Workout Soundtrack

I hope everyone had a great weekend and a special shout out to all the Mom's that got to celebrate Mother's Day yesterday. This Mental Monday I want to talk about choosing the right soundtrack to go with your workouts. I won't make this too drawn out or boring because this is pretty common sense stuff. So let's get to it.

Every time I workout at home or go to the gym, I have to have my iPod with me to jam music. This is not because I get bored and need something to keep me going, but because it actually helps my mind work harder and keep a good tempo of working out. There are good songs to play when working out, and there are bad songs to play while working out. Not to say the bad songs are actually bad pieces of work, but they are not beneficial to someone exercising.

You wouldn't want to workout to slow, sad, and emotional music while working out. Why not? Let's take a song everyone might know. "Hurt" by Johny Cash or NIN. While this is a very touching and brilliant song, the tempo of about 60 BPM and the words he speaks, does not motivate anyone to move and push themselves to the limit. Songs like this are meant to listen to while you sit down and ponder your existence, not to pump you up. Can you imagine seeing someone at the gym sitting at a machine for a good 6 minutes looking like they are about to cry? Not cool. Anything that is slow, whether it be depressing or a love song, should not be put on your workout playlist.

So what music should you listen to? Some experts say that songs that are around 120-140 BPM are the best for working out. I personally love listening to The Devil Wears Prada or anything that is very uptempo and heavy. Metal is one of my favorites because not being able to understand the vocals actually helps me concentrate on my workout instead of the meaning of the song. Dance, Pop, Rock, and any other uptempo music is ideal. This tempo is also good because it gives you a good tempo to execute exercises at. Too fast of a tempo will wear you out and too slow will make you drag a long and eventually quit.

In conclusion, pick songs from any genre that get you going and have a good tempo to it. Having the right playlist to workout to can help you push through the hard parts and make working out a little more fun.