certification, I realized I was right: the desire to express my inner feelings through a playlist and then work on them in the gym is very strong, but I try not to expose my students to the details of my inner world.
As someone who literally gets paid to create energetic playlists several times a week, I know a thing or two about how to get the most out of the music you listen to at the gym, but the rules I follow in my classes are different than those which I follow in my classes. the ones I have for my personal cardio pumping playlists. I’ll tell you what I do and what Teddy Savage, National Lead Trainer at Planet Fitness, recommends.
How to Choose a Ringtone Based on Your Cardio Method
First of all, my old spin teacher wasn’t completely wrong in her approach: if you’re going through something, use it for motivation in the gym. If you are passionate about love, listen to love songs. If you’re nervous before a job interview, choose songs that make you feel like a winner. This part is easy, and practicing while you communicate with your emotions is a great way to cope with whatever is going on in your life.
However, you need some structure. When spinning, I pay a lot of attention to beats per minute, or BPM. To get people’s heart rates up, I want quick strokes, quick feet, and less stress on the bike, but I want less bpm cool down or when we go up a “hill” by increasing the tension on the handle. There’s a lot of platitudes that go into all of this and you don’t have to worry about it. In general, if you do cardio on a bike, a lower beat per minute is considered to be between 120 and 125; You can challenge yourself to increase your heart rate by going up to the 130 to 150 range. I use the website SongBPM , which can pretty accurately determine the BPM of any song. Again, however, there’s really no need to get too intellectual about this; just remember that faster songs make you move your feet faster.
Either way, it dissipates when you start running on the treadmill or climbing the stairs. When spinning, we can easily kick every kick, but on a treadmill you won’t be able to do it as easily or safely. Instead, you need to prioritize finding songs that excite you, get you moving, and keep you energized. My first tip is to look for songs with a long, perhaps even emotional, bridge if you want to overcome higher loads on the bike or higher speeds on the treadmill, elliptical, or stair climber. Increase this tension or speed during the verses and chorus, and when the transition is over, decrease it again.
“If you’re preparing for a HIIT [high-intensity interval training]-style workout that will push you to your limits, you need to add some good quick cuts with some strong baselines,” says Savage, who also offers motivational or fun lyrics. if you like them. “On the other hand, if it’s going to be more of a steady-state cardio workout, you might want to choose a group of feel-good songs that are great for creating images with lyrics that tell a story or seem to whimsically take you from the treadmill to the concert where you and your friends are hanging out. time is the best.”
Choose something new rather than old favorites
You don’t need me to tell you what lyrics you like or remind you that you’ll work harder on faster, more intense beats, but there’s more to song selection than all of that. When I work out, I need to be distracted because I’m not the type of person who gets motivation and joy from the workout itself. Sometimes I do this by watching an exciting drama show on my phone, but on those days when I choose music, I need to find a way to force myself to distract myself. This means that I don’t listen to my favorite songs much at all, as counterintuitive as that may seem.
When spinning, it’s important to teach a song that I know by heart so I can easily signal other riders. I don’t want to think too much about what’s next when I’m keeping an eye on other people’s fitness and well-being; I need the music to blend into the background so I can focus on the lesson. However, when I’m training alone, I don’t want it to fade into the background because then I start thinking about how much I don’t want to keep running. To trick myself, I look for remixes, collages, and sped-up versions of songs I like. When I hear something familiar with an unexpected turn of events, I become curious and curious about what will happen next. Additionally, these versions of songs are usually faster or have stronger bass lines than the originals, making them easier to practice.
Another option is to use artificial intelligence to find songs similar to ones you already know you like and are good at. On Spotify, I do this by choosing a song that I like and know I’ll enjoy hearing, then click the three dots in the top right corner and select “Go to Radio.” This creates a whole playlist of similar songs, some of which I may know and many of which I don’t. Distraction achieved.
What to Consider When Making a Gym Playlist
Savage notes that variety is the spice of life, so you should regularly update your playlist and add new music to keep your workouts fresh. I couldn’t agree more. If you’d like, you can follow my playlist on Spotify as I change it every two or three days during class; Planet Fitness also offers several playlists .
One thing I’ve found that works well for me is identifying certain genres for certain tasks. Just like you can designate a designated area in your home for studying or working, distinguishing the music you listen to while performing certain tasks can help your brain recognize when it’s time to exercise. On the elliptical, I often listen to commercial rap from the early 2000s, which is not what I listen to while running errands. Conversely, I’ve had some really weird freak-outs where I was dancing in a club and the song I use in my spinning classes came on. My stupid little Pavlovian brain always gets confused for a moment. I’m wearing heels and holding an amaretto sour, but… am I about to start a sprint? It’s strange to hear these songs and not have your feet tied to the bicycle pedals. Use the lizard-like qualities of your brain by selecting one or two genres that are just for training. So when you hear these songs, you instinctively know it’s time to get your butt up the stairs.
Finally, make the playlist longer than you think it will be. Per Savage: “The worst thing is the playlist isn’t long enough and you have to repeat songs… Boring! If anything, you want the total playtime of your playlist to be longer than you expect. so you have more than enough runway to get through reps, take breaks, and have a little dance party between sets.”
Anyway, I always add a few random songs to the end of my playlists so the music is still playing when people leave. Going from a loud assault on your ears to silence is disorienting, and if it happens while you’re in the middle of a workout, you’ll lose concentration just because you have to pull out your phone and find something new to listen to. fast.