Ask Jtrain: Finding New Songs for the Gym

I have a question that I have had since the dawn of time. My work out mixes get pretty old quick and I just can't get as fired up about them as I used to. Got any songs that get you in the mind set to just shut up and do work?

What's up!

This is a really awesome question! If you ask anyone who knows me well, they'll tell you that I'm really into music. Music is such an important part of my life, and I need to constantly have some playing in the background wherever I'm at. So I'm really excited to answer this!

Working out and music: A match made in heaven

Source: thenosebleeds.com 

The kind of music you choose is just as important as the exercises you do. They need to effectively get you pumped for getting ready to kill the weight, and set the tone for what kind of personality you want to take with you to the gym that day and emit onto your workout (positive, serious, etc).



Branch Warren likes to blast Taylor Swift to pump him up for workouts like these

Source: Tumblr

 

For the people who bring their Ipods to the gym with pre-loaded music, I can see how hearing the same songs over and over and over again can get old and lose their luster over time. I actually don't bring pre-loaded songs and stream radio stations via my phone. And I'm not talking about Pandora.....who I think has like 5 songs in their entire database. The app that I've fallen in love with is called Tunein Radio, and you can download it to your phone for free. You can also visit the site at www.tunein.com. The amazing thing about this app is that it allows you to stream radio from ANY country around the world, as well as any radio website. That means you can listen to Finnish power metal from a radio station IN Finland, or maybe Spanish radio from Spain, or even sports radio from a city you might be from that you're no longer living in......all in real time. It's amazing.

Source: blogs.which.co.uk

Tunein is great for finding new music in the genre you enjoy because all you have to do is simply type in that genre, a band you like, or a place you're from and it will give you a list of possible stations. You then click on one you like, and it will stream you tons of songs you've probably never heard before that can definitely get you pumped up in the gym. Another way I find songs is by simply going on youtube and clicking on songs that I like, and then not being afraid to click on suggested videos on the right. I've found a lot of great bands that way. It's important to stay open minded when searching for new music too. You'll never really know what your favorite kinds of genres are until you're willing to not only search further within your comfort zone, but to look far outside of it as well. I'm not sure anything aggravates me more than when someone claims to be heavily into music, but can only list off top 40 pop songs and artists as their favorites, and cringe or look at me blankly when I tell them about bands that are not well known or too "dated" for them to want to look into. There are more artists out there than the three that you hear on the radio every day people!

As for what songs I would recommend, that would probably be difficult as you and I are probably different from one another. Music is in every way an art form, and our interpretations and what we like to hear and what gets us pumped could be completely different. Personally, I like to blast Eurodance when I'm in the gym for some reason. I think it's because it keeps me in a good mood and keeps my body moving while I'm going to the next set / exercise. Or maybe it's because I love the reactions I get when I'm rocking a stringer tank top and dancing like I'm at a dance hall or something. I'm also a huge fan of melodic death metal. I also understand that both of those genres have some very niche markets haha.

So just use the techniques and tools that I talked about above. The best way to get variety while working out in my opinion is to stream stations off of an app (not Pandora...ugh) on a station that caters to the kind of music you like. Also, I think it's incredibly important to play the music fairly loud to really get in that zone. But that's just me.  Let me know what you've found and what works for you!

And now, here are some examples (a VERY small sample) of the kinds of sounds I like to hear while I'm in the gym. Please don't judge me....I know I'm different:



 

 

Let me know what you've found!

-Jtrain

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