What's the best music to exercise to?

Many people enjoy listening to music while running and exercising.

It is important to be aware of your surroundings while running, particularly when running outdoors, for example you need to be aware of traffic and personal safety. But when appropriate, for example, when running on a treadmill in a gym the right choice of music can help you train better.

When doing an easy or steady run or exercising at a similar level the effect of music on exercise can be to take your mind off what you are doing. Good music can distract you from any discomfort and also prevent the boredom that some people struggle with, particularly when treadmill running. Whether you have a running music list on your iPod or MP3 player or a selection of exercise music CDs you should choose something that will help put you in a positive state of mind. This will mean that the tune will be upbeat but you will also find that positive lyrics that help boost your mood will help make for good music to exercise to.

You may find that when you listen to music while running your rhythm, either in terms of your breathing or foot strikes, starts to tie in with the pace of what you are listening to. This is true with other forms of exercise too. So the best music for running or exercising will be something that helps you to maintain the right rhythm. This may be a bit of a case of trial and error but it is worth getting together a playlist of music for running or the gym.

Of course once you have found the best workout music there is something else you should do – change it.

Or more accurately you should add to your selection. This is because if you listen to the same music time and time again you may find that the music itself becomes monotonous – you listen to it too much or come to associate it with exercise in a negative way. If you want to have a really great workout music list then keep adding to it and changing it. Have a variety of music for different moods and different levels of intensity and keep adding to your selection. Make sure that your running music list contains a selection of tracks that you enjoy listening to at that time as this will boost the positive experience of your running and exercise. After in busy lives there are not many times when you can sit down and listen to good music. So having good music to listen to while you run is a great way to make the best of the time.

What is you favourite music to exercise to? Discuss it in our forum?

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