Cycle Challenge

The work was about 56 minutes. It has a long 7 minute warm up that included tons of pointers. Mindy mentions that you might want to mute this section in future viewings. The cool down was shorter (about 5 minutes, maybe) with a longish 5 minute stretch at the end.

The workout format is drills. If I remember correctly, it goes like this: 10 minute moderate hill, 3 minutes off, 5 minute tougher hill, 2 minutes off, then alternating 1-3 minutes on and 1 minute off. I may not have that exactly right, but you get the idea. There’s also a bonus 5 minute push for those who have the DVD. The music is ok, not great, but pretty good.

I liked the outdoor setting. I’ve never done a Spinnerval, so I cannot compare, but I would say it was similar to the intensities on the other two videos I’ve done (Robert Sherman’s Foundations and Jay’s Precision Cycle). For me, spinning is definitely subjective. It’s easy to back off or work harder.

Cycle Challenge is Mindy's second spinning video, and in my opinion is an improvement on the first video. The workout is filmed outdoors in a forested area that just looks really beautiful. The music is all instrumental, but has a good beat and really gets me going. Mindy has a male spinning student following the workout behind her, and I found him to be pretty motivating as well as he seemed to be almost as energetic as Mindy. The workout itself is as follows (These are also the chapters on the DVD):

Chapter 1 - 7 Minute Warmup, with some light stretches

Chapter 2 - 10 Minute hill climb, split between two songs, a moderate aerobic effort for five minutes, and a more intense aerobic effort for the next five minutes

Chapter 3 - 3 Minute Recovery section, light to moderate aerobic effort

Chapter 4 - 13 Minutes of Interval work, split between three songs. The first two songs are four minutes, and the last song is six minutes. The intervals are standing runs/sprints, and sitting runs/sprints. I definately got my heartrate up on this one!

Chapter 5 - 6 Minutes of Hill work with interval bursts both standing and sitting.

Chapter 6 - 9 Minute Cooldown with pretty thorough stretches and some relaxing music

DVD Bonus - The DVD has a bonus section of 10 minutes, split between two songs. The bonus is a hill climb, and has you seated for five minutes, and standing for five.

This is a spinning workout with a lot of standing. Collage Video gives this an intermediate rating, but as with any spinning video, I have no problem getting into my regular advanced heartrate zone by adding tension and pedaling a little bit faster. I really enjoyed this workout, and hope to see some more spinning workout from Mindy in the future!