What Moves You?

What moves you? 

 

So while procrastinating by surfing pinterest  for jello shots, uhh…I mean  for health and fitness ideas,  (it is like window shopping without leaving your house), I (Slick) saw lots of links so-and-so’s top workout songs.  What a great blog idea.  I can mention what I listen to and maybe someone will suggest a new song to me because I am always keeping an ear out for new workout music.  Music is very important to my fitness regime.   If I forget to bring my Ipod in my gym bag, my workout is more work less fun.  In my non-scientific opinion, music is a necessity.  Fast songs help me increase my speed and slow songs help me relax and slow down after a grueling run. 

I admit I have heard all the naysayers on why we shouldn’t listen to music.  And I follow the suggestion to a certain extent.   If I am running on the road I don’t wear my headphones so I am aware of the traffic around me...of course, I drive out of my way so I don’t have to run on the road.  I also have noticed that I do tend to adjust my stride to the music when I play most of my country music or 80’s love ballads. So I save these for my cool-down.

As music is very personal, what I like to listen to might not be something that you like at all.  But here are my latest top-ten…chosen because they get my feet moving.

In no particular order:

1.       Shadows of the Night – Pat Benatar

2.       Firework – Katy Perry

3.       Red Blooded Woman  -- Kylie Minogue

4.       Cotton Eye Joe – Starsound Orchestra

5.       Hey Mickey – Tony Basil

6.       Get the Party Started – Pink

7.       Bad Romance – Lady Gaga

8.       My Sharona – The Kinks

9.       Stronger – Kelly Clarkson

10.    Don’t Stop the Music – Rihanna

This is not all the music I listen to…I am a pretty slow runner and need a lot more songs than this to get through a half-marathon. 

What Moves the Spinster...

    Well, first off, here is my little music setup ... although this isn't what I take to the gym. This is my red ipod nano, and my happy little chickaboom speaker, which I use around the house. The chickaboom recharges on the computer and works for four hours. 

       And is really, really cute. 

     You know those people who say, "Oh, I like all music?" Well, I'm not one of them! I'm pretty particular. If it sounds even vaguely like rap, I hate it. So I stick to pop, rock, and anything else that might have a good beat! Although sometimes, a slower song like Adele's "Set Fire to the Rain" is energetic enough (swelling orchestra, driving emotional undertone) that I can run to it ... but lately my speeds have increased to the upper 5 mph ranges, so I need to start looking for faster songs. (When I started running, 35 pounds ago, I ran at about 3.9 mph. Now I am cruising along at about 5.7. Can't wait till it's cool enough to run outside again!)

     Here are my ten current favorites ...

  Venus (Bananarama)
California Girls  (K Perry)
Crazy Train (Ozzy)
Part of Me (K. Perry)
Since U Been Gone (K. Clarkson)
Bad Romance (Lady Gag)
I Kissed a Girl (K Perry)
Poker Face (Lady Gag)
Hot N Cold (K. Perry)
I Hate Myself for Loving You (Joan Jett)

We're always looking for something new and peppy to work out to, so feel free to comment on your own favorites.

  Tillie chimes in ...

       Because there are almost always children with me, message is as important as melody in the music I listen to. The 12-year-old tries to put on some of the popular pop-rap "fusion" radio stations and we end up changing them frequently because of the messages the songs send. 

 

Having Little Girl sing "Bad Romance" at church is not ideal! So my songs run a wide gamut of style and nationality to try to find things that are peppy, appropriate for a wide range of ages, help me introduce new cultures to the kids (that's the homeschooling Mom in me!) and don't require a running discussion about sex.

Some current favorites are:

Good Feeling (Flo Rida)

Sweet Dreams (Eurythmics)

the Despicable Me theme song (Pharrell Williams)

Wayward Son (Kansas)

Fighter (LMFAO)

Asmamaw Belew (an Ethiopian song - a little different but very peppy, as a side note, watching the videos, I'm pretty sure break dancing came from Ethiopia...) Link for this song is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90Oe_HSbcBM)

Johnny Cope (Rachel Garland - can't find a youtube link for her version but we got it off of iTunes. It's Scottish.)

There are others I run through but these are the ones that come to mind immediately as we listened to them while packing yesterday. They show up pretty frequently.