September 01, 2010

Lately I just can't seem to get enough of this song...

Katy Perry - Teenage Dream

Labels/Tags: consuelo bernardi, bsides, Katy Perry, Teenage Dream

Posted by Consuelo at 07:46:04 View Comments | Click Here to Comment

August 31, 2010

I love this love/hate relationship with working out...with the balance hanging on the latter part of that statement (I mean if I am going to be completely honest).

My most over used excuses, like many, is that I never have the time and I lack that required motivation. I need that cheerleading aspect of a trainer (and by cheerleading I mean drill sergeant like quality) to get me on feet and working out to my maximum capacity.

But then through Twitter, one Laurie Sweig (@CadRev) called my bluff and offered to show me that I can combine my passion for music and that cheerleading necessity. So we met for coffee, along with her partner Keith Burnage (both are certified Spinning instructors and personal fitness trainers) and they introduced me to Cadence Revolution.

If you're looking to squeeze in a workout during lunchtime, after work or when the kids are drifting off to sleep, Cadence Revolution offers a great solution with 30 minute podcasts. This way, you can get in some exercise and finish off the day feeling energized. Plus the added bonus is that you can have 30 minute music mixes plus workouts delivered directly to you via iTunes or Zune and there’s even an app available for iPod Touch, iPhone, and iPad.

So basically they've covered off any possibility of excuses.

Each show starts with a warm up section, then moves into an aerobic workout, and ends with a cool down session. The shows are perfect for an indoor ride, run, or elliptical trainer experience.

Here what Keith had to say about how the concept started...

How did Cadence Revolution come about?

Well it started off with just myself as I have a love of music, a background in media, and enjoyed teaching Spinning classes. The one thing I noted was that the Spinning instructors at the place I started taking Spinning classes were not using any form of software to mix their songs together so the music would start/stop and then go to the next track with a nice pause in-between which I felt disrupted the workout. So when I started teaching there I decided to create seamless music mixes. The result was that my riders loved how the classes seemed to fly by and asked me if I would burn them a CD, and I thought seeing as I was dabbling in podcasting to see if it was possible to put a weekly podsafe mix of music together that anyone could download and use. I has now progressed over the past 3 /2 years from just myself simply putting our a mix of music to where Laurie and I collaborate as a team, I put the 30, 60 and 90 mixes together and then sketch out the accompanying workout and Laurie then reviews, edits and polishes the workout. Our audience started off around 1,000 a month and now is close to 50,000.

How is the music picked for the playlists?

Oh boy the how is simply something that has to grab me in 20 secs, either through the beat, lyrics, after I have downloaded those songs I then give them full listen to see if they work as warm-up, cardio or cool down songs and I keep a master list of unused songs, which runs 6-9 hours worth, to pull from as I try to use new songs in each weekly playlist although some songs get repeated just because I love them so much. Basically if I can picture myself using a song in one of my classes or having it in my personal playlist it's in . I usually start off building each playlist by finding the 2-3 songs that work for the warm up before adding in the lead off cardio song which I use to guide how the playlist evolves before finding the right 2 songs to cool down too. Sometime the playlists are a mix of alt/rock transitioning to dance/electronic, other times they are all from a similar genre root and I have done a full blues edition.

Sometimes I have a workout idea in mind, Interval, Strength, Aerobic-Cardio or Anaerobic Cardio that I want the playlist to address other times I just simply let the music lead the way and take me on a journey. As for types, just about anything with the exception of classical. If you visit the website and go to the 'Featured Track' menu you'll see it goes from Acoustic to World and anything in between. I try to put a little bit of something in each weekly playlist for every listener, so even if they aren't big fans of dance, reggae Latin or alternative, etc they know there's something coming that will grab them, and hopefully the weekly mixes will get people to be more open to new types of music and expand their field of what they consider good music. Our basic goal is to motivate people thru the music and the workouts to get moving, keep moving and stay moving by bringing the sensation of being outside inside.

What is your fitness background?

I've been a certified MadDog Spinning instructor for the past 9 years, and am now a level 2 Instructor (there are 3 levels and then Master instructor). I'm also a Personal Fitness Instructor certified thru the YMCA. I have taught Spinning at the Ray Friel Center and at my workplace where I implemented and ran the program. I now teach exclusively at the Point For Fitness.

Any tips for people staring out with the Cadence Revolution system?

We encourage newcomers to the Cadence Revolution to enjoy the music, and let it inspire them to move in a way that is best for them. The “Weekly Workout” that accompanies the podcast provides guidance based on either the “rate of perceived exertion” or a percentage of the maximum heart (for people using heart rate monitors). Either of these measurements completely levels the playing field so that every podcast is suitable for everybody. The podcasts are now available in both 30 and 60 minute lengths to provide options based on time available to work out, and experience.

How did the App come out?

Well I can thank Laurie for that as she found getting to the weekly podcast on her iTouch/iPhone to be too many clicks and thought an App would be a faster way. We put out feelers to see who could help us out and the folks at Select Start Studios in Ottawa (they created the Headquarters app to work with Basecamp which we use to keep track of all our projects and to-do's) were the only ones to reply and after meeting with them we gave them the green light to get to work. One of the best features about the app is that even if you haven't downloaded a particular playlist you can stream it form or website either via Wi-Fi or 3G network, as well as create a favourites list.

Labels/Tags: Consuelo Bernardi, bsides, Cadence Revolution, music, working out

Posted by Consuelo at 07:36:41 View Comments | Click Here to Comment

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