Treadmill workout tapes

nancy324

nancy324

Cathlete
I know the world of workout music keeps expanding, but I can't seem to find exactly what I need. I want either a coaching tape or a music tape that is designed for someone who walks on the treadmill. Most of the music tapes I've seen ask you to choose a pace. So, if you choose a 4/mph tape, the whole workout is done at 4.0 with no variety. I like to vary my speed and vary the incline accordingly to keep the workout interesting and to use different lower body muscle groups to avoid fatique.

The coaching tapes have variety, but it psyches me out when the itrain woman says "walkers, slow down to 4.3". Sorry, but when I'm doing 4.3 I'm jogging! Maybe her 4.3 can be my 3.3? How hard is it to modify with those itrain tapes? In any event, what's it like having someone yelling at you while you're trying to enjoy the music and watch closed caption TV? My gym has a TV screen on every TM, and sometimes I get lost in the shopping channels (fashions and make-up demonstrations :p) and don't even notice the workout going by! Am I even the type who would benefit from a coaching tape?

Any suggestions appreciated.

-Nancy
 
Nance, have you tried Cardio Coach? With CC it's up to you to choose the speed, resistance, and incline. He uses "levels" based on your perceived rate of exertion to determine the settings on your machine. Level one is the lowest intensity, used during the warm up, and level 4 is the highest intensity, often anaerobic.

I know you love music so CC may not appeal to you. I happen to like the music but it's mostly the coaching I'm interested in. I'm lol at the thought of you shopping while doing your dreadmill workout:7, however, this practice may be stunting your progress. I absolutely cannot read anything while working out on cardio machines because it hinders me from going to that next level.
 
Thanks, Michele!

I assure you I am not being stunted, as I am always watching my HRM and my heartrate usually exceeds my expectations. Also, the TV is just a side thing, the music is the MAIN EVENT. I have my own music tape that is mostly Rolling Stones and disco stuff and I'm usually dancing away on the TM! :+ It's just so hard to keep the music fresh, and to keep coming up with new songs. I would love to use a pre-recorded commercial tape to switch off to.

Nancy

ETA:<--Good for Coach Sean for not mentioning an actual speed. I should give Coach Sean a chance. I'm just so all about the music, I tend to be skeptical. I'll try a download today.
 
Nancy, I don't know what sort of listening gizmos you are currently using (the fossil Walkman audiocassette tape player, Disc Man, MP3 player or iPod), but have you considered investing in some CDs from aerobics music companies that are specifically mastered for even beats-per-minute and are often produced to vary the bpms?

I'm not a treadmill walker or runner, but I do enjoy power walking, and I guage my workload by coordinating my steps to the beat - one beat, one step. When I'm able to PW, I use tapes that start at about 140 bpm and end up (after about 50 minutes) at around 150-153 bpm, which is a pretty good clip, just underneath jogging speed for me anyway. I really enjoy using aerobics music for these walks because it is music designed to spur movement.

As you know there are a ton of fitness music companies out there (including Cathe's fave BigBeatMuzic). There are also about a trillion and five CD's with music with gradual, consistently increasing bpm speed and also CD's with variable speeds (often used for indoor cycling, circuit and interval classes). You could use a DiscMan for these CD's, or rip them onto your computer then copy them onto your MP3 or iPod.

HTH -

A-Jock
 
A-jock,

Maybe I'm out of it today, but I have no idea what this means: "some CDs from aerobics music companies that are specifically mastered for even beats-per-minute and are often produced to vary the bpms?"

Can you explain???? It sounds good.

As for gizmos, I use an MP3 player now, but am willing to buy any other gizmos I may need.

Thanks!
Nancy
 
Michele, I've been sampling Cardio Coach and trying to figure out the levels and zones. One thing I noticed is that Coach Sean makes it all sound like work. Although I think of it as work before I get on, I just don't think of it as work while I'm on the treadmill. I just pretend I'm in a big disco having a grand old time. And Coach Sean's red zone for people of my age is really not an effort for me when I'm listening to my music. I pretty much stay in the red zone for at least 30 minutes! :eek: Weird. The only problem, and it's a big one, is keeping the music fresh. Buying CDs and transferring songs onto my MP3 player is time-consuming and I'm running out of songs. Hmmm.

-Nancy
 
Nance, head over to Collage Video and look to the lower left under "Instructor Workout Music". Each one lists the songs and the beats per minute. It looks like Collage has them on CD (or even on-gasp-cassette!). I went to Power Music to see if they have them in MP3 format but they don't. :( It's still worth checking out the other producers, I think.

Good luck!!!
 
Nance, Cardio Coach is HIIT--you're not supposed to be in the red zone the whole time!:7 The whole point of it is to have periods of high intensity with rest in between.

I like CC because I need motivation and that's what Coach Sean provides. Those w/o's just fly by for me. He makes me feel like I CAN do it and it doesn't seem like work to me at all. Trust me, I HATE cardio with a passion and if CC felt like work I absolutely couldn't use it. I mean, I REALLY couldn't:eek: ;).

I think A-Jock's suggestion is probably the best one for you. Your MP3 player should be all you need.

Good luck, Nance, and let us know what you come up with.:)
 
Nancy--
I have a "BPM" widget on my I-tunes -- I have a Mac, but maybe it works for a PC, too.

It allows you to tap your space bar to the beat of the music and then it registers the BPM for the songs you already own. You just have to change the "view" in your I-Tunes on your desktop to create a column to display BPM. Then once you have your songs you already know you like reorganized by BPM you can create your own playlist to suit your individual speed preferences.

Here's a link:
http://mac.softpedia.com/get/Dashboard-Widgets/Music/Tempo-Widget.shtml

I have some iTread programs and it has taken me awhile to get used to it. Have you tried any iClimbs? The person, Keith, who does it, talks over the music, too, but his style is a little different. I actually like them both now, but I agree, it's not the same as just getting lost in the music.
-Barb:) :)
 
I listened to the cardio coach CDs and hated the soud of their voices, not to mention the repetitive nature of their instructions. If you are there for the music, which I also thought sucked, then their voices will drive you insane. As in, can't he just shut up already?!?

I have also listened to loads of CDs of assorted music put out by different companies, the stuff that A-Jock refers to, and I personally cannot bear re-recorded versions of songs that are not by the original artist and whose original tempo has been altered to fit a workout demand.

I use the treadmill and I stick my regular fave CDs in. Then I provide my own cardio-coaching. It's called discipline! I warm up for 10 at 4.7 mph, then spend the rest of the workout (for 6 miles total) alternating between high incline intervals with the speed at 4.4-ish mph and the incline between 8-15, and speed intervals with the incline at 1 or 2 and the speed at 5 - 5.4 mph. An interval is more easily measured for me in terms of quarter of a mile disctances, i.e. once round the visual track the screen provides, than a timed minute, which does not provide enough of a chalenge for me. Determine for yourself how you want to measure an interval.

I am a naturally fast walker, and can do it with ease. It's a movement that comes naturally to my long legged frame. So, these speeds will not suit you. But the point is that you experiment for yourself, find out what gets you sweating and puffing and make up your own interval workout. You are a very intelligent person Nancy, and so I know you can do this. In this way, you can listen to what you like, you don't have to be annoyed by another person's estimation of what speed entails a jog and which a walk, and you can easily walk at speeds that ignore the beat of the music, I do it all the time. The 2 do not have to fit. For me, it is impossible anyway. My speed reuires a tempo of 7 bpm + and there 'aint much out there that fits. I don't care, I do my own thing.

If, as you say, you are self-aware enough during your workouts to keep track of heart rate, then you are obviously not so distracted by the TV that you cannot alter your speeds and inclines constantly for yourself.

Why do you need anything else? You seem like you want to do your own thing and enjoy your own music, so enlist in an ipod and itunes, download your own music, vary it every few weeks or so, and off you go! I'd spend my money on getting fresh music, and forget cardio coach.

Clare
 
Nance, even I'm not sure what I meant by what you quoted from me. I think what I should have written was "specifically mastered for 32-count phrasing with specific beats per minute (step bpms 128 - 132, kickbox and low-impact 135 - 145, low-impact to high impact 145 - 160 bpms), and for some formats such as indoor cycling and circuit workouts, often varied in their bpms from song to song (i.e. warm-up 135 - 140 bpms, first aerobic song 150 bpms, next song 130 bpms {for specific drills in indoor cycling or a resistance segment, next song 155 bpms for a cardio blast, etc.)". (Please forgive the several thousand grammatical felonies in the above paragraph.)

I too have an MP3 player (a waterproof, submersible one from Oregon Scientific), as well as a veritable ton of aerobics CD's; it's a matter of a few minutes' work to copy the CDs onto my computer, and then onto my MP3 player for my solo aqua jogging or other solo aqua workouts in addition to my power walks.

Collage Video, as is noted on this thread, has aerobics music for sale, as again does Big Beat Muzik. Other companies include Power Music, Dynamix, and Muscle Mixes (Power Music and Dynamix are the giant apes of the industry). You do indeed have to deal with re-recorded songs that have been reconfigured for the 32-count phrasing, but what the hay.

A-Jock
 
I just got back from the gym and was SOOOO motivated by the original recording Rolling Stones songs, my heart rate soared! Clare, you are right, once you've worked out to the original recordings, there is no going back. But I have my DH looking at the software Barb mentioned. Maybe if some of the songs were speeded up just a tad, it could increase my repetoire of workout songs. Thanks Barb!

You are right though, Clare. My current workouts are awesome. I've been working on my song mix for decades, and it's great. If I paid royalties to the Rolling Stones, the Jackson Five, Madonna, the Bee Gees etc., I could probably sell my current workout mix and it would be the best-selling one out there. :7 :p :+

I tried a rate of 4.2 today and was fine! I was wrong when I said it would be a jog for me. Let's Spend the Night Together is perfect at a 4.2 rate. I had to bring my incline down to 5, which is my "floor".

I really appreciate all the comments, and Barb, I will let you know how I do with that software! :D
-Nancy
 
Have you tried Runervals yet?

They are available by Coach Troy and are really good training workouts. You can get them from spinervals.com or runervals.com. They are worth every penney.
 
Nancy--
definitely keep me posted about the widget and if it works for you. If you get it up and running, it will be fun for you to see the BPM on the song mixes you already know and love..

Music is a great motivator!

-Barb
:) :) :)
 
Okay Nancy, I think I understand you situation. Like you I like to have music I love and that inspires me at a pace that challenges me with degrees of variety.

This is what I do for my running: I simply make a list of my favorite music. Figure a song is ahhh, 3-5 mins long...while listening you can arrange the music at tempos that fit your fitness level and workout style. I do this all the time. I have a latin tape that begins with slow beautiful bossas, boleros and picks up gradually until I am running/jogging to salsa, mambos and the like. I am stocked, inspired and in CHARGE of my own workout. I've done these cd's to all kinds of music variety..jazz, dance music, latin, classil etc. Music is so important to me in a workout, especially running! .

Hope this helps. Deb
 
Barry's Bootcamp is a series of workouts that have half-hour weight routines along with either treadmill cardio (a different one on each DVD) or a non-treadmill option. They would be good if you are using a treadmill at home (though it looks like you are using it at the gym, so I'm no help!)
 
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