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Music is one of the few, but most important things that fuel my workout. It gives me energy, it gets me ready, and puts me in a proper mindset to get after my workout. If for some reason you haven’t listened to music while training I highly, HIGHLY recommend it. With all of the genres out there, what is the best music to listen to when exercising? I actually like to break up my playlist based on the type of workout I’m doing (cardio, resistance training, mobility/yoga). Here are the genres I listen to for each kind of workout:

RESISTANCE TRAINING/PRE WORKOUT

If you know me personally, you know I’m a huge heavy metal fan. When it comes to resistance training I always listen to heavy metal. It provides an extra pump that is almost undescribed. When you’re listening to a band like Amon Amarth, a Swedish band that has all of their songs based on Norse mythology, and you hear things like “See me rise, the mighty Surt Destroyer of the universe, Bringer of flames and endless hurt, Scorcher of men and Earth” with crazy riffs and drumming in the background, how could you not get hyped? You feel like you’re about to destroy everything in your path. Weights look puny and light and you feel like you can conquer the world. If I’m about to go for a new PR (personal record) or one rep max, my go-to song is The Heaviest Matter of the Universe by Gojira. I can’t put into words how good this song is. Next time you’re going to lift heavy, listen to that song. You won’t be disappointed.

Another genre I listen to during resistance training is hip hop. I wouldn’t listen to it during the workout itself, but more often during my warm up to get into the proper mindset. I’m not too much into hip hop and my knowledge of artist is very limited. However, I usually listen to Kendrick Lamar or Eminem.

Top 10 Resistance training songs:

1. The Heaviest Matter of the Universe – Gojira
2. Rip & Tear – Mick Gordon (Doom Soundtrack)
3. Flying Whales – Gojira
4. Destroyer of the Universe – Amon Amarth
5. Twilight of the Thunder God – Amon Amarth
6. Anything off Kill ‘Em All – Metallica
7. Iron Tusk – Mastodon
8. Holy wars – Megadeth
9. Clenching the Fists of Dissent – Machine Head
10. The Great Southern Trendkill – Pantera

There are so many more I want to list and I’m sure my top 10 will change, but currently, that’s what I’ve been listening to.

CARDIO

With cardio I’ve always had mixed playlists. Some days I’ll put on metal, other days I’ll put on rap. At some point though (and most often) I’ll turn to EDM(electronic dance music). I’m not a huge EDM fan, but I do enjoy listening to it during my cardio sessions. I’ll make the exception for when I’m doing something like HIIT(High Intensity Interval Training)- I don’t really like having a constant/consistent beat because usually HIIT workouts aren’t consistent and get changed up quite often.

My top 10 Cardio songs:

1. Superliminal – Deadmau5
2. One More Time – Daft Punk
3. Touch It / Technologic – Daft Punk (Alive 2007)
4. Pursuit – Gesaffelstein
5. Stache – Zedd
6. Who’s Afraid Of 138!? – Armin Van Buuren
7. Iron – Calvin Harris
8. EML Ritual – The Chemical Brothers
9. Galvanize – The Chemical Brothers
10. Greyhound – Swedish House Mafia

My EDM knowledge isn’t too great and some of these songs may be basic to true fans, but it helps me get through those long dull cardio sessions.

YOGA/MOBILITY

The times I do yoga or any type of mobility work, I like to listen to something that’s more unwinding and a bit more relaxing. My go-to genre is post rock. It can be slightly dramatic in sound, but usually it has a more calming sound to it. During mobility work you don’t want to be too distracted from what you’re doing (at least I don’t) and listening to something that helps me stay more focused usually works best.

My top 10 yoga/mobility songs:

1. Barren Lands of the Modern Dinosaur – If These Trees Could Talk
2. The Wilderness – Explosions In The Sky
3. Pig Powder – God is An Astronaut
4. The World is Our __ – This Will Destroy You
5. They Move On Tracks Of Never-Ending Light – This Will Destroy You
6. The Only Moment We Were Alone – Explosions In The Sky
7. Ashes in the Snow – Mono
8. Darkfield – Caspian
9. The Heart That Fed – Caspian
10. I’m Jim Morrison, I’m Dead – Mogwai

Don’t let the song titles fool you, these are some really amazing songs. Post rock may not be everyone’s genre, but if you’re looking for something relaxing or something to listen toto focus, I think you’ll like it 😉

FINAL THOUGHTS

Music is one of the main elements that fuel my workout (Fuel – Metallica). It gets me amped up and sets the mood and energy for me. When I see people workout without music I give them huge props cause I know my workouts aren’t the same without listening to some type of music. These are all of my go-to tracks depending on what I’m doing. Send me an email or DM on Instagram of any tracks you like to listen to! I’m always interested in new music to listen to!

CHANGING YOUR MINDSET ON TRAINING.

Training. It’s difficult to make yourself to go train. You’re putting your body through hell. Destroying muscle tissue, fatiguing yourself and depleting almost all of your energy. It’s difficult and challenging which is why most people don’t like it. Yet training is what will make you better. Training will make you faster, stronger, give you more confidence, and overall make you better.

YOUR BODY

Your body is what carries you around day to day. On a daily basis, your body is working to make cells, fight viruses, digest food, repair and build muscle tissue, and so much more. Your body is what keeps you alive. Your body protects you from all the harmful things you encounter on a day-to-day basis. Once something goes into your body, it can easily kill you. It would make sense to prevent such things from happening to you. To do this, you must train.

When you train, you’re improving yourself and protecting your body. As a result, your body builds new muscle tissue to repair damaged muscle tissue, which will make you stronger and faster. If you ever played an RPG (role playing game) before, I’m sure you’ve tried getting the best armor set in the game at some point, that way your character wouldn’t take as much damage and it would even make you stronger in some senses. I like to think of muscle as my armor. Muscle is extremely dense and makes it harder to penetrate. Now it won’t protect you from everything, but having more muscle will make your body tougher and harder. It will make you stronger and faster. Working out and training is practically maximizing your physical attributes as if you were playing something like Skyrim.

YOUR MIND

Training doesn’t just improve your physical attributes, but also your mental attributes. When you exercise, dopamine, endorphins, and serotonin are released, all of which make you feel good. Best of all, you’ll gain confidence. You’ll feel better about yourself and about your day. You will be more productive and willing to get more done.

Exercising is also a struggle. I believe that in the day and age we live in, we aren’t truly challenged enough. Most things are automated for us and and we complain about things that truly aren’t a big deal. Training is physical and mental challenge and when you overcome it, you feel accomplished. You’ll feel like you can take on anything.

MINDSET ON TRAINING

Personally, I see training as a way of being prepared and ready for anything. Training will help me survive and overcome external obstacles, whether those obstacles have to be overcome with brute force, speed, or a strong mentality. Training improves all those aspects. You will be better prepared physically and mentally in any situation. Instead of seeing exercise as something on your list of “things to get to” you should make it one of your priorities throughout the day. It will be the one thing to keep you going and keep you healthy and mentally prepared. Why wouldn’t you make it one of your main priorities?

FINAL THOUGHTS

As I stated in the beginning, training is difficult. I get that, which is why it’s very easy to avoid. However, it’s one thing that’ll keep your mind and body healthy.

I know finding time for training can be fairly difficult. Even though it may be difficult to make time for it, it doesn’t mean you should skip it altogether. Even if you just do 30 burpees, you’ll be in a better place than before you did the burpees. Personally, I take a note from Jocko Willink and get up at 4:30am to head to the gym and get my workout in. I don’t have too much time throughout the day to workout, so I make the time. If you really want to do something you’ll make the time for it. So go make time to go train.