The Energy Never Dies (Black Eyed Peas) Tour

I got to go to the Black Eyed Peas concert last Saturday night. Like I mentioned in an earlier post, BEP is pop music, fun and simple. The review in the paper was right on, said it was a great entertaining concert, but check your brain at the door. None of it is anything you really need to ponder. The opening acts were LMFAO and Ludacris, both of which are in that same category. Nonetheless, it was a FUN night. I met up with a couple of friends after, gym members who enjoy spinning as well, and we hit the town. After closing the first bar, dancing like fools, we headed to a club, where we later learned Ludacris himself was at. See how cool we are? :) My friends had suggested that I play the music from the concert in class, so I revamped my previous BEP playlist to mimic the concert as close as possible. The Peas played for almost two hours so I had to shorten it. It's not all BEP stuff either. Will.i.am did a DJ set in the middle, that included Michael Jackson and Journey so they are on it. Fergie has her solo stuff so I put one of the songs she performed. And last but not least, Slash, the real Slash from Guns n' Roses showed up too and did "Sweet Child O' Mine" with Fergie covering. It wasn't too bad.

So here it is..The E.N.D. Tour. They are coming back in August if anyone wants to go!

Black Eyed Peas Concert (55 minutes)

1.Let's Get It Started- BEP (warm up)
2.Rock That Body- BEP (run)
3.Imma Be- BEP (climb, run at end)
4.Wanna Be Startin' Something- Michael Jackson (jumps)
5.Pump It- BEP (run)
6.Don't Stop Believin'- Journey (climb)
7.Boom Boom Pow- BEP (run)
8.Sweet Child O' Mine- Guns N" Roses (run with resistance)
9.Glamorous- Fergie (run)
10.Where is the Love?- BEP (climb)
11.I Gotta Feeling- BEP (run with resistance)
12.Meet Me Halfway- BEP (cool down)

Have a great weekend!

Portia

p.s. Happy Birthday J.G.!

Happy St.Patrick's Day!

Yes, it is finally here. After weeks of anticipation, it is time to celebrate all things Irish. Put on that one green shirt you own and get ready to drink a beer, and eat some fatty meat and stinky vegetables. Now, I think I have license to comment on the tradition of St. Patrick's since I am actually Irish. My middle name is Cooney, which is my mother's maiden name, which is very Irish. So besides a big helping of Swedish and Welsh, I can identify at least a little with the Irish. Growing up, my mother always made home-baked Irish soda bread, and of course St. Patrick's would not be complete without corned beef and cabbage for dinner. Now to me, there are little other meals on earth that I would rather NOT eat. I mean boiled meat, with boiled cabbage? I remember how disgusting the house smelled when it was being cooked. Yuck. You had to put so much mustard or ketchup on it to make it remotely palatable, I never understood it.

To celebrate St. Patrick's Day in class, I have been playing my Irish playlist. I came up with it last year and tweaked it a bit this time around. It's pretty good, lots of speed. All the songs are either by Irish artists or is "Irish" music. One song is from the soundtrack of the movie "Titanic". Guess who built the Titanic? I don't think they were driving though :) Anyway, it is a good workout, more based on fast cadence than heavy resistance, although there are some hills. And TWO songs of jumps for a special treat!

I have done my Irish duty so far. I have one of my few green shirts on, my least favorite color next to purple, I have shamrocks on the table and in the window, soda bread is being consumed, and for dinner it will be my interpretation of corned beef and cabbage in the form of Reuben sandwiches for everyone. Much more tasty and the house doesn't stink like old shoes.

Hope you are having a wonderful St. Patrick's Day. That pot of gold is probably right in front of you...I know I have rainbows dancing around so it must be close :)

Irish Music (53 minutes)

1.Where the Streets Have No Name- U2 (warm up)
2.One Last Drink- Enter the Haggis (run)
3.Come On Eileen- Dexy's Midnight Runners (run, heavy resistance at end)
4.Irish Washerwoman- Pa's Fiddle Band (jumps)
5.Vertigo- U2 (run)
6.Lancaster Castle- Enter the Haggis (climb 2 min standing, 2 min seated)
7.I'm Shipping Up to Boston- Dropkick Murphys (run)
8.Breathless- The Corrs (recovery run)
9.An Irish Party Third Class- Gaelic Storm/Titanic soundtrack (run)
10.Jump Around- House of Pain (jumps)
11.Sunday Bloody Sunday- U2 (climb)
12.Nancy Whiskey- Gaelic Storm (run)
13.Bagpipe Medley/Dear Old Donegal- The Irish Guards (cool down)

Saliante'!

Portia

The Peas are coming

Black Eyed that is. I don't care if the lyrics are silly or that they get alot of "help" to sound they way they do, I like the Black Eyed Peas. Their music is uncomplicated and catchy, I don't need to think about it much and it makes me want to move. Which is why I use it often in spinning class. I know it has been played and played, but I still love the song "I Gotta Feeling". It always motivates me and I have plenty of wonderful memories dancing to that tune...Anyway, in honor of the pop band, this week's music was alot of BEP. I didn't want to overwhelm anyone with too much Fergie and Will.I.Am, so I decided to mix it up with another band. I've done the dualing artist before, Michael vs. Prince, Madonna vs. Britney. This time I went with The Black Eyed Peas vs. The Police, or as I affectionately call it, The Peas vs. The Po Po. The Police are great for spinning as well, since alot of their songs have big cadence changes. This playlist leans more toward speed than heavy climbs. Remember, the music dictates alot of what to do with your body (at least in my class it does). Music is fast, generally cadence is quick too. Music is slow, then cadence is slow, which in turn means heavy resistance. We are always doing either FAST pace with medium resistance (always need some) or SLOW pace with heavy resistance. Of course sometimes I throw it all at you and we do SPEED and RESISTANCE. That's when everyone looks like they want to kill me :)

Here it is...to anyone lucky enough to be attending the concert on Saturday night, have a great time!

The Peas vs. The Po Po (long version 52 minutes)

1.Boom Boom Pow- Black Eyed Peas (warm up)
2.Message in a Bottle- The Police (run)
3.Let's Get It Started- Black Eyed Peas (climb)
4.De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da- The Police (run)
5.Imma Be- Black Eyed Peas (climb,run second half)
6.Every Little Thing She Does is Magic- The Police (seated sprints)
7.Hey Mama- Black Eyed Peas (run)
8.Can't Stand Losing You- The Police (run)
9.Where Is the Love?- Black Eyed Peas (climb)
10.Pump It- Black Eyed Peas (run)
11.Roxanne- The police (jumps)
12.I Gotta Feeling- Black Eyed Peas (run with resistance)
13.Every Breath You Take- The Police (cool down)

We will be doing Irish music in honor for St. Patrick's Day next so stay tuned...

Have a great day!
Portia

It feels like Spring!

Is that the sun? Yes, finally it's out and it feels a little stronger than the last time we saw it. Oh, I hope it will last...of course we could still easily wake up to snow one of these March (or April) mornings.

Everyone has been working hard in class. I've seen some new faces who keep returning, that's a good thing. Lots of people try a spinning class and only do it once, thinking it's "too hard." It's supposed to be! You get better at it, but it always supposed to be hard. Congrats to everyone who has stuck it out!

I am a few weeks behind on posting playlists, please forgive me.  Here are the 2 that I have used the past week and a half...

Intoxicated (51 minutes)

1.I Want a New Drug- Huey Lewis and the News (warm up)
2.Love Drunk- Boys Like Girls (run)
3.Toxic- Britney Spears (run)
4.Your Love is My Drug- Ke$ha (run)
5.Tipsy- J-Kwon (climb)
6.I'm in Miami Trick- LMFAO (jumps)
7.Pass the Dutchie- Musical Youth (run)
8.Just Like a Pill- P!nk (climb)
9.We Be Burnin'- Sean Paul (run)
10.Addicted to Love- Robert Palmer (climb)
11.Pour Me- Trick Pony (resistance build)
12.In da Club- 50 Cent (seated climb)
13.Tik Tok- Ke$ha (run)
14.Rehab- Rihanna (cool down)

The G Man Monday (50 minutes)

1.Let's Hear it for the Boy- Deniece Williams (warm up)
2.Womanizer- Britney Spears (run)
3.Ain't No Other Man- Christina Aguilera (run)
4.Getting Jiggy with It- Will Smith (climb)
5.Dancing With Myself- Billy Idol (run)
6.Just a Gigolo- David Lee Roth (climb)
7.U Can't Touch This- MC Hammer (jumps)
8.Macho Man- Village People (run)
9.When I Grow Up- Mayday Parade (seated sprints)
10.I Fought the Law- Bobby Fuller Four (recovery run)
11.Rock Star- N*E*R*D (run)
12.Star Wars- John Williams (cool down)

I promise to be back with this week's new list by the weekend. Im still adding some material. And for those of you who take class often, I am still asking for members favorite songs so I can get a playlist (or two) together titled "members choice". Keep those suggestions coming!

Enjoy the sun!

Portia :)