As I mentioned yesterday, I've been clocking a ton of time in the gym lately (well, at least compared to last year!). Kels and I are doing 2017 in 2017, and that's forced me to up my mileage as much as possible.
Problem is, I get major treadmill/elliptical ADD and get bored super fast. Also, I have this weird, deeply-ingrained pathological need to be in-step with the music I'm listening to while working out...ex band-nerd for LIFE. Accordingly, some current faves fueling the gym gains this week:
- "Mr. Brightside," The Killers - It's such a perfect tempo, and such a fun hark-back to my spastic high school days.
- "Dirty Little Secret," All-American Rejects - same deal. Perfect tempo and I always feel like an angsty teenager listening to it.
- "Livin' La Vida Loca" and "She Bangs," Ricky Martin - SO TRASHY AND SO FUN. No shame in this game.
- "Seeing Stars," BORNS - It just makes me happy, and the bass/drum beat is consistent throughout so I can get/stay on step.
- "Take on Me," a-Ha - Marching band throwback for the win...this was in my first-ever halftime show with the Band of the Fighting Irish. It always makes me smile.
- "I Wanna Go," Britney Spears - Gotta throw a little Brit in there. Other wins are "Toxic" and "Womanizer."
- "Lady Killers," G-Eazy - I often catch myself rapping this under my breath, and the other day I got a really weird look from one of the sales rep guys I know who was on the treadmill across from me because I was getting maybe a little too into it...oops.
- "Love Today," MIKA - Happy, fun, bouncy, and fast.
- "Pumpin Blood," NONONO - What better jam for when you're literally pumping blood? It makes me feel great.
- "Holiday," Vampire Weekend - I was totally flagging out and cramping up yesterday and this came on in the last half-mileish of the program I was jogging - I ended up kicking the speed up and pounding through in a weirdly aggressive/positive mood.
- "Dancing in the Dark," Bruce Springsteen - the Boss makes any workout feel boss, and this tempo is awesome.
- "Shut Up and Dance," Walk the Moon - bonus points for voluntary treadmill jazz hands.
Songs that just plan make me happy to be alive, on the other hand, are my cool-down jam:
- "I Wanna Dance with Somebody," Whitney Houston (DUH. Close your eyes, pretend you're at the Backer.)
- "You Get What You Give," The New Radicals (Favorite song of all time, also duh.)
- "F.N.T," Semisonic - such a great throwback, and it's affirming to hear "you're lovely and you're perfect" when I've got sweat literally dripping off my eyelashes.
Pro tip: the first half of "Hamilton" is exactly right for a 65 minute treadmill workout, as is "In the Heights" if you skip a few of the boring ones...and something about "Les Mis" makes any workout seem less...well, miserable.
And I'll never skip the Trot cadence if it comes up in shuffle. Sometimes I look it up just to finish strong. DORK.