Workout Music

[lyrasilver]

I don't go on the treadmill a lot, but when I do I listen to Madonna's album Confessions on a Dance Floor. Some of the lyrics are pretty stupid, but the whole CD is techno/dance and it keeps me going. I highly recommend it as a workout CD.

[starskin]

*no comment on bstewart's Ian Curtis joke*

"Love Will Tear Us Apart" isn't easy to dance to, though I have done it. It takes just the right balance of inebriation and self-consciousness. I imagine it would be good for jogging. If I was, you know, into that sort of thing. Having asthma does sort of limit what I can do sometimes, as well as the fact that 10 years of horseback riding took their toll on my knees. And I hate to run.

Anything with a good heavy drum machine beat (Goldfrapp springs to mind) and/or angry guitars is guaranteed to get me moving. I'm fueled by ANGST!

Although I bet disco would be good workout music, now that I think about it...

[Margo]

Yes, I love Confessions on a Dance Floor for the gym, and in general. An added benefit is that it reminds me of Madonna's body and the shape she's in, and that inspires me. I also love Goldfrapp.

[Deleted]

starskin, try the elliptical trainer. I have lousy knees, ankles and hips, so running is very much out for me. I also have sports-induced asthma (which makes me sound like a total basket case but I'm really very healthy and fit) and find that the elliptical gives me a good, steady, calorie burn without the stress of pounding my feet on a treadmill, straining my knees on a bike or wheezing through a hard swim.

And add me to the Confessions on a Dance Floor tribe. The Music single remixes, since they're so different, do the trick, too. Makes that 45 minutes fly by. For weight-training I switch over to ambient stuff so that I can get my breathing down. Brian Eno's Apollo works for me.

[livviebway]

Interesting! Never thought I'd hear Briano Eno's name in the workout thread, but that makes sense.

[huntergrayson]

Completely off-topic? A friendn acquaintance of mine has "love will tear us apart" tattoed right above her ass. And she doesn't get the joke/double-entendre!

(or she did and just didn't care, which, ew.)

Topic: If I worked out regular-like, stuff like Underworld's "Kittens" and the 2 Many DJs Volume One CD would do the trick. I dance around my apartment like a moron all the time. Does that count as working out? I gotta recommend Missys Elliot's one true, unadulterated masterpiece, Miss E:So Addictive. "4 My People" is da jam, yo.

[starskin]

Just listen to "Needles in the Camel's Eye" and tell me that doesn't get you movin'! Of course, it also gets me thinking of Velvet Goldmine..but that's a good thing.

Thanks for the suggestion bstewart, but I don't have access to any gym facilities that would have an eliptical trainer. I do walk at least a mile a day though, usually while lugging things around. Sadly, I don't usually listen to music while I'm doing it.

[iceblink]

I feel vindicated now, knowing I'm not the only Joy Division-worker-outer.

[hobbes]

These are great songs, guys. My iPod is loving you!

Here are my workout playlists, sorted by genre. Please, don't judge me by my music tastes when working out. It's the beat! Just the beat!

I try to keep my playlists right around 30 minutes each, and usually do elliptical, or weight training. These work great. Is it wrong if I admit that sometimes, I just go to the gym to listen to music, completely uninterrupted, and not the workout?

List #1:

Wonderful Night - Fatboy Slim
Take Me Out - Franz Ferdinand
Helena - My Chemical Romance
An Honest Mistake - The Bravery
Hysteria - Muse
Time is Running Out - Muse
Harder to Breathe - Maroon 5
All These Things That I've Done - The Killers
Float On - Modest Mouse

List #2

Baby, I Got Your Money - ODB
One Minute Man - Missy Elliott
Lose Control - Missy Elliott
Tipsy - J-Kwon
Crazy in Love - Beyonce
Magic Stick - Li'l Kim feat. 50 Cent
Get Your Freak On - Missy Elliott
I Taste Just Like Candy - Foxy Brown
Let Me Blow Ya Mind - Eve feat. Gwen Stefani

List #3 (my current favorite - shut it! It was #1 for a long time!!)

No Hay Igual - Nelly Furtado
Bootylicious - Beyonce
Sexy Back - Justin Timberlake
Dirrty - Christina Aguilera
Fergalicious - Fergie
All The Things She Said - T.A.T.U
If - Janet Jackson
Promiscious - Nelly Furtado feat. Timbaland
Come to Me - P.Diddy/Puff Daddy/Diddy/WTFever feat. Nicole Schlesblahblahblah

List #4

Schism - Tool
Closer - Nine Inch Nails
Make Damn Sure - Taking Back Sunday
Praise - Sevendust
Bodies - Drowning Pool
All My Life - Foo Fighters
My Own Worst Enemy - Lit
Sober - Tool
The Zephyr Song - Red Hot Chili Peppers

List #5

Slow Hands - Interpol
The Fallen - Franz Ferdinand
Mr. Brightside - The Killers
I Predict a Riot - Kaiser Chiefs
Do You Want To? - Franz Ferdinand
Galvanize - The Chemical Brothers
Get Over It - OK Go
This Love - Maroon 5
Possum Kingdom - The Toadies

[Margo]

hobbes said:

Is it wrong if I admit that sometimes, I just go to the gym to listen to music, completely uninterrupted, and not the workout?

No! It's exactly right. I'm a workoutaholic, and I believe that good music is one of the best motivating factors to get your ass to the gym and make workouts enjoyable. The other one is, of course, a workout buddy. I'm pretty sure you don't just sit there on a bench when you go to listen to music - you must be doing something, and that's already great.
And your music is cool - I like fun music myself. My unsophisticated playlists include all of the Spice Girls' stuff and Britney's Greatest Hits and In The Zone.

Oooooh, thanks for the reminder - I must go download T.A.T.U.'s first album in Russian (I speak Russian and according to me the girls are infinitely better singing in their native tongue). And if your playlist #3 is wrong, I don't wanna be right! (I have Christina's two latest albums on my iPod, and Justin's latest one, and at some point had T.A.T.U.'s stuff - those are all great workout songs!).

Sorry about all the exclamation marks - I very rarely use even a single one. But this thread is about the gym, so I cannot contain myself.