# I need some good workout music

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-good-workout-music/168896>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [April 15, 2003, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-good-workout-music/168896 "2003-04-15T16:16:37Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 11\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2003, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-good-workout-music/168896/1 "2003-04-15T16:16:37Z")

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I joined a gym a few months back and have found the experience quite enjoyable, except for one nagging detail: My '70s rock CDs and Pink Floyd CDs just aren’t cutting it :(. I don’t know why – I still enjoy the music very much, but it doesn’t seem to motivate me.

The other day I worked out to a friend’s CD, **Short Bus** by **Filter** , and found that the nasty pounding beat kept me moving!

Since I never would have even touched the CD in a store, I am sure that I must be missing many other similar motiving tunes. Do any of you have really good workout music suggestions?

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**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2003, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-good-workout-music/168896/2 "2003-04-15T17:03:38Z")

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I enjoy Jane Child (the 1st CD). Sort of proto-techno dance stuff that, as you say, keeps me moving. There’s some slow stuff you have to skip…

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**Author:** ![coyasicanbe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bcef8e/32.png) [@coyasicanbe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coyasicanbe)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2003, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-good-workout-music/168896/3 "2003-04-15T17:15:28Z")

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Try these:

“Bandages” Hot Hot Heat  
“Times Like These” Foo Fighters  
“Striptease” Hawksley Workman  
“Rock Machine” Copyright  
“Chop Suey!” System of a Down  
“Stupify” Disturbed  
“Hold me, Thrill me…” U2  
“Save Me” Tea Party  
“Paint It Black” Gob

If those don’t get your heart pumping, I can’t help you.

O.K. I lied. I can help you.

Try these if the above do not work:

“Mirror in the Bathroom” English Beat  
“Jungle Love” Morris Day (It made me shake my ass back in jr. high)  
“For the singer of REM” Firehose  
“Wild Dub” Generation X  
“Change” Deftones  
“Little Lighthouse” Dukes of Stratosphear  
“Johnny Q” Crazy 8’s  
“Stay Together for the Kids” Blink 182  
“Amphetamine” Everclear

All of the above and more have been on my MP3 player while I’ve been sweating away on the treadmill. I’ve got more; let me know when you need them.

* * *

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**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2003, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-good-workout-music/168896/4 "2003-04-15T17:43:59Z")

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**Run Lola Run** soundtrack always gets my blood going.

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**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2003, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-good-workout-music/168896/5 "2003-04-15T17:53:32Z")

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Go 80’s!

Madonna springs to mind.

_Hungry Like The Wolf_, lots more.

And at least one tiger agrees with me–

[http://www.suburbanjungle.com/d/19990801.html](http://www.suburbanjungle.com/d/19990801.html)

😃

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**Author:** ![NYR407](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@NYR407](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NYR407)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2003, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-good-workout-music/168896/6 "2003-04-15T18:38:22Z")

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When I run on the tread mill in my basement I have my Real Player play a play list I set up.

Here is a sample of some songs I have set up (always played in random order). You may not like some/any of the music but it is a pretty wide range of styles.

National Anthem - \*\*Radiohead - album: Kid A \*\*. I like to start with this. The repetative baseline and jazzy horn fusion always gets me going.  
Idioteque (Live version)- \*\*Radiohead - album: I Might Be Wrong \*\*  
The Bends - **Radiohead**  
Where the streets have no name - **U2**  
Numb - **U2**  
Elevation - **U2**  
Are you gonna go my way - **Lenny Kravitz**  
Fly - **Lenny Kravitz**  
Tina Toledo’s Street Walking Blues - **Ryan Adams**  
New York, New York - **Ryan Adams**  
One Week - **Bare Naked Ladies**  
Speak to me/Breathe - **Pink Floyd** (I know you wanted something else)  
Ashes to Ashes - **Faith No More**  
Last Cup of Sorrow - **Faith No More**  
Street Fighting Man - **Rolling Stones**  
Get off my Cloud - **Rolling Stones**

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**Author:** ![Ender\_Will](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Ender\_Will](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ender_Will)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2003, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-good-workout-music/168896/7 "2003-04-15T22:10:47Z")

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Take a note from the Italian Stallion:Eye of the Tiger  
That and some Pantera, maybe throw in some real fast, hardcore punk (AFI).

Question to **coyasicanbe** : Is “Bandages” representative of Hot Hot Heat’s entire catalogue? They seem like they could be OK, but I absolutely detest that song, it sounds like something System of a Down would come up with if they were castrated.

Oh yeah, and if you are doing some serious powerlifting, Enya works real good, or so I hear.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2003, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-good-workout-music/168896/8 "2003-04-15T22:11:21Z")

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Thanks for the list so far, these are sounding pretty good – I’m listening to samples at this moment. It’s embarrassing how few of these names I have ever heard of.

Are any of the albums that have these songs good in their own right? My goal is to have this be as low maintenance as possible: I would probably be able to pick and choose songs for a week or two, but after that I’d just get lazy and reach for any CD out of a trusted stack to slam in the player on the way to the gym.

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**Author:** ![Yeticus\_Rex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a698b9/32.png) [@Yeticus\_Rex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeticus_Rex)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2003, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-good-workout-music/168896/9 "2003-04-15T22:30:05Z")

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Grab an Offspring or System of a Down CD(s), they’ll do the job w/o all the file manipulation…

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**Author:** ![Kallisti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f0a364/32.png) [@Kallisti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kallisti)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2003, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-good-workout-music/168896/10 "2003-04-15T22:48:09Z")

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and

the soundtrack from Stargate, especially “Mastadge Drag.”

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**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2003, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-good-workout-music/168896/11 "2003-04-15T22:54:36Z")

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A mix CD from your favorite dance music DJ. Something like a Fatboy Slim CD would do the job.
