What’s Your Workout Soundtrack?

Posted March 29, 2008 at 12:00 PM by Alexandra Haller

Section: Her Fitness, Athletics, Her Motivation, Music

My feeling is if you find a song that triggers your enthusiasm for running, then play it loud and sweat, baby sweat. (That’s what Billy Idol urges in Dancin With Myself.) Sure, we all have different ideas about what makes an energetic workout song and what makes a lackluster, I’d-rather-be-on-the-couch song. Sometimes the music we choose for our workout playlists even transcends the music of our everyday life’s soundtrack. I like country but I enjoy it more when I’m in my car, not when I’m huffing along the treadmill. I also like some electronic music for working out, even though I probably wouldn’t rock it on my apartment on Sunday morning when I’m doing a crossword puzzle. Okay, I don’t do crosswords on Sunday morning, but my point is that different music suits different moods. And since we’re all wildly different people, we’re going to have some strong differences for the kinds of tunes that really give wings to our runs.

This whole topic was spurred on by my friend Ed. He is a running buddy of mine and on his blog - yes this beast is training for an ultra - he talked about liking a particular Jethro Tull song. (You have to check out this video to get a true feel for the music.)

I watched the video and decided it wasn’t my cup of tea. And when I say not my cup of tea, I mean there is nothing about that song that compels me to dive into my running shoes to hit the trails. To give you an idea about the song that makes my blood bounce through my veins, check out this video. Again, I will reiterate the point that one song will not please everyone.

When my friend Ed saw that crazy video, he wrote me an email. “I honestly have no idea whatsoever how you could not get a headache listening to that!!!!  And yet, you probably feel the same looking at some of my videos and songs!!!!” I chuckled inside because it is a little bit true. I don’t think his music is awful. I’m not passing judgment on his taste. I simply prefer a different style.

Then to really flesh out the differences in taste, I asked another workout buddy to name a song that gets her pumped. This video is the first song that jumped to her mind.

I think all these differences are wild and wonderful. I’ve always thought it was entirely a waste of time to say “How could you work out to that? That music is terrible.” It does not matter that you don’t like what someone else does. The point is if you can find some music that makes you run, and not just run, but makes you soar with a smile on your face, well that’s fantastic. You’ve become one less person chugging soda, and watching TV reruns on the couch. Now grab those headphones and crank it loud.

what music motivates you. At Her Active Life we love knowing what makes our readers jump off the couch and into their running shoes! Send in your playlist to have it published, and help rev up other readers on their workouts.