It is no secret that music has an uncanny ability to motivate us. The right song can make an otherwise dull workout become our finest hour. And now there is scientific evidence to support it, as well as entire businesses dedicated to helping you produce customized workout soundtracks. The benefits of music impact several areas according to HellaSound.com, a website dedicated to helping you find the right music for your workout.
“In academic-speak, the right music is an ergogenic aid—an external influence that positively affects your physiological performance. Wikipedia’s definition breaks ergogenic aid benefits into 3 facets: performance improvement, minimization of distraction and increased recovery.” – HellaSound
It was with this in mind that the 52 best workout songs were selected in an epic exploration of the foot-tapping, guitar-screaming and beat-boxing tracks that have found a welcome home in gyms across America. Most of them famous, some very obscure, but all great songs for running, lifting, spinning and any other workout you can think of.
As for selection criteria one key element stood out from all the rest: tempo. Why? According to experts it is the most important factor in enhancing workout performance because it provides timing and coordination for your movements. Music in the 120-140 beats-per-minute (bpm) range is best for most aerobic exercise because it most closely matches the average person’s heart rate.
In creating this list much attention was also paid to finding a good mix of genres (though most will notice it skewed on the side of rock simply because it tends to have the most uptempo songs), as well as music from different eras (though most will find it skewed in favor of the 90s and today simply because songs like “My Guy” don’t exactly make the average person want to throw around some weights).
Finally, “Eye of the Tiger” was left out because it has been overplayed and now borders more on cheesy than motivational. If this makes you sad then go watch “Rocky” and eat a pint of ice cream.
Now, Art of Manliness presents the 52 best workout songs for your listening pleasure:
1. “Thunderstruck”- AC/DC
2. “Say This Sooner“- The Almost
3. “Keep the Car Running“ – Arcade Fire
4. “Sabotage“ – Beastie Boys
5. “Loser“ – Beck
6. “Ain’t No Easy Way“ – Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
7. “Hurricane“ – Bob Dylan
8. “No Woman No Cry (Live At the Lyceum)” – Bob Marley
9. “Unconditional” – The Bravery
10. “The Distance” – Cake
11. “Galvanize” – The Chemical Brothers
12. “Should I Stay Or Should I Go” – The Clash
13. “Crossroads” – Cream
14. “I Believe In a Thing Called Love” – The Darkness
15. “Hands Down“ – Dashboard Confessional
16. “Lose Yourself“ – Eminem
17. “Sunday Shining” – Finley Quaye
18. “Everlong“ – Foo Fighters
19. “The First Single (You Know Me)“ – The Format
20. “Flathead” – The Fratellis
21. “Naked“ – The Goo Goo Dolls
22. “Feel Good Inc“ – Gorillaz
23. “Welcome to the Jungle“ – Guns N’ Roses
24. “Jump Around“ – House of Pain
25. “Numb / Encore“ – Jay-Z & Linkin Park
26. “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)“ – Jimi Hendrix
27. “Bleed American“ – Jimmy Eat World
28. “I Walk the Line“ – Johnny Cash
29. “D.A.N.C.E.” - Justice
30. “Somebody Told Me“ – The Killers
31. “When You Were Young“ – The Killers
32. “Red Morning Light” – Kings of Leon
33. “Immigrant Song“ – Led Zeppelin
34. “Last Light“ – Matt Pond PA
35. “Beat It“ – Michael Jackson OR Fall Out Boy (feat. John Mayer)
36. “Enter Sandman“ – Metallica
37. “Always Love“ – Nada Surf
38. “Here It Goes Again“ – O.K. Go
39 “B.O.B.” - OutKast
40. “Testify“ – Rage Against the Machine
41. “Bulls on Parade“ – Rage Against the Machine
42. “Black Betty“ – Ram Jam
43. “Hide Away” – Rock Kills Kid
44. “Paint It Black“ – The Rolling Stones
45. “Start Me Up (Live)” - The Rolling Stones
46. “Hands Open“ – Snow Patrol
47. “Reptilia“ – The Strokes
48. “Oh! Gravity“ – Switchfoot
49. “All Because of You” – U2
50. “Island In the Sun“ – Weezer
51. “Seven Nation Army“ – The White Stripes
52. “Woman“ – Wolfmother
So, by this time some of you are excited, some are perplexed and still others are furious. Let us know what hidden gem we left uncovered or why you think this is the greatest list of of the last several decades.
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very few of these songs i would ever see myself listening too especially in an attempt to get the adrenaline going.
off the top of my head i have to say my favorite motivating song would have to be “back for more” by Five Finger Death Punch, or 5FDP as a whole for that matter. that and any Marine corps cadence. OORAH
Really!!!??? No Rocky?? Come on…
No Easy Way Out – Robert Tepper
Eye of the Tiger – Survivor
Burning Heart – Survivor
Hearts on Fire – Jonathan Clay
Easily the most inspiring workout music!!!
Song Number 2 by Blur!
I agree with Jay.
No Rocky, no gain.
No I-Tunes link ? WTF How much money are you losing every hit ? !!!
My all time favorite workout song is papercut by linkin park…just starts off hard from the beginning and the lyrics are perfect. Theres a guy on youtube named rob bailey, he’s got some really good stuff for lifting too.
I don’t see many songs that I would consider good workout songs here. I mean, Clapton and Bob Marley? Not sure I could get pumped to their stuff.
Big Weezer fan, but to workout to? Not so much…
Yeah, seriosuly. Every man worth his salt knows the greatest workout song of all time is Eye of the Tiger. This list is simply terrible. Who compiled it? A 14 year old?
Some very nice suggestions. thx guys.
Reptile youth-speeddance
Shaka loveless- “dans din idiot” danish, but still with nice energy. def worth a listen.
Jedi mind tricks-”on the eve of war”
“This list is simply terrible. Who compiled it? A 14 year old?”
Considering the list covers a wide range of music made over the last 50 years rather than resorting to the usual modern rap/metal cliches, I’d say it’s probably more likely that it was made by a slightly older person willing to think outside the box. I’ve only heard about half of the songs on the list, but stuff like “Paint It Black” will get me pumped much faster than “Eye of the Tiger.”
A handful of good ones here but SERIOUSLY…nothing from Rocky disqualifies this list…TKO….no red blooded true gym rat will complete omit Survivor’s/Rocky music.
A lot of these are good songs but too mellow to try and get a good pump going. Maybe this was gear more for cardio?
you guys left out a bunch:
du hast rammstein
indistrucrible-disturbed
i stand alone-Godsmack
gangsters paradise-coolio
walk-pantera
lumberjack-jackyle
angry again-megadeth
from whom the bell tolls-metallica
whiskey in the jar-metallica
eye of the tiger is being used in a mascara cammercial so i’s say NO on eye of the tiger.
Author needs his man card pulled. I love and enjoy all the music he mentioned, but very few of them could be considered pump-up tunes.
Well good list of song, maybe I will update my playlist, and by the way these songs are great for workout
http://www.squidoo.com/25-best-songs-for-workout
personally, I just listen to Appetite for Destruction by GNR – pretty much every song on that album qualifies as a pump-up song. However, Crazy Train (Ozzy), Monster (Skillet), Nighttrain (Guns n’ Roses), and most importantly, Remember the Name (Fort Minor) should also be on that list.
A non-conventional workout playlist. LOVE IT. Keep up the great work.
Need more Linkin Park, Eminem(not his shitty rap songs though), seventh nation army, and Rocky is a given (over-played or not)
B.O.B by Outkast, I forgot about this song!! This is definitely a good one to run to.
First I don’t know if I would put Thunderstruck as my AC/DC song. Reach back a little further into the vault and pull out some TNT or Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap. Back to the days when AC/DC didn’t just write songs for the radio.
Next I’d need to add in some Rancid, NOFX or Bad Religion; real skater punk before Blink 182 ruined it. But that’s just the generation I grew up in.
Finally I’d top it off with some Dr Dre. Eminem is a great step in the right direction, but you can’t top the original when he delivers the beats like Still Dre, Forget about Dre or the Next Episode. Great motivation carrying just enough of that fuck you attitude to help you push through.
Try this : Diablo – Read my scars and
Senegal Fast Food by Amidou and Mariam
Bohemian Like you by Dandy Warhols
Sympathy for the Devil by the stones
You’ll Never pay for the Farm by Gang of 4
Cannonball by the Breeders
Big Mouth by Santigold
That’s how I escaped my Certain Fate by Mission of Burma
Light Rail Coyote by Sleater Kinney
Line up by Elastica
Comeback Kid by Sleigh Bells
this is supposed to be a suggestive and informative website and not throw brickbats at a film which is preserved in library of American Film Academy (Rocky). The author of this blog needs to grow up and stop being a film critic and start sticking to the point. Eye of the Tiger is a classic and there is compare to songs of today. I find this write up biased.
Attitude – Hardknox
Vicarious – Tool
Shimmy – S.O.A.D
Come to Daddy – Aphex Twin
Cochise – Audioslave
(Rock/Rap) Superstar – Cypress Hill
Ready or Not – Fugees (DJ Hype remix)
Thunder – Prodigy
Back Round – Wolfmother
You left too many good ones out and left in too many bad ones. Why would you have U2 or Snow Patrol?!
Claude had the right idea.
Some good tracks…some questionable ones. I was going to call you out on no Tool or Prodigy, but klaus beat me to it.
If you’re going to include a Bob Marley track (and I don’t know why you would, on such a list) then I’d go with Iron Lion Zion.
Also, it seems the poster just chose the most popular Metallica track, as opposed to one best suited to working out. I’d go with Battery or, better yet, Fuel.
I’d like to add:
Micheal Hunter – Soviet Connection
Pendulum – Slam, Masochist
Pearl Jam – Do the Evolution
Prodigy – Breathe
Kanada (Akira sountrack)
Cunninlynguists – Takin the Loss, Halfanimal Halfman, Aint No Way
Go visit http://www.sammyfranco.com for some real kick-ass workout music, especially if you’re a fan of groups such as Godsmack, Mushroomhead, System of a Down, Flaw, and all of the other heavy rock bands that are out there. Limp Bizkit is good as well. I also personally prefer the soundtracks to “The Scorpion King” and the Vin Diesel action flick “XXX” and the soundtrack to the 1990 action flick “Navy SEALs”.
My fav is Shakira – Waka Waka
Bad list. All you need to listen to is metallica, rage against the machine, ac/dc, guns n roses if you plan on weight training.
Seriously? Eye of the Tiger should be on here. There’s nothing like the thrill of the fight to have us rising up to the challenge of our rival, the gym.
This is actually one of the best workout mixes I’ve come across online. One of the few that doesn’t include “Let the Bodies Hit The Floor” and an excess of Swedish black metal. Actually some quality songs by quality bands. Bombs of Baghdad was a great choice too.
I like where your going with this but I must say im a little disappointed with the lack of instrumentals. Heres my short list.
battle without humanity or honor
daisy dukes
lets get it started
Theme to SWAT
Theme to Hawaii 5 0
Me myself and I
Sabotage beasties
whatcha want beasties
I wanna rock
Rock you like a hurricane
heavy metal sammy hagar
frankenstein
russian fight scene, boondock saints
sleep now in the fire rage
dont phunk with my heart
oh yeah, yello
run thru the jungle credence
ill think of more later
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