posted
I pretty much need music to do cardio exercise, and I'd imagine I'm not alone. It sets the pace and tone of my efforts, and helps the 30-40 minutes pass without me getting bored.
I'd imagine there are plenty of people here who have their own favorite cardio tunes, and I thought that we could have a thread where people share their favorites.
My workout starts off sort of slow, and builds up in speed from there. My first ten minutes are basically a warm-up, and my last ten I am pretty much sprinting. So I like to have a mix of medium-fast to very-fast songs.
I usually start with one warm-up song, and then if I feel ready I switch to some medium paced songs, or I pick another warm-up song. I'll usually finish my work-out with about three sprinting songs, to really push myself. These categories aren't strict by any means, I sometimes mix them all around.
Mine are mostly hard-rock songs, because that is what I know. I'd love to hear suggestions outside that genre though.
Warm-Up: Mudvayne - World So Cold Nine Inch Nails - Every Day Is Exactly The Same (and other slowish starting NIN songs) Staind - For You (and other slowish starting Staind songs) Death Cab for Cutie - Soul Meets Body
In Between Warm-Up and Sprinting: Led Zeppelin - Immigrant Song The Who - Teenage Wasteland Our Lady Piece - Starseed Nine Inch Nails - Only (and several other relatively faster songs, like Terrible Lie, The Perfect Drug, etc.) Filter/The Crystal Method - Trip Like I Do Rob Zombie - Dragula, Living Dead Girl, etc.
Sprinting: Jimmy Eat World - The Sweetness Punjabi MC - Mundian To Bach Ke (I think it is this one, I'll have to check my MP3 player) Linkin Park - Faint Mudvayne - Not Falling
The Punjabi MC song is just wonderful for getting you moving, and keeping you moving. It's a crazy rap song in what I would assume is Hindi. It has a traditional Indian tune, with a hip-hop beat, and some very fun and exciting vocals which I couldn't begin to understand. Its pretty much an ideal work-out song, because it really makes you want to move. Niki highly recommends this one as well.
I use Not Falling as my staple for getting me to push myself, especially when I am feeling like quitting. For me, it pretty much does the trick guaranteed. Last night there was five minutes left on my 35 minute work-out and I still had plenty of energy, so I turned the resistance on the machine up and just powered through those five minutes to this song. The only problem with playing it at the end is that it gets my pumped up, and I am tempted to keep going.
Okay guys, your turn! For my own interests, I've few very good sprinting songs, and tunes which make you push harder and go faster I am especially interested in.
Foo Fighters: All My Life Franz Ferdinand: This Fire Guns & Roses: Mr. Brownstone Aerosmith: Baby Please Don't Go Fall Out Boy: Dance, Dance My Life With the Thrill Kill Cult: After The Flesh NIN: The Hand That Feeds Pearl Jam: Lukin Prodigy: Firestarter Rolling Stones: Paint it Black STP: Sex Type Thing System of a Down: BYOB System of a Down: Bounce Prodigy: Firestarter
Posts: 1480 | Registered: Dec 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
I'll have to wait until I get home to check my iPod, but I use a lot of bouncy 80's girl-pop, both for exercising and for things like mowing the lawn. (I use a reel mower, no motor, and treat it as exercise.)
Posts: 7954 | Registered: Mar 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
I listen to the same stuff for everything, all the time.
Prodigy - Breathe Head Automatica - At the Speed of a Yellow Bullet (GREAT warm up song) Head Automatica - Brooklyn is Burning Head Automatica - Beating Heart Baby Head Automatica - Please Please Please Head Automatica - Dance Party Plus Head Automatica - I Shot William H. Macy DCfC - What Sara Said DCfC - Brothers on a Hotel Bed Queens of the Stone Age - Feel Good Hit of the Summer Any extended Happy Hardcore / DnB mix. Placebo - Brick Shithouse Placebo - Days Before You Came Placebo - English Summer Rain Jimmy Eat World - Pain Arctic Monkeys - The View From the Afternoon Cinematic Orchestra - Flite Daft Punk - Superheroes Daft Punk - High Life Daft Punk - Human After All Daft Punk - Robot Rock Daft Punk - Steam Machine Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Whatever Happened to My Rock'n'Roll Radiohead - 2+2=5 Radiohead - Sit Down, Stand Up The Notwist - One With the Freaks
Edited to specify head automatica songs, because not all of them are good work out songs.
Posts: 246 | Registered: Jul 2006
| IP: Logged |
posted
Stevie Wonder - Signed, Sealed, Delivered Michael Jackson - Just Good Friends, Workin Day and Night Earth, Wind, and Fire - September, Sing a Song
Posts: 5462 | Registered: Apr 2005
| IP: Logged |
My favorite music to run to would be mostly the same category as my favorite music in general. Lesse, tops would be *goes down library in iTunes* everything by (since you really, really don't want me listing every single song) .... Apocalyptica, Dog Fashion Disco, Fantômas, KODA, Melt-Banana, Mindless Self Indulgence, Mr. Bungle, the pAper chAse, Rasputina, Skinny Puppy, System of a Down, Tub Ring, Yanni ('cept not the boring ballads), Amon Tobin, Massive Attack (only Mezzanine), Secret Chiefs 3, Missy Elliot, the Roots, Sepultura, Stone Sour, Rob Zombie, and Static X. Yeah, I listen to a lot of music.
Just be glad you didn't ask what we *worked* to.
Posts: 3636 | Registered: Oct 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
I don't listen to music when i work out. But the Rocky music always gets me motivated to work out. That and early Offspring.
Posts: 8741 | Registered: Apr 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
I usually pick my workout music by the album rather than the song, since I try to keep going as long as possible. I have a ton of great music for working out, but my all-time top favorite albums are as follows:
Prodigy: Fat of the Land (Songs for the Jilted Generation is very good too, but not to that transcendently brilliant level)
BT: Movement in Still Life and Emotional Technology. (All BT albums are great, but these two are the best for working out. The farthest I've ever run in an hour I did to Emotional Technology.)
Propellerheads: Decksanddrumsandrockandroll. (I really wish these guys had come out with more than one album. It's some of the best techno ever, and high energy from start to finish, without ever getting repetitive.)
Those are the best of the best for me. But you really can't go wrong with Crystal Method, Chemical Brothers, Basement Jaxx, Orbital, Paul Van Dyk, Armin Van Buuren, George Acosta, Paul Oakenfold, Tiesto, the Run Lola Run soundtrack, Gnarls Barkley, Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, Rammstein or Metallica. All those are unconditionally guaranteed to get the heart rate up.
BTW, Daft Punk is good too, a song at a time. But my ears get numb if I try to listen to a whole album.
Posts: 563 | Registered: Feb 2006
| IP: Logged |
Jesse's Girl - Rick Springfield is the song I always start with. That segues into Material Girl by Madonna, followed by some ABBA.
Posts: 1784 | Registered: Jun 2001
| IP: Logged |
quote: Those are the best of the best for me. But you really can't go wrong with Crystal Method, Chemical Brothers, Basement Jaxx, Orbital, Paul Van Dyk, Armin Van Buuren, George Acosta, Paul Oakenfold, Tiesto, the Run Lola Run soundtrack, Gnarls Barkley, Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, Rammstein or Metallica. All those are unconditionally guaranteed to get the heart rate up.
*seconds all that!*
Posts: 3636 | Registered: Oct 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
Battle of New Orleans (Johnny Horton). Perfect for jogging, especially cross-country. Well, they ran through the briars and they ran through the brambles And they ran through the bushes where a rabbit couldn't go. They ran so fast the hounds couldn't catch 'em down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico.Posts: 10397 | Registered: Jun 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
When I actually made myself work out I would listen to the Bach cello suites while on the elyptical. It went really nicely for me, but I am also a huge classical music dork.
Posts: 1015 | Registered: Aug 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
Well... this post will reveal the true depths of my dorkiness (is that even a word??? lol) but some of my work out songs on my MP3 player include:
Gonna Fly Now (Rocky theme song)-- Eye of the Tiger (Rocky 3 theme song) Physical (yes I am serious) Twist of Fate (Gotta love Oliva Newton John ) The Middle (I try to time it for the MIDDLE of my run...lol) Runaway I Ran Califonia Dreamin' Spirit in the Sky Dueling Banjos
These may seem dorky.. but just try and run to the Rocky theme song and not get pumped...lol
Posts: 295 | Registered: Jul 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
Creed "My Sacrifice" Dope "No Chance" Limp Bizkit "My Way" Drowning Pool "Bodies" Blink 182 "The Rock Show" Three Doors Down "Kryptonite" Aerosmith "Dude Looks Like a Lady" They Might Be Giants "Sensurround" They Might Be Giants "Till My Head Falls Off" Social Distortion "Ring of Fire" Steppenwolf "Magic Carpet Ride" Mono Puff "Unsupervised" Smashmouth "Holiday in my Head"
Posts: 1894 | Registered: Aug 2000
| IP: Logged |
posted
I dont actually exercise formally very often, but I do fire dance, and I need music to inspire me when my arms feel like they are about to fall off. Right now, my practice CD looks like this: Heart - Barracuda and Magic Man Bjork - Army of me NIN - Closer Marilyn Manson - Tainted Love and I Dont like the Drugs John Lee Hooker - Big Legs, Tight Skirt Leonard Cohen - I'm Your Man Amr Diab - Leily Nahar Voltaire - When You're Evil Pirates R' Us - The Ballad Of Captain Crunch Paula Cole - Feelin' Love and Carmen Tori Amos - She's your Cocaine Corvus Corax - Filli Neidhardi The Crystal Method - Name of The Game Tom Waits - Collisium (sp?)
Every single one of those songs is sexy as hell, and they all get your blood pumping and your hips swivelling. Which could be good. Or it could be bad.
Posts: 499 | Registered: Mar 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
ElJay, I'd love to hear what your iPod says about the 80s girl pop...sounds like it's right up my alley. After listening to Jack Johnson while on the elliptical today I realized that his laid back tunes weren't helping me maximize my work-out.
Much of the music here I don't even recognize.
*I've become my mother
Posts: 697 | Registered: Nov 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
Again, I'll have to check when I get home, But right now I'm pushing OK GO. Quick, bouncy, and fun!
Posts: 7954 | Registered: Mar 2004
| IP: Logged |
Alkaline Trio- Time to Waste Celldweller- Shapeshifter Rob Zombie- Reload, Dragula Depeche Mode- John the Revelator Puscifer- The Undertaker DJ Z-Trip- About Face Lacuna Coil- Our Truth Linkin Park- Runaway, Kyur4 Th Ich Fort Minor- There They Go, Remember The Name Loreena McKennitt- Marco Polo
The Boondock Saints- Blood of Cuchulainn Bi Rain- It's Raining Miyavi- Fuminshou no Nemurihime
The last three are probably hard to find.
Posts: 81 | Registered: Sep 2004
| IP: Logged |