Motivate with music
Playlists to pump you up
Jon Rossing is a group exercise instructor in IUB's Division of Recreational Sports and a graduate student in Communication and Culture.
Group exercise instructor Jonathan Rossing knows how to get the crowd going. "It's the music," says Rossing, who teaches Step, CycleFit and Hi-Lo aerobics. "You need variety to stay interested in your workout, but if you're on the exercise bike there's only so much you can do. I put a lot of energy into making mixes that can keep people motivated to push themselves."
Rossing chooses songs to match the different phases of a cardio workout: easy warm-ups and recovery periods, "comfortably hard" tempo rides, climbs at increased resistance and slightly slower pace, and sprints that take the pace as high as possible for short bursts, followed by recovery.
"Try to match the beat of the music so you can maintain a steady pace," Rossing said.
Three of Rossing's playlists are described below. Although these mixes were designed for use with a stationary bike, they work equally well with other cardiovascular activities such as walking, running or using an elliptical trainer.
Diva Mix
- Destiny's Child -- Independent Woman (Warm-up)
- Madonna -- Hollywood (Warm-up)
- Dolly Parton -- 9 to 5 (Tempo Ride)
- Geri Halliwell -- Look at Me (Tempo Ride)
- Aaliya -- Try Again (Recovery)
- Kim English -- Unspeakable Joy (Climb)
- Blondie -- Sunday Girl (Sprint)
- Donna Summer -- Last Dance (Recovery)
- Cher -- Strong Enough (Climb)
- Whitney Houston -- I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Sprint)
- Alanis Morisette -- Everything (Cool-down)
Boy Band Mix
- Backstreet Boys -- I Want it That Way (Warm-up)
- Jackson B -- ABC (Tempo Ride)
- 98 Degrees -- Una Noche (Tempo Ride)
- All-4-One -- I Swear (Recovery)
- O-Zone -- Dar, Unde Esti (Climb)
- Arashi -- Sakura Sake (Sprint)
- Westlife -- Swear it Again (Recovery)
- Wham -- Wake Me Up Before You Go-go (Climb)
- New Kids on the Block -- The Right Stuff (Sprint)
- NSync -- This I Promise You (Cool-down)
Love Mix
- Erasure -- Oh L'Amour (Warm-up)
- The Cure -- Friday I'm in Love (Warm-up)
- Diana Ross and the Supremes -- Can't Hurry Love (Tempo Ride)
- Madonna -- Dress You Up (Tempo Ride)
- Nina Simone -- Love Me or Leave Me (Recovery)
- Belle & Sebastion -- I Don't Love Anyone (Climb)
- Jessica Simpson -- I Think I'm in Love with You (Sprint)
- Johnny Lang -- Missing Your Love (Recovery)
- Information Society -- Peace & Love, Inc (Climb)
- Crystal Waters -- 100% Pure Love (Sprint)
- Roxette -- It Must Have Been Love (Cool-down)
