Lately, I’ve been completing most of my runs outside. And when I’m outside, I’m passing the time chatting with T, listening to the rhythm of my feet, or watching what comes around the next bend in the road. In fact, when I’m running outside, I’m never bored and don’t need to distract myself–I’m totally in the zone. This is one of the reasons that I know I’m a runner.
But sometimes, like last night, I’m forced to run in the gym, or on the treadmill in my home office. And let me tell you, the treadmill sucks the life out of me. If I don’t have something to distract me, then I’m not going to finish my workout, or it will be a total mental chore to do so.
Sometimes, I watch TV at the gym or a downloaded show on my computer. But more often than not, I’ve got my ipod buds in my ears with some upbeat music helping me to pass the time. The music that I listen to on the treadmill is totally different from the music that I listen to during every day life. On the treadmill, I love a variety of songs: fast songs with lots of bass, happy songs with the word “run” or “running” in them, or songs that match my stride. Right now, on my ipod, I’ve got:
- Eminem (Lose Yourself)
- Chumbawumba (Tubthumping)
- Will Smith (MIB)
- Baltimora (Tarzan Boy)
- Eve 6 (Inside Out and On The Roof Again)
- American Hi-Fi (Flavor of the Week)
- Avril Lavigne (Skater Boy)
Throw in a little Guns ‘N Roses, Tom Petty, and some John Mellencamp and I’ve got myself some tunes that will get me through the most boring of workouts. But I’ve got to admit, as I look through my itunes music collection, I sometimes feel like I need some new tunes. Hopefully, you guys will be able to help me out:
What do you do to help yourself get through a boring workout? Do you listen to music? What are some of your favorite songs to workout to? Maybe some of your suggestions will help me get through my next boring workout on the treadmill.
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{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
MacD – I have a collection of cadences from the US Army that I will do cardio too from time to time. Not all the time – but every once in awhile I find the need to have a drill sargent motivating me to run a little, run a little, run a little more. It works.
MacD – one other thing…”Shape” magazine lists a bunch of songs every month that they find to be good workout songs. I like to rip this page out of my wife’s magazine and hit itunes. I find it a good way to a) find new music to listen to and b) find good music to jam to while I’m getting my workout on!
mike–Thanks for the comments! Do you happen to remember some of the songs from this month’s Shape?
Di–When I was looking through itunes before writing this post, I saw a couple of workout CD’s. One of them even had the word “treadmill” in it, but the songs didn’t look to interesting so I passed.
I like a wide variety of music, but my favorites for working out are workout tapes! lol! These are basically fitness instructor mixes, run around $25 per CD (cheaper for downloads) and they have about 12 tracks on, but with a constant beat and no gaps. You can get all manner of music in this format I do recommend it.
Other than that I like stuff by offspring (esp early stuff) and Disturbed
Lady Gaga: Bad Romance.
Gorillaz: Dare
Bowling for Soup: 1985
Black Eyed Peas: I Got a Feeling, Boom Boom Pow
Shape’s listings as mentioned by mike are all condensed here: http://www.shape.com/fitness/workouts/playlists
My top picks
Steve McQueen by Sheryl Crow
Amazing by Seal
Wake up call by Maroon 5
Harder to Breathe by Maroon 5
Survivior by Destiny’s Child (sorry)
Simply the Best Tina Turner
Love this topic!
Geek–Thanks for the recommendations and the link! That’s awesome.
T–I forgot about Maroon 5. Good choices. I’ll Let Destiny’s Child slide, but only because you’re my running partner.
I like pretty upbeat music for running. My favorites from my longstanding running mix:
Vertigo – U2
Burnout – Green Day
I Caught Fire – The Used
Island – The Starting Line
Nervous in the Alley – Less Than Jake
Flip Flop Rock – Outkast
Happy – Goldfinger
Gonna Fly Now – Bill Conti
Call to Arms – Angels & Airwaves
Machinehead – Bush
Intergalactic – Beastie Boys
All About Her – New Found Glory
The King of Wishful Thinking – New Found Glory
Don’t You Forget About Me – New Found Glory
Too Legit to Quit – MC Hammer
Matt–Good suggestions. I had my daughter running around the house tonight singing “TOO LEGIT….TOO LEGIT TO QUIT!!!!” She’s 4 by the way. FYI, I don’t do anything with email addresses except use them to try and block spam.
These songs are pretty good for getting your heart rate up.
Going Mobile – The Who
Running on Empty – Jackson Browne
Born to Run – Bruce Springsteen
Dancing in the Dark – Bruce Springsteen
Hmm…I must admit I find music doesn’t do it for me.
I listen to podcasts. There are heaps of great running podcasts: http://www.runningpodcasts.org/
I have pretty much all of your tunes on my workout list. Some other stuff I include:
- anything black eyed peas. they keep me rollin’
- lots of dance mix type stuff (venga boys, 80s dance stuff, etc)
- guilty pleasure pop — think Britney Spears, Oasis, Lily Allen, some Madonna, Mandy Moore, Shania Twain, etc. I only have a song or two from each artist, but I really enjoy it.
- Blink 182, MXPX, Fenix TX and other pop punk stuff
Jay-Z: 99 problems
Toadies: Tragic Kingdon
Ting Tings: That’s not my name!
Jay Sean: Down
Golden Earring: Bullet Hits the Bone
Guns and Roses: Mr. Brownstone
Journey: Don’t Stop Believin’
Ramones: Sheena is a punk rocker, Sedated