I finally broke down and ordered a non-Spinerval workout. CycleSpin is led by Jay Marschall, a cycling coach and spinning instructor. The workout alternates between the indoor cyclists and outdoor riders. The indoor riders are on bikes w/trainers. The set is colorful - very bright curtains behind the cyclists. I would rate this video as advanced.

The workout:

Warmup - 7 minutes

Spin Ups - 5 minutes: In this set, you start out at 90 RPM's and increase your cadence every 30 seconds. The last 30 seconds are at 130 RPM's.

Pyramid - 10 minutes: This set was hard. Throughout the set, you slow down your cadence as you increase the tension on your bike. At the 5 minute point, you are at your highest tension/lowest cadence, and then start back down the pyramid. My legs were burning!!

Climb - 9 minutes: Hard resistance for 3 minutes, then a 30 second hard sprint, and a 1 minute fast spin (lighten resistance). Repeat.

Spin Ups2: Repeat the spin up set, this time using a harder resistance.

Sprints - 5 minutes: Five sprints, each 20 seconds in length, increasing your speed every 5 seconds.

Cooldown - 5 minutes

Things I liked:
It's a 46 minute workout, and it went quickly! I thought this was a great workout, and I was definitely working hard. I would say that it is harder than Precision Cycling, and a notch below Spinervals - although, the Pyramid set was KILLER. There was a lot more fast spinning than I am used to, which worked my legs in a different way from Spinervals. Also, the on-screen graphics (showing your exertion levels, resistance, time, etc) were very helpful.

Things I didn't like:
Jay tells you to keep your cadence to the beat of the music. I don't know, I found that hard to do in some areas of the workout. Plus, when they switch over to showing the outdoor riders, their cadence is WAY off from what we are supposed to be doing - which really threw me off.

Sweat; there was none. Maybe it was just me, but I didn't feel like the riders were working that hard. They almost looked, well, bored.

Not available in DVD.

So-so Stuff:
The music: I can't decide if I like it or not. I've heard better stuff on my Spinervals, but I've also heard worse. Again, you use the music to determine your cadence, so it had a purpose. It was loud, which is a plus.

Overall, I'm pleased with this workout. It delivers a tough workout in 46 minutes. I would have liked for Jay and the cyclists to be a bit more upbeat, but it wasn't something I found distracting.

www.cyclespin.net

Instructor Comments:
Jay: He isn't Coach Troy. I thought he could have been a little more "dynamic". He did a few "woo's" during the sprints...I wanted to be yelled at. HA! On the plus side, he gives out a ton of instruction on proper form and does a good job of coaching you through the sets.

Suzanne M.