I wear a heart-rate monitor to both check up on my intensity and see how many calories I burn each class. I keep a notebook with details for each playlist and "ride": Were there any comments? Did they seem to enjoy the music or zone out? How did I feel? and How many calories were burned?

The calorie burn tends to be about the same for every 60 minute session - but occasionally there will be an exceptionally big one, like today. And it's all because of INTERVALS! Intense intervals with very little rest in between keeps the heart-rate up and lets you push hard the whole time - the "effort" only last 30-45 seconds - totally do-able!

Here is what the ride looked like...

Warm-up 5 minutes - set the stage for the ride

10 min pyramid intervals : 20 sec in saddle/ 40 sec out

30 secs in/30 sec out

40 in/20 out

50/10

60/60

50/10 and back down again

7 min Hill

6 min Fast Intervals 30 Fast! / 30 Rest Repeat 6 times

7 min Hill

6 min Fast Intervals

10 minute pyramid intervals : Repeat above

5 min Rider's Choice - Do what you need to do!

5 min Cool Down

Next time you're at the gym try it yourself. Put some sweet tunes on your mp3 player and burn, burn, burn!