By: Karen Lilleyman
Anyone who saw Zac Efron playing DJ Cole Carter in last year’s seminal work of cinema We Are Your Friends knows that 128 beats per minute is the magic number to get the people dancing like loons to EDM tunes. According to scientists (usually more reliable than Hollywood stars on matters of science), music with a tempo of around 145 to 165 BPM is the optimum for a cardio workout such as running, depending on your height and stride length and assuming you want to match your paces to the beat.
Whilst I’m all in favour of science, especially when it comes to things like curing diseases and engineering calorie-free cheesecake, the number of beats squeezed into a minute won’t make you achieve your fitness goals if the tracks in your ears don’t also engage you emotionally (and also if you don’t train, but I’m working on the basis that does not need saying here).
The lyrics, the quality of a singer’s voice and the instrumentation, the memories you associate with a song and the time it was released – plus no doubt many other factors – combine to make this an extremely subjective science. Usually known as an art.
Having recently begun my training for the Reno-Tahoe Odyssey in earnest, and having supported a friend running the London Marathon on Sunday (via social media, I wasn’t supportive enough to go to London), I am reminded how true that is. She developed a taste for 80s pop/soft rock icons such as Huey Lewis, Phil Collins and Heart in order to keep on runnin’. I favor something a little more….gritty. The Arctic Monkeys (early years), Radiohead and Lauryn Hill are particularly reliable running buddies for me, but listen to anything too much and (for me at least), it can start to lose its magic. In the Welded gym Eminem’s Lose Yourself with its obvious motivational lyrics and Radioactive by Imagine Dragons seem to be favorite soundtracks for racking up PRs, but it depends on the WOD.
So before I finalise my playlist for the next few weeks, I’d love to hear what your ultimate workout track is. No pressure, but the Double Edge ladies’ Odyssey team is counting on you…
GROUP CLASS WORKOUT
Warm Up:
3 Rds: 15 Hollow Rocks, 15 Air Squats, 12 Cals
Finish with: 1 Min Banded Front Rack Each, 15 PVC PT, GM
20 Leg Swings Each
Strength:
9×2 Back Squat (Increase in Weight) EMOM
Lean: No Strength
Challenge:
Metcon: Welded
For Time:
400m Run
21 UB Thrusters 105/70
400m Run
15 UB Thrusters 105/70
400m Run
9 UB Thrusters 105/70
Every time bar touches ground
200m penalty run.
Adv: 115/80
Welded Lean
Partner WOD
30 Min AMRAP
30 Wall Balls 20/14
30 Cal Ski
30 DUs
30 DB Lunges 40/30
Mobility Of the Day: Olympic Wall Squat (pg. 312)
Improves: Knee out position at the bottom of the squat
YOGA SCHEDULE
Lengthen & Strengthen
6 to 7am
Rest & Restore
7 to 8am
SKILLS CLASS
Bar muscle ups
Wall balls
Toes to bar