• Spincast – iFitGourmet
• Price – $5.00 for video, $2.00 for audio
• Rating – *** (out of *****)
• Summary – Typical spinning class workout while watching someone ride a spinbike.

It isn’t often that we’re sitting on the spinbike with someone shouting “Jesus! Jesus! Jesus!” in our ear (usually that’s us muttering to ourselves as we suffer through another interval), but this podcast does just that. iFitGourmet is one of the only other spinning video podcasts out there, and it combines traditional spinning class techniques with, unusually,  a “Indie Christian Rock” soundtrack.

iFitGourmet follows the standard spinning podcast concept – film a spinning instructor lead a workout. We downloaded their “Jump Training for Sprints and Climbs” video podcast. The instructor is nice enough, and gives a lot of basic instruction on breathing, sitting on the bike, and some stretches.  Advanced cyclists will find this a bit pointless and want to get on with things, but new spinners will probably appreciate it.

This is what you see the entire video. Get used to it.

The workout takes a while to get going – there is more than 10minutes of warmup, which you really don’t need a podcast to get you through (there is also a 6minute warmdown). Then you begin a series of “jumps,” which are alternating sitting/standing sessions. They start out slow, but gradually build and do, in fact, get quite difficult. By the end of the video, we were working pretty hard. It’s pretty standard spin class stuff and if that’s what you’re looking for, then this workout will probably leave you satisfied.

Now, Sufferfest readers will know we’re not big fans of  just watching someone ride a spinbike (see our review on Carmichael Training Systems borefests). It’s not that interesting, and if you already know form and positioning, the video doesn’t add a lot of value. Another (small) thing is that the instructor never seems to be working very hard in this video. It creates a bit of disconnect between how you feel suffering away during the jumps, and how relaxed she looks. If we’re suffering, we want you to be suffering. Somehow makes us feel better.

And the music – if you’re not Christian, or into Christian rock rather, it can be a little offputting. We were surprised at how good a couple of the tracks were, but overall we probably wouldn’t do this podcast again simply because of the music. We need more energy and less preaching in the soundtracks for our workouts.