I am not talking about records. I am talking about stationary bikes. This surprises even me. Is there anything worse than when your spin instructor has no innate musicality and tries to make you spin off the beat? Yes, I am aware, there are worse things, but that won't stop me from complaining about bad music choices in my gym classes. It drives me nuts when my instructor contradicts the beat by making us do interval sprints based on made up timing rather than the natural verse/chorus flow of the song. So here are a few suggestions:

I'm always a year or two (or, uh, ten or twenty) behind the times with my workout music choices, but can we talk about how supremely satisfying it is to spin (or run) to selections from Santigold's Master of My Make Believe? "Disparate Youth" is my go-to hill climbing song, and "GO!" (featuring Karen O) is magical for interval sprints. Regina Spektor's amped up theme song to Orange Is The New Black, "You've Got Time," has interval sprints built right into the song structure. How about Metric's "Youth Without Youth," the BPM of which perfectly matches my running pace?

Maybe, I'll concede, I'm overly sensitive because I'm an audio engineer, not an athlete. But is it too much to ask for a little musicality in my spin class instruction? That would distract me from the ridiculousness of riding a stationary bike in a room full of people riding stationary bikes. What can I say? It's been a long winter in NYC.