music playlists

At its inception, the purpose of bold pace music was to provide running playlists to help my wife Monica with her training. I’ve since made several more with different BPM (beats per minute) to match other runner’s cadence/pace. But I’m now finding these playlists also really help me at the gym.  I travel often, so having music at the hotel gym is a must. I’m amazed at how easily I can get lost in a song and start moving faster to the beat. It’s especially helpful on the treadmill or stairmaster, but I find it pushes me throughout the entire workout.  So here is my first workout music playlist…

If you have a song that you love to use when working out, please share (either comment below our thru twitter @boldpacemusic)! If it is 140 – 180 bpm and meets our song “standards” below, I’ll add to our next workout (or running) playlist and link back to your site with a big thank you :)

I have chosen a few of the best, up-beat songs from our previous 5 running playlists and added new songs from several “Best of 2010″ lists.  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 35+ hrs more of running and workout music, go to home page at Bold Pace Music.

As mentioned before…

Running or working out with music that has too slow of a beat can cause a problem with your pace. You may unconsciously slow to the pace of the song. “Eye of the Tiger” is a great motivational song, but at 109 BPM it is way too slow for either running or working out. Getting the “right” BPM for your pace may take some trial and error as each person has a different stride length (which also may vary based on pace). Therefore, these songs were carefully selected for working out with bpm in the 140 – 160 range. The pace (BPM) starts off slower in first few songs, then builds up to a faster cadence. For a well done chart showing BPM by mile pace for walking, running, and cycling… see Exercise Pacing & Use of Music.

If you’re wondering if music can really help when running or exercising…see what Physician.com has to say. There have been many scientific studies done that prove that music can increase performance, here’s a recent one w/ a video from the BBC.

Got an iphone or use an ipod? Check out this app and software that analyzes your itunes for BPMs and then lets you choose songs at that BPM from your iphone or ipod…see Cadence (need Mac w/ OS 10.4 or higher for ipod; PC w/ XP, Vista, Win7 or .net framework 4.0 and above)

Off and Running CD Tin Notecard Set (6 cards, 2 of each style for $15 at remanents.com)

Looking for a perfect gift for a runner? Take some music below and slip it in with a running CD tin notecard set from Remanents. These cards, gifts, and tees have been sold at Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, Anthropologie, Nordstroms, Henri Bendel, Fortnum and Mason (London) and many other fine stores, however, you’ll find the largest selection at www.remanents.com.  See more running cards and tees along with beautiful Couture Fabric Holiday cards and Halloween cards too.

There are 41 workout songs below with a total playtime of 2.5 hours. Enjoy…

Best Workout Music: Fitness Playlist w/ 140 – 160 bpm songs

Click here to download songs from itunes

Click below to play samples and/or download songs from amazon:

To get this music, just click on either itunes or amazon playlist above and download either entire the playlist or individual songs. Or see our Amazon store for the very best full albums by artists on the playlists.

1. Kids – MGMT (122): This is one of my kids favorites, and the Grammy nominated song is undeniably catchy and a fun start to a workout. Favorite line is “We like to watch you laughing, you pick the insects off plants, no time to think of consequences”.
2. Outtasite (Outta Mind) – Wilco (130): This could be a workout mantra as you get into the “zone”… “outta mind outta site”
3. Hands – The Ting Tings (130): First single from their second album Kunst. Great beat for working out, actually “the beats so hard, your workin’ workin’ “
4. Tick Tick Boom – The Hives (137): Having been used for Nike/Finish Line commercials, NFL Football games and for the movie Taken…this song has some strong inspirational lineage as well…
5. Feel Good Inc. – Gorillaz (138): Start with a great laugh and then enjoy lines like “Take it all in your stride” and “Don’t stop, get it, get it”.
6. Too Fake – Hockey (138): Enjoy a little sarcasm from Hockey w/ lines like “Everybody’s watchin’ oh, but nobody cares..no, wait does it go…nobody’s watching, but everybody cares?…Oh, whatever talk to you later”
7. Young Folks – Peter Bjorn and John (138): If this song by this Swedish band sounds familiar, you may have heard it used on Grey’s Anatomy, Nip/Tuck, Dirty Sexy Money, or the Love Guru. This up-beat song is perfect workout music to keep you moving.
8. Higher Ground – Red Hot Chili Peppers *explicit lyrics* (141): Gotta love the Peppers… “People keep on running” (OK, not the actual lyrics, but it almost sounds like it) and “Keep on trying ’til I reach the higher ground”
9. Ali in the Jungle – The Hours *explicit lyrics* (142): One of my new all-time favorite running songs, but works great in the gym too. Just enjoy the motivational lyrics and chorus “Everybody gets knocked down, how quick are you gonna get up?” (you might recognize this from this Nike commercial)
10. 1901 – Phoenix (144): In danger of being over-played, but still a great song. Just enjoy the rhythm on this one, the lyrics are pretty esoteric and you can’t really hear the words anyway.
11. Hormones – Tracey Thorn (144): If you haven’t heard of Tracey Thorn, you are in for a treat. After putting out amazing music with partner Ben Watt as Everything But the Girl (they have a fun website called ebtg.com), Tracey stayed home in 2000 to raise their 3 children. Thorn began writing again in 2007 and her latest album “Love and Its Opposite” is a critically acclaimed mature singer/songwriter masterpiece. I’m sure many Moms can relate to these lyrics in Hormones… “Yours are just kicking in, mine are just checking out” and “we’re gonna have to tough it out, you turn the music up, I, I try to think before I shout…hey, hey…”
12. The Underdog – Spoon (145): Another for the all-time favorite list. As you glance over to view others in the gym, enjoy singing to yourself “you got no fear of the underdog, that’s why you will not survive”
13. The Re-Arranger – Mates of State (147): This one is back from a “Best of 2008″ list. The vocals on this song are layered to fit together perfectly. The band is so tight…amazing hooks are pulled off without going wrong.
14. Bubbles – Biffy Clyro (148): Fun, up-beat song from this Scottish band… “I can’t keep up with you” *see at NME’s “50 Best Tracks of 2010″
15. Come on Lets Go – Paul Weller *explicit lyrics* (149): A perfect running song, but just as motivating in the gym. It’s an up-tempo inspirational song by the former frontman of “The Style Council”… “You say where to, I say I don’t know, I just need to run, and you need it too, and I catch your eye, and I feel the wind, and it feels so high”
16. Banditos – The Refreshments (149): Channel your inner geek (ignore any political correctness) and enjoy this chorus “Well give your ID card to the border guard; Yeah, your alias says you’re Captain Jean-Luc Picard, of the United Federation of Planets, ’cause he won’t speak English anyway” and “Everybody knows that the world is full of stupid people, so meet me at the mission at midnight and we’ll divvy up there”

[click to continue…]

{ 10 comments }