The bachelorette party is over. It’s time for the wedding! The inspiration for this playlist is from the many family weddings I have been to. My extended family is from Iowa, with some living in Wisconsin. Wedding receptions are usually in the VFW Hall, or the backyard, something like that. A cold cut platter and potato salad to eat, maybe a balloon arch to decorate. To some wedding snobs, it all would be “tacky”. To the guests, a great time. Kegs of beer and boxes of wine, Uncle Bob as the DJ, Aunt Debbie cooking the food. See in the end it really doesn’t matter. Spending tons on a wedding, whether it is financial or emotional doesn’t hold up in the long run. When it is all said and done no one is more married than another. You have a piece of paper and a person to share your life with, whether you did it in the Gold Coast room at the Drake Hotel, or went to city hall. Spend the time focusing on the marriage instead of the wedding…


Here is my Iowa relative wedding reception inspired playlist (they are so much fun)!

Wedding Reception (52 minutes)

1. Chapel of Love- Elton John (warm up)
2. What I Like About You- The Ramones (run)
3. Wild Thing- Ton-Loc (climb)
4. You’re the One That I Want- Olivia Newton-John & John Travolta (run)
5. Dancing Queen- ABBA (climb)
6. La Bamba- Los Lobos (resistance build)
7. Love Shack- The B-52’s (run)
8. Respect- Aretha Franklin (jumps)
9. Shout- The Isley Brothers (run)
10. Celebration- Kool & The Gang (run)
11. Who Let the Dogs Out- Baha Men (sprints)
12. Hot Hot Hot- Buster Poindexter (jumps)
13. Y.M.C.A.- Village People (run)
14. Electric Boogie- Marcia Griffiths (cool down)

Have fun!

Portia 

One of the other instructors/personal trainers at the gym is getting married next month. She is a very kind, sweet and generous person, so I thought it would be fun to help her celebrate her upcoming nuptials and to make sure she gets the send off she deserves. She unfortunately is leaving Fitness Formula Clubs and moving to Iowa with her soon to be husband. I wish her nothing but the best.


Often before a wedding there are traditional events held, engagement dinners, bridal showers and of course, the bachelor/bacherlotte parties. I think it is an outdated, silly idea, it being that a bride or groom to be has “one more night” of fun with friends. There should be plenty of fun and crazy nights ahead. I was telling my class that they shouldn’t be throwing a last party before marriage, try having one before you have a baby. Now THAT is a lifestyle change. There is no more staying up all night, living it up out on the town, at least for a while ( try several years). It switches to being up all night trying to take care of another little human being. I think instead we should have a last night of freedom before motherhood. One last time to get crazy with friends, feel like crap the next day, and sleep it off. It would of course have to be before you get pregnant, a tricky idea since many of us would not exist without the help of a bottle (or two) of wine 

Even though they are slightly obnoxious, (who really wants to drink a margarita through a plastic penis straw?) they are fun and an excuse to be out with friends. It’s always nice to be celebrating the beginning of a new journey, one filled with love and hope…

This is my bachelorette party playlist. To follow soon will be wedding reception music…

Bachelorette Party 53 minutes

1. It’s Raining Men- The Weather Girls (warm up)
2. Wannabe-The Spice Girls (run)
3. Hollaback Girl- Gwen Stefani (climb)
4. Single Ladies- Beyonce’ (run)
5. Tik Tok- Ke$ha (run)
6. Just Dance- Lady Gaga (climb)
7. Dancing With Myself- The Donnas (run)
8. Naughty Girl- Beyonce’ (seated climb)
9. Don’t Cha (remix)- The Pussycat Dolls (run)
10. I Know You Want Me- Pitbull (jumps)
11. I Wanna Be Bad- Willa Ford (climb)
12. Sexy Bitch- David Guetta (run)
13. Hush, Hush- The Pussycat Dolls (run)
14. This One’s for the Girls- Martina McBride (cool down)

See you at the “wedding”!

Portia

This week’s playlist was a combination of two I was working on. Ideas come to me at strange times. Sometime I hear I song while driving and a whole list comes together in a matter of seconds. Or maybe I put my iPod on shuffle and I hear a song I forgot about and it gets re-energized in my brain. Or like this week, I had two ideas, both slightly incomplete, and ended up combining them. One was the concept of using all “rock” music, you know, harder more heavy music. The other one I was thinking about was called “chick” music. I know it’s slightly sexist, but I am a chick so I guess that makes it better. It’s remix, dancey stuff. Light and fluffy. It turned out quite nicely actually, since the rock songs felt like hills and the remix stuff felt like flat roads, so the profile of the class was lots of up and down. Straight forward, but a good, challenging workout.


So here it is…

Hard and Soft (52 minutes)

1. Perfect Day- Cascada (warm up)
2. You Shook Me All Night Long- AC/DC (run)
3. All Through the Night- Novaspace (run)
4. Smells Like Teen Spirit- Nirvana (climb)
5. Everytime We Touch- Cascada (run)
6. Sweet Child o Mine- Guns N’ Roses (climb)
7. La De Da De Da De- Retro Dance Party (jumps and runs)
8. We Will Rock You- Queen (seated climb)
9. Kiss the Sky- Danielle Bollinger (run)
10. Walk The Way- Run D.M.C. (climb)
11. What Hurts the Most- Cascada (run)
12. Enter Sandman- Metallica (run with resistance)
13. Been Caught Stealing- Jane’s Addiction (cool down)

I was going to call it “Soft and Hard” but I thought it sounded too much like an adult film title;)

Have a great week!

Portia

It kind of started out as a joke that I would do an “Easter” playlist for spinning. It is the holiest day of the year in the Christian faith and I don’t want to offend anyone, but when a member mentioned it, I started to brainstorm. I did the St. Patrick’s Day list and someone said “Well Easter is next. Can’t really spin to that one!”. I thought maybe I could come up with something…

It’s not religious. I mean I don’t think it is, although I did find some crazy remixes of, yes, Kumba Ya My Lord and Amazing Grace. But no one has complained so far. They didn’t bother me, but even though I consider myself Christian, organized religion doesn’t play a big role in my life. My “church”, where I feel closest to something bigger than me and this world, is 350 plus miles to the North and consists of towering white pines, clear blue lakes, and the sound of loons calling to each other during the night. But that’s just me. Personally, you can believe in God, Jesus, Allah, Buddha, the Easter Bunny, or the Tooth Fairy for all I care. There is never one way to look at anything, I try to always have an open mind. But I am wary of those who “preach” one way to look at things, whether it is religion, politics, parenting or even fitness. There are many good ideas out there. Including the idea of a large rabbit who brings candy filled eggs to children in the night. Who came up with that one?

For this playlist, I chose songs that have references to heaven, angels, believing…that kind of thing. Whatever you celebrate today, I hope you enjoy it!

Easter Spin (54 minutes)

1. Just Like Heaven- The Cure (warm up)
2. Like a Prayer- Mysterious Girl (run)
3. Heaven is a Place on Earth- Belinda Carlisle (run)
4. Forever- Chris Brown (climb)
5. Believe- Cher (run)
6. Livin’ on a Prayer- Bon Jovi (run)
7. Angel- Shaggy (climb)
8. Kumba Ya My Lord- Yule (run)
9. God Is a DJ- P!nk (climb)
10. Heaven Must Be Missing an Angel- Tavares (run)
11. Personal Jesus- Depeche Mode (seated resistance build)
12. I’m a Believer- The Monkees (run)
13. Amazing Grace- Yule (run)
14. Heaven- Warrant (cool down)

Happy Easter!
Portia 

Party Time

I’m not doing too well keeping up with this blogging thing. My apologies. Things just never seem calm enough for me to get on the computer, or it is usually occupied by one of my children. I know, excuses,excuses. So I owe everyone a couple of playlists.
First one, it’s Spring Break around here! It actually feels like it too. It’s warm, I can see the sun, and green things are emerging in my yard. Of course it is Chicago so it could snow next week, but I am hoping we are past the worst of it. I actually need a break from Spring Break. My kids have been off all week and BORED despite my effort to entertain them. We tried Lego land, where EVERY family with a boy under age 12 was there too. It was not even remotely enjoyable. Then we hit the zoo another day. I have never seen so many people at the zoo. I honestly don’t think we even saw any animals. I tried. We had some play dates and sleepovers, which helped, but by now I’m in great need for some ALONE time. Quiet would sound wonderful.
Back to the music. This was a new spring break playlist, using some of last year’s but mainly new stuff. I was picturing the college spring break on a beach somewhere, the kind of vacation when you come home more tired than when you left (but you have great stories).


Spring Break 2010 (54 minutes)

1.Holiday- Madonna (warm up)
2.Fight for Your Right to Party- Beastie Boys (run)
3.Do You Remember- Jay Sean (run)
4.Let’s Get Loud- Jennifer Lopez (run)
5.Leaving on a Jet Plane- Slightly Stoopid (climb)
6.Break Your Heart- Taio Cruz (run)
7.Armada Latina- Cypress Hill (climb)
8.Blah Blah Blah- Ke$ha (run)
9.Carry Out- Timbaland (jumps on a hill)
10.Vacation- The Go-Go’s (run)
11.Shut it Down- Pitbull (run)
12.How Low- Ludacris (breakaways/climb)
13.Baby- Justin Bieber (sprints)
14.Feel It- Three 6 Mafia (run)
15.Could You Be Loved- Bob Marley (cool down)

Enjoy! Be back soon...
Portia 