I’m officially hooked on workout music. I can always use a little extra motivation to keep going at the gym and I love it when a strong “power song” comes on when I need it. So here’s another workout music playlist (first playlist) below that takes some of the best, strong-beat running songs from other playlists along with some new music not on any other playlists. For me, the 120 – 130 bpm songs are good for stretching and warming up, the 140 – 150 bpm songs are for lifting, and I switch to the 160 – 180 bpm when on the treadmill. Hopefully you find ways to use these songs to keep you motivated as well and keep those New Year’s resolutions going strong!
I have chosen a few of the best, up-beat songs from our previous seven running playlists and added new songs from several “Best of 2011″ lists. I’ve even added a couple Free Downloads* of songs. All songs below meet our standard of being either about fitness/running, inspirational, or at least fun with a great beat (we don’t add songs with potentially uninspiring lyrics…ie. “19th Nervous Breakdown”, “Loser”, “Blister in the Sun” — all great songs, but not exactly motivational for running or fitness). For over 50+ hrs more of running and workout music, go to home page at Bold Pace Music.
Wondering if music can really improve your performance? We give links to several studies and discuss in more detail at our Bold Pace Music home page.
There are 53 workout songs below with a total playtime of 3.5 hours. Enjoy…
Best Workout Music: 53 Song Workout Playlist w/ 120 – 180 bpm songs
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- We Used To Wait – Arcade Fire (121):
The song is stellar and the multimedia “event” (aka -the video for the song) is truly groundbreaking and lives up to the hype. The Chris Milk designed site uses HTML5 technology and shows a hooded runner running through a neighborhood…not just any neighborhood, it’s yours. You are asked for an address at the beginning, and Google Maps and Street View do the rest. Once you’ve seen the video, you realize again it’s an excellent song and you can’t help but stay motivated while recalling your childhood images. See the video and learn more.
- Came Out Of A Lady – Rubblebucket (121): One of Maimed & Tamed’s Best Tracks of 2011. Just try to keep your feet from moving while listening to this Brooklyn band’s infectious power-pop. Those horns, the whistling, the distinctive vocals… Now that your feet are moving, be careful not to sing “She Came Out of a Lady!!” too loudly at the gym.
- One – Yeasayer (123): I love the eclectic, genre-bending sound that Yeasayer puts forth with shades of rock, pop, world music, folk and more showing up in “One”. The dance beat should help to get into the right workout mindset…
- Push It – Garbage (123): A good workout mantra: “My head explodes and my body aches. Push it, make the beats go harder”
- Let’s Go – Cars (130): This song (from their second album “Candy-O”) was perhaps not as strong as the songs from their debut album “Cars” (with favs like Just What I Needed or My Best Friend’s Girl), but it’s still a great song and one of the few Cars songs with faster bpm (the other is Shake It Up at 147 bpm). It’s also a great pump yourself up song with the simple “Let’s Go”!
- Clint Eastwood – Gorillaz (130): A classic, stylish, fun song from Gorillaz with “I got sunshine in a bag”…but I particularly like this lyric for workout motivation…“Look, I’ll make it all manageable, pick and choose, sit and loose”
- Bohemian Like You – The Dandy Warhols (131): If you’re checking out the opposite sex while at the gym, this song helps to think “we’re looking pretty cool” and imagine making a move with “what do you do? Oh yeah, I wait tables too…”.
- The Perfect Kiss – New Order (131): Not so much about the lyrics with this one, just enjoy the intense, driving beat of this classic.
- All The Pretty Girls – fun. (132): Such an appropriate name for this band as you just can’t help but smile when you listen to this (even if you are on the second set of arm curls).
- My Body – Young The Giant (132): My daughter found this song before it seemed to explode with airplay…it seems a little overexposed now, but it still has an infectious beat and a great mantra for a workout song… ”My body tells me no!…but I won’t quit, I want more, I want more”
- Marseilles – Angel City (135): Seems to me that “thinking ’bout the south of France” is not a bad visual diversion. Keep on pumping iron and thinking about “drinking champagne, playing it cool…”
- Mixed Bizness – Beck (136): Another pleasant diversion because Beck makes such damn interesting and clever songs…and this is one of his best! Listen for “I’m mixing fitness with leather” and then of course “Alright now, turn it up now!”
- October – Broken Bells (137): A terrific collaboration band featuring Brian Burton (better known as Danger Mouse) and James Mercer (of the Shins). They deliver a nice line to think about during a workout: “There’s no shortcut to a dream, it’s all blood and sweat and life is what you manage in between”
- Hate To Say I Told You So – The Hives (137): This band is a favorite for running and workout music and they do it again here w/ a strong beat and an attitude that “I’m gonna” do whatever, because “I wanna”…
- Viva La Vida – Coldplay (139): This song used to feel overexposed, but now it feels like an old friend. Enjoy and imagine you “rule the world”.
- What Are You Waiting For? – The Rushes (143): In the vein of Franz Ferdinand, The Killers, and the Bravery, the Rushes are a UK band from London that released this song in 2006. The lyrics are perfect with “everything that you do, you are…what you waiting for” Could only find the video on itunes: the song is on the “Corners EP” on Amazon: What Are You Waiting For?
- Dimension – Wolfmother (143): Sometimes you just need a good rocker when you are lifting, and Wolfmother delivers with a nod toward taking you to a new dimension…
- Places That Are Gone – Tommy Keene (144): It’s all about moving forward in the new year…let power-pop maestro Tommy Keene (think the DB’s, the Records, R.E.M., Matthew Sweet, the Shoes) remind you that “These are places that are gone, now you can move on and on, back before you knew me well, I was trapped inside a shell”
- So Alive – Better Than Ezra (145): I’m not usually a fan of covers, but Better Than Ezra takes this Love & Rockets song and not only speeds up the bpm, but makes it better… “I’m alive, so alive” and “your legs are strong”
- Clampdown – The Clash (146): Just another magnificent song by the masterful Clash! This is one of my Clash favorites (from London Calling–#8 on Rolling Stone’s “Greatest Albums of All Time”)…enjoy “You don’t owe nothing, so boy (or substitute “girl”) get runnin’, it’s the best years of your life they want to steal”.
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