Lollapalooza Elliptical Festival

Don't let the rain keep you from working out!  Move out to a little Lollapalooza playlist.  Since Perry Farrell of Jane's Addiction launched the festival as a farewell tour in 1991 I will start out with Been Caught Stealing as a warm up.  Just get yourself moving to loosen and warm up your muscles.  Bring your rpms up slowly as you warm up.  The remainder of the songs are from bands who performed at Lollapalooza 2012.  Get used to moving with the beat of the music on Bloc Party's Banquet and then pick up the pace  a little whenever Florence belts out the chorus on Dog Days Are Over.  Make Turn A Square a hill climb by adding a level every 30 seconds and then hold it at a challenging resistance level for the Black Keys' Stop Stop.  If you can't keep up with the beat drop down a level until you can.  This is supposed to be hard so challenge yourself! 

Recover at an easy resistance level for the first minute of Amadou & Miriam's Senegal Fast Food and then bring it up to tempo.  I drop the moving handles and just hold onto the stationary ones in the middle to keep my feet moving on this one.  Take the level back up a few and grab back onto the moving handles for Sixteen Saltines and then do some pick ups on the chorus of Little Talks.  I was getting tired about now so if you only want to do a 30 minute workout skip to guitar phenom Gary Clark Jr at the end for a nice cool down. 

If you are going for a 45 minute workout (you can do it!) drop the level back to moderate and keep a steady pace on Higher Ground.  Take it slower and add resistance after every chorus on Some Nights for one last hill climb and then drop the resistance back down and hold a steady rpm on another great Black Key's tune- Run Right Back to finish up.  Take a nice slow cool down with Gary Clark Jr and enjoy his smooth voice and great blues-rock guitar work on Bright Lights.  

Don't forget to drink up and give yourself credit for some strong work on your workout today!

• Been Caught Stealing- Jane's Addiction  104 bpm
• Banquet- Bloc Party  78 bpm
• Dog Days Are Over- Florence & the Machine  75 bpm
• Turn a Square- The Shins  64 bpm
• Stop Stop- The Black Keys  62 bpm
• Senegal Fast Food- Amadou & Miriam  82 bpm
• Sixteen Saltines- Jack White  66 bpm
• Little Talks- Of Monsters & Men  50 bpm
• Higher Ground- Red Hot Chili Peppers  72 bpm
• Some Nights- Fun  54 bpm
• Run Right Back- The Black Keys  80 bpm
• Bright Lights- Gary Clark Jr  82 bpm

Lollapalooza 2012 Elliptical Workout is on iTunes here

Playing for Pace

I often use music in my life. Some loud rock and roll helps make boring chores more bearable, and a little blues always lifts my mood. I often run with my tunes and love sharing all kinds of music with my indoor cycling classes. I also find that I automatically run to the beat of the music if it is close to my natural running tempo. With that in mind I have begun a campaign to improve my running speed by increasing my foot turnover rate. Studies have shown that fast runners seem to graviate to a turnover rate of 90-95 foot strikes per minute per foot. There is a belief that this is some sort of ideal match between effort and efficiency. As well there have been some recent suggestions that walkers should aim for 100 total steps per minute to achieve the best results from their walking programs.

With this in mind, my list this week is 10 songs with a tempo of 80-90 beats per minute. My plan is to mix them into my running workouts and pick up the pace when they appear, slowing down if needed to recover afterwards. To make the list all the songs needed to have an easy beat to follow and get moving right from the get go. Only "Lose Yourself" has a longer intro, the rest get you going from the start. As I get stronger I hope to put in a few more in the faster tempo range but that will be for another post.

1. She's A Rebel, Green Day, 84bpm
2. Always Where I Need To Be, The Kooks, 84 bpm
3. Straight to My Heart, Sting, 84 bpm
4. Can't Look Down, Zox, 86 bpm
5. Someday Baby, Bob Dylan, 86 bpm
6. Black and White Town, Doves, 88 bpm
7. Lose Yourself, Eminem, 88 bpm
8. Misery Business, Paramore, 88 bpm
9. Runnin' Down A Dream, Tom Petty, 88 bpm
10. Rompe, Daddy Yankee, 90 bpm
    

Playlist of the Week

This week's playlist could be used for cycling or running. The first two songs are for warm-up. By the end of these two you should be breaking a sweat but still at a moderate exertion level. During the third song, Blind, do pick-ups by alternating 30 seconds of a moderate pace with 30 seconds of a harder pace. This can be achieved by running/pedaling faster or by increasing the resistance. The next four songs, approximately 15 minutes, should be done at a hard pace. Trying getting out of your comfort zone. Recover on Adele and then follow up with another 15 minute interval comprising the next five songs, Howling At The Moon through The Impression That I Get. Take the effort level down to moderately hard for Vertigo and Evil And A Heathen and finally cool off to The Kids Don't Stand a Chance.

Tell Me More Baby/Red Hot Chili Peppers
Love and Memories/O.A.R.
Blind/Talking Heads
Clampdown/The Clash
Always Where I Need to Be/The Kooks
Bounce/The Cab
She Sells Sanctuary/The Cult
Adele/White Mud Free Way
Howling At The Moon/The Ramones
No Way Back/Foo Fighters
Salute Your Solution/The Raconteurs
The Resolution/Jack's Mannequin
The Impression That I Get/The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
Vertigo/U2
Evil And A Heathen/Franz Ferdinand
The Kids Don't Stand a Chance (Chromeo Remix)/Vampire Weekend