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It actually makes perfect sense when you consider how fitness instructor Steve Saxton came up with the idea. It was in the late 90’s, and he was working in San Francisco for Crunch gyms. One particular day he happened to be walking past the gym’s cycling studio. What he saw was a bunch of “twenty-something’s” pedaling as fast as they could.” It was a scene that he would pass by almost daily, but on this day he was more introspective. He remembers saying to himself “they are going to have a heart attack; they’re so far out of their training heart rate,” he told a journalist from www.sfgate.com in a phone interview.

It takes an especially creative thinker to notice such a basic inefficiency in a practice that goes on everyday without challenge or anyone ever noticing that perhaps it isn’t the best way to do things. In Steve’s case, he was definitely on to something very important. It is well-known in the fitness / health industry that cardiovascular activity must remain within a specific heart rate range to avoid adverse affects to the heart. Because the heart is a muscle, regular physically activity will strengthen it, making it able to support rigorous physical activity by beating at a slower rate. This is why some people can run 5 miles and maintain a relatively low heart rate, while another person cannot do 2 miles without their heart beating out of their chest.

Spinning Wheels in the Name of Fitness

The common guide that fitness professionals use to determine whether a person is outside of this ‘training zone’ is the talk test. Simply put, if an exercising individual cannot carry on a fairly normal conversation while engaged in the that activity, they are more than likely overstressing their heart. This is particularly dangerous for persons with known heart conditions but also dangerous for healthy individuals if done persistently.

Indeed, this is exactly what Steve was thinking that day as he watched the oxygen-famished cycling group, spinning their wheels and overtasking their hearts in the name of fitness. He explains: “I thought about the talk test – if you can’t carry out a conversation, you’re working too hard . . . Somehow I got from talking to singing.”

Fast forward to 2009. Steve is now the vice president of In-Shape health clubs, a 32 store fitness club chain based California’s central valley.  He introduced “Bikaraoke” at the Antioch, CA location in January. The class is outfitted with two video screens to display song lyrics, a microphone sits in the center of the room for those occasions that a class member wants solo, but for the most the class sings as a group with the instructor leading the way, chanting directions “sing louder,” through a microphone headset. From a business standpoint, bikaraoke is a smashing success. Each class has been packed, according to Sargent, and there a plans to expand it to the chain’s other locations. Its fun, its different, and it keeps you in your training zone, so bikaraoke isn’t just another meaningless twist on karaoke, it’s a fun way to make sure that you exercise properly. Is anybody thinking “Runaraoke”?