Music To Workout To

Music is such an important part of my work out.  I need music to keep me amped up and to keep me moving.  When I first started running, I would just simply put my iPod on shuffle.  What I noticed was that when a slower song would come on, the intensity of my workout would decrease also.  I would slow down my pace and not work out as hard as when a loud, fast-paced song was on.  Another problem was that when a song came on that was really too slow, I would slow down or stop all together, in order to skip the song (sometimes multiple songs) until I found a song suitable for my workout. 

I quick and easy fix to this, is to create playlists for your workouts.  Because variety is important, and you probably don’t want to hear the same 15 or 20 songs every day you work out, I suggest creating multiple playlists to workout to.  There is a lot of really great music out there that you can use to create some really upbeat and motivational workout playlists with. 

I recently discovered that Ke$ha has an awesome album, Animal, that makes a great album to workout to.  Many of you may have heard her song Tik Tok that is played frequently on the pop stations around the country.  However, what you may not know is that her whole album makes a great work out soundtrack.  Don’t get hooked up trying to listen to the lyrics or to make sense of the words that Ke$ha is singing about, because if you do, you may not enjoy the beat of the music that will keep you pumped up for your workout.  The entire album, with the exception of Stephen, is all upbeat music that will inspire you to keep on moving! 

Lady Gaga also has several songs that are really great for working out; Bad Romance, Poker Face, Telephone, Love Game and Just Dance are all really great when you need music to move to.  I haven’t managed to get to the point where I own the entire album, but you can download specific songs at Amazon.com, so you can pick and choose which songs you want to own; which is an awesome feature, and a great alternative to iTunes. 

Some other great songs to add to your workout playlist are Hips Don’t Lie by Shakira, Fire Burning by Sean Kingston, Rehab by Amy Winehouse, Boom Boom Pow by the Black Eyed Peas, Hot n Cold by Katy Perry, My Life Would Suck Without You by Kelly Clarkson, She Wolf by Shakira, Hotel Room Service by Pitbull, Good Girls Go Bad by Cobra Starship, Sexy Chick (or B!t^h) by David Guetta and Akon, and Replay by Iyaz.  These are all really great “uppity” songs with fast beats that will keep you moving for your entire workout. 

There are plenty of songs out there to choose from.  The main point here is to find music that will inspire you to move, that won’t have you messing with your mp3 player during your workout and to have at least two playlists, so you don’t get bored with the same music.  If you don’t have enough music to create multiple playlists containing completely different songs, use the same songs and just reorder them to create a slightly different sound.  You know you’ve listened to a playlist too long when a song from your playlist comes on the radio and when it’s over you start singing the song that comes after it on your playlist. 

Find some music, if you need to download some new stuff off of Amazon.com or iTunes, and then amp up your next work out.  Keep yourself moving!