School Climbs

Class Profile Back to School Climbs

Created by Jennifer Sage Training Type: Climbing, fun Working HR Zones: Zone 3 to high Zone 4 Total Class Length: 60-minutes

Profile Description This profile contains four climbs of varying length, steepness, cadence and intensity.

Objective While the underlying training purpose is to work on climbing muscles and the cardiovascular system, the outward focus is to simply have fun with the music while working pretty hard!

Back to School Climbs Warm-up We’re Going to be Friends, The White Stripes, 2:22, 97bpm Grade 9, Barenaked Ladies, 2:55, 88 bpm Gradually let the legs build to 97 rpm, a great cadence to warm-up the legs. Over the 5 minutes, have them add small bits of resistance. I’ve got a little bit of everything today in this playlist so I should be able to satisfy just about everyone. This is a tribute to all you moms and dads out there who have been settling back into the get-your-kids-off-to-school struggle. For some of you it’s a new paradigm, for others it’s old hat. For some of you it’s kindergarten, some grade school, others the trials and tribulations of high school-aged kids. And then I know a few of you are alternating between the celebration and sorrow of a child gone off to college—got a lot for you all in this playlist! Most of the songs are pretty short. They will take us up and down a series of climbs, much like the life of being a parent. You can think of the recoveries in between the climbs as summer vacation—always just a little bit too short!

First Climb Oh Yeah, Yello 3:04, 132 bpm Don’t Stand So Close to Me, The Police, 4:01, 140 bpm Memories any of you? Anyone? Anyone? How about Ferris Buehler? Grab that beat—it’s about 66 rpm. Then dial in a moderate hill underneath you. You should feel the pedals push back against you. This is a 7–minute climb, so leave room for it to get harder.

Two resistance increases about 45 seconds apart, stand the final 45 seconds. Then as The Police starts playing, sit them back down and take off only the last little bit you added.

Indoor Cycling Association Profile Back to School Climbs

This next song has a little faster beat, so you’ll pedal faster. We’ll take our hill back down just a bit, to where we were before we stood up, but as soon as the beat gets going, you’ll increase your cadence just a bit. See what happens to your heart rate.

For the second song, two resistance increases a minute apart, then stand the final minute.

Recover Campus, Vampire Weekend, 2:57, 162 bpm Let the legs spin easy for a minute, allowing the heart rate to come down. Then add a little more road back in, so they aren’t enjoying too much recovery! Intensity in high Zone 2/low Zone 3.

Second Climb Smokin’ in the Boy’s Room, Brownsville Station, 2:59, 126 bpm Smells Like Teen Spirit, Nirvana, 5:01, 117 bpm School Days, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, 3:02, 152 bpm Welcome to our second hill. This one’s quite a bit longer, and it will get very steep in the middle. The last section however, is going to be the hardest because we’re going to push ourselves at a much higher cadence.

For the first song, let them settle into a moderate climb, make sure to leave room in their resistance for several increases. Add a little more resistance each minute, standing for short periods if needed. If you have students in their 50’s, you’ll no doubt have some who have stories to tell about being in high school during the era of this song!

As the second song starts (Nirvana), let them know that the hill is about to get steep, then very steep. Warn them that not everyone’s body is prepared to handle that much resistance, so choose their resistance carefully. This section of our climb is five minutes, the steepest part of our climb. As you slow your legs down to find that slower cadence (58 rpm), remember you’ve got to raise your resistance enough so that your intensity doesn’t fall too much. A brief respite is ok, since it’s just going to get harder, but try to avoid a large decrease. We are going to resistance load the first four minutes, then stand the final minute. You’ll feel it more in your legs than in the heart. Ready, here’s the first increase.

Remind them that at no point in climb should the resistance be enough to slow their legs down or force them to contort their bodies. Rather, it should be hard enough to make their legs really work. Stand up when Kurt Cobain begins (screams) the chorus at 4:05, and stay standing until the end. Let them know that there are two songs later on that are as steep or steeper with even slower cadence, so remember about where their resistance knob (or gear lever) ended up for the steepest part.

OK, the steep part is over, but that doesn’t mean the work is over! Imagine the grade of the hill letting up in front of you, and you decide you want to push hard now to get to the top of the hill. Take off a little resistance, but pick the legs up considerably—this song is 76 rpm. We’ll stand up on every chorus, when she sings School Days. Let’s go!

Indoor Cycling Association Profile Back to School Climbs

Stand at :51, sit back down at 1:18, ease up a bit, then stand back up at 1:54 and push until the top, just over a minute. This should take them to threshold or above, bordering on breathless.

Recovery Me and Julio Down By the School Yard, Paul Simon, 2:44, 105 bpm Depending on how hard they pushed themselves, let them use most of this song to recover. No need to pedal as quickly as the rhythm, unless you want to. (Some students have a hard time recovering with legs this fast).

Third Climb Another Brick in the Wall, Pink Floyd, 5:43, 103 bpm The Kids Don’t Stand a Chance, Vampire Weekend, 4:54, 140 bpm Remember my last warning when the climb got really steep? Well this one is even slower, so just pay attention. Work your legs hard, but never to the point of strain or pain.

How can I not play this song in a Back-to-School theme? This takes me back, how about you all? Where were you when this song came out? Kindergarten? Grade School? High School? Not born yet?!

Enjoy this climb. I’m going to let you decide how much resistance you want (though keep it on the high side) and when you want to sit and stand. Focus on how it feels in the legs. The next song will challenge you with a faster cadence.

Then just let them ride. When the next song starts:

Alright, time to speed up the legs. This next section is five minutes, we’re going to do two standing surges on this hill. When you stand up, push hard—it will be about 30 seconds. When you sit back down, ease up a little bit (a few heart beats), but not too much, you want to keep the work effort on the higher side throughout the whole song.

1:21 stand and push hard 1:50 sit, ease up slightly 3:06 stand and push hard 3:36 sit and ease up slightly, then hold it to the top at a moderately hard pace.

Recover Rock ‘n Roll High School, The Ramones, 2:17, 94 bpm Give them a minute of letting the legs spin, then dial in a little more and grab the beat. It’s as if you are on a flat road leading up to the final climb, and you want to get there a little quicker. So recover…but not too much.

Fourth Climb ABC (Freemasons Extended Mix), Jackson 5 (www.salacioussound.com), 7:10, 127 bpm Baba O’Reilly (Teenage Wasteland), The Who, 5:09, 116 bpm/173 bpm Heading into a 12–minute final climb. This first one is dedicated to you parents with kids in pre-school and kindergarten! It’s a nice climbing beat of 63 rpm. Let’s do some switchbacks,

Indoor Cycling Association Profile Back to School Climbs

standing up every 30 seconds or so. Make sure to increase your resistance very time you stand up.

Over the 7 minutes, cue them through alternating seated and standing, either every 30-40 seconds, or if you prefer, use the rhythm of the song and sit and stand every 4–8 sets of 8-counts.

As the next song starts, you’ll see some smiles on your students’ faces (especially if they’re older)! Here is our final climb. This one, like some of the past ones, is steep and hard, so slow the legs down to 58 rpm. We’ll stay seated for the first few minutes, then stand up on a steep part. But, the fun thing about this song is that the rhythm speeds up, so we’ll imagine our road gets less steep and we decide we want to race to the top for the final few hundred feet.

Increase resistance a few times, then stand up at 2:32 when he sings “Sally take my hand”. Stay standing for a minute, then sit back down when he says, “They’re all wasted!” At 3:35 the rhythm will gradually start to increase, this will be when you pick up the leg speed, reducing resistance gradually as needed. Guide your students through this section carefully so they don’t take off too much. Here we go, the road is easing up, leg your legs start speeding up as you release your gear just a little. (A little later…) Take off just a little more, speed up the legs a little more. Now for this final minute, stay seated, with a good amount of resistance and drive yourself to the top. It’s 86 rpm here! Sit and drive those legs!

Recover and cool-down College Girls, Eleventyseven, 3:08, 144 bpm Back to School, A Great Big Pile of Leaves, 3:33, 103 bpm Great job! Time to ease up and let the legs spin, bring the heart rate down. I hope this song, or this collection of songs, doesn’t make you pine for your college days!

Listen to the lyrics of the last song. “Where did the summer go?” Whether you have kids in school or not, everyone is probably asking themselves this same question!

Indoor Cycling Association Profile Back to School Climbs

Quick Profile: Back to School Climbs

Section Track/Artist BPM Length We’re Going to be Friends, The White Stripes 97 2:22 Warm-Up Grade 9, Barenaked Ladies 88 2:55

Oh Yeah, Yello 132 3:04 Climb #1 Don’t Stand So Close to Me, The Police 140 4:01

Recover Campus, Vampire Weekend 162 2:57

Smokin’ in the Boy’s Room, Brownsville Station 126 2:59 Climb #2 Smells Like Teen Spirit, Nirvana 117 5:01 School Days, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts 152 3:02

Me and Julio Down By the School Yard, Paul 105 2:44 Recover Simon

Another Brick in the Wall, Pink Floyd 103 5:43 Climb #3 The Kids Don’t Stand a Chance, Vampire Weekend 140 4:54

Rock ‘n Roll High School, The Ramones 94 2:17 Recover

ABC (Freemasons Extended Mix), Jackson 5 127 7:10 (www.salacioussound.com) 116/173 5:09 Climb #4 Baba O’Reilly (Teenage Wasteland), The Who

College Girls, Eleventyseven 144 3:08 Cool-Down Back to School, A Great Big Pile of Leaves 103 3:33