Sooo remember how I said I was going to be working out and stuff and hoped I wouldn’t make an ass of myself? Well today was day 2 of hitting the gym after work and I have to say, I actually impressed myself.
I went in thinking I would get on the elliptical and quite possibly keel over in a sweaty, tomato-faced heap after maybe 5 minutes, but dammit, I held my own. In fact, I owned that elliptical machine. What’s weird is I normally get bored/get all ADD when stuck on an exercise machine for too long, but I actually didn’t mind staying on the elliptical. It helped that I threw my towel over the display, so I wouldn’t keep looking at the time… Okay so maybe I peeked once or twice, but for the most part I was pretty good about it.
What got me through my workouts? Music. I know most people listen to music while they work out, so this post might be a little boring, but I definitely feel compelled to discuss workout jams right now. I think I have a pretty good starting list of songs, but would love to hear more suggestions, especially based on my taste for workout music,
I am going to admit something, something some people might be embarrassed by: I LOVE early 90s dance music. I have since I was a little kid, and it’s stuck with me. A little Haddaway “Please Don’t Go” or CeCe Peniston “Finally” will get me either dancing or at least singing my little heart out, embarrassing Matt as he stares at me wondering what is wrong with me. So I’ve got the following songs from this era on my list:
1. Haddaway, “Please Don’t Go”
2. Haddaway, “What is Love?”
3. CeCe Peniston, “Finally”
4. Crystal Waters, “100% Pure Love”
5. Snap!, “I’ve Got the Power”
6. Technotronic, “Pump up the Jam”
7. DJ Kool, “Let Me Clear My Throat”
8. House of Pain, “Jump Around”
9. Reel 2 Real, “I Like to Move It”
10. La Bouche, “Wanna Be My Lover”
11. Mortal Kombat Techno Theme
Oh, I also have a ridonkulous amount of Jock Jams remixes because we always had them on our basketball warm up tapes in junior high and high school, and they always are upbeat and fun (even if they include songs from Chumba Wumba)..
I also LOVE the remixes on the video game DJ Hero. (Um Queen’s “We Will Rock You” mixed with Daft Punk’s “Robot Rock”? Yes please.)
1. Benny Benassi, “Satisfaction” vs. Black Eyed Peas, “Boom Boom Pow”
2. Daft Punk Megamixes 1 and 2
3. Public Enemy, “Bring the Noise 20XX” vs. Justice, “Genesis”
4. Queen, “We Will Rock You” vs. Daft Punk, “Robot Rock”
Then I’ve just got a random smorgasbord of songs that I love and are on every workout playlist I’ve ever made.
1. Basement Jaxx, “Where’s Your Head At?”
2. DJ Skribble, “Zombie Nation”
3. Deadmau5, “Ghosts n Stuff”
4. Cee Lo Green, “Fuck You”
5. Daft Punk, “One More Time”
6. Fatboy Slim, “Gangster Tripping”
7. Eric Prydz, “Call on Me”
8. Pitbull, “Move Shake Drop (Satisfaction)”
9. Lo Fidelity Allstars, “Battleflag”
10. NYC Undergound Party, Louie DeVito, “Dark Beat”
11. Pitbull, “The Anthem”
12. Pitbull, “Krazy”
13. Rob D., “Clubbed to Death (Kurayamino Mix)”
I’m totally open to more songs in this general genre. I need upbeat fun music to keep me going, and no I don’t really listen to any rock or crazy death metal while I work out. I listen to some dorky old school hits along with more recent stuff that’s got a great beat. So feel free to take any of those songs and stick them on your own workout list! The DJ Hero stuff is a bit harder to find but I might be able to help people out with that if anyone’s interested.
Here’s to awesome music and getting our exercise on!
A Weighty Mix 