Song Lyric of the Day:
You are my only / You won’t be lonely / Even if the sky is falling down / You’ll be my only / No need to worry / Baby, are you down, down, down, down, down?
Jay Sean (featuring Lil Wayne) / “Down“
The weekend was a busy one, filled with small home improvement projects, errand-running, and copious coughing and nose blowing. Apparently, my lungs and sinuses are such fantastic hosts to viruses that the bronchitis is hanging on by a thread, holding on for dear life. Needless to say, it’s annoying the shit out of me. (I actually feel fine despite what the wheezy cough sounds like.)
And speaking of getting healthy, guess who fell off the fitness wagon? Hell, my husband tumbled to the ground same time I did. So now we both need to get motivated to start working out again. And we were doing so well for a while … At least the Bronchitis Diet helped me inadvertently shed a few pounds. Nothing like coughing your lungs up to kill your appetite.
Like I wrote a while back, music is a huge motivator for me when it comes to working out. (Well, that and my pants buttons cutting of my circulation.) I typically try to pick fast-paced, upbeat songs, but sometimes I’ll just settle for fast-paced. The last few times I managed to do my workouts, these were some of the songs egging me on.
“More Human Than Human” by White Zombie
Yes, I listen to White Zombie. I like what I like. And really, what could motivate you to work out more than Rob Zombie yelling “more human than human” at you over and over and over? (I also work out to “Thunder Kiss ’65“). I liked this song when I first heard it wayyyy back in the day, but I credit HBO and a certain True Blood promo for putting it back on my playlist. (This song would totally be on my Songs That Make Me Want to Beat the Hell Out of Someone playlist, were I ever to make one.)
“Bleed It Out” by Linkin Park
No workout playlist of mine would be complete without at least one song by Linkin Park. “Bleed It Out” fits the bill perfectly. Fast-paced with aggressive (but not menacing) lyrics, this is great when you’re legs are on fire on the treadmill.
“That’s Not My Name” by The Ting Tings
Along with Linkin Park, this is one of my favorite groups. Pretty much all of The Ting Tings’ fast-paced songs are fun enough to be on my workout playlist (and most of them are); I just happen to think “That’s Not My Name” is one of their most fun. Admittedly, my puppy has something to do with this being featured here — this is one of the songs to which Troubadour enjoys “dancing” with me between sets.
“Aciiid” by Jem
Jem’s album Down to Earth turned out to be a real treasure trove of great, unique music (each song has its own distinct sound). I originally picked it up because I kept hearing about her and well, then I found it on sale for $7.99 at Target. It’s been one of my most-listened to albums since. “Aciiid” is a prime example of how diverse she can be when compared to other songs on the album. Really, though, any song with the lyrics “Move to the left / move to the right / up, down, round now /hands to the side / shake it to the left / shake it to the right / let me see you move girl / dance all night” was destined to be on my workout playlist.
“Poker Face” by Lady Gaga
You’d think that after hearing “Poker Face” about a million times since its release that I’d be sick of it. You’d be mistaken. If anything, I love this song more every time I hear it because I know from experience how much more fun this makes any workout. It doesn’t matter if I’m booking it on the treadmill, doing crunches, or lifting kettlebells — this song makes it all so much more fun.
What’s on your workout playlist?
