Working Out to Music

Working Out to Music
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Starting an exercise program is hard enough, isn't it? No
matter what you seem to do or how much you plan, it's never
as easy as it looks. However, there are plenty of ways to
help make your exercise time fly. One of the most popular
ways to help your workout is to add a little music to your
exercise plans. Here's what you need to know.

Why add music to your routine?

A lot of people will say that they like the quiet time of
exercise, listening to their breathing, and checking their
workout times. If you are not one of these folks then you
need something to help make working out easier and more fun
­ like music.

Music helps you take your mind off of how hard your workout
might be. For example, when you're off running or lifting
weights, music can help you forget about the things that
you are thinking about and focus on your favorite songs.
This subtle distraction can allow you to focus on working
out hard and strong.

When you add music to your workout routine, you can create
a soundtrack for your success. Add your favorite
inspirational music ­ think "Chariots of Fire" or the
"Rocky" theme ­ to make you push just a little harder and
make it to the end of your workout routine. Whatever music
makes you feel strong and powerful, add that to your
workout rotation.

How do you add music to your workout?

Before you can add music to your workout, you will want to
realize that some preparation time is necessary. What
you'll want to do is create compilations (mixes) of your
favorite songs beforehand. For those of you that have
digital music players, this is quite simple. All you need
to do is create a play list by adding your favorite songs
to a folder, burning them to CD, or playing them on your
player.

What about the tempo of my music?

One of the things that you will want to keep in mind when
you're working out is how fast your music is. While you
want something that's faster in pace, you don't want to
choose anything that's so fast that you can't keep up or
you'll over-exert yourself. Some techno music can be a
little too fast for light cardio workouts or strength
training.

On the other hand you'll want to make sure that you're not
including songs that are too slow either. Generally
speaking, you will want to start with slower music for your
warm up and stretching, then slowly build up the tempo of
your music and then bring it back down again for the cool
down.

This sounds too difficult

While this does sound time consuming, you can also find
recommendations on many fitness sites and in magazines.
These lists are already created to help you maintain a
certain fitness pace, so they can be very effective. Or
you might want to choose musical CDs and tapes that are
specifically designed for working out at a certain pace ­
such as 80 bpm (beats per minute).

Music is the soundtrack to our lives; why not include it as
the soundtrack for your workout? When you choose inspiring
and fast-paced music, it can actually help you work out
longer and harder ­ give it a try! Select songs that
inspire and motivate you!

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Lynn VanDyke is a master trainer and fitness nutritionist.
Her fitness site, http://www.strength-training-woman.com is
ranked within the top 1% of all websites. She has authored
the wildly popular ebook, Melt the Fat
(http://www.melt-the-fat.com). It is yielded as one of the
best fitness and nutrition ebooks available.

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