If you're like me, and you absolutely hate cardio, you probably need to listen to music while you commit suicide doing it. For me this need is not taken lightly. I need music on the treadmill like a car needs gas. Music is more important than water at that point.
When I first started working out regularly, I loaded my mp3 player with a shitload of songs I like. Songs by Marilyn Manson, Nightwish, Prince, Queen, Smashing Pumpkins, Pink Floyd, and some other stuff. The music is a real FSM-send because it gives me something to focus on while I'm putting myself through cardio hell. But I noticed after a while that during some of the songs, I would be in sheer agony. Then another song would come on and the agony would go away. I didn't know the reason for this fluxuation.
Then I noticed that it was only certain songs that made me suffer. I liked the songs, that was for sure. If I didn't like them I wouldn't have put them on my workout playlist. But now I know what it is: I can't listen to music I like during my workout. I have to listen to music that puts me in the right mood. It doesn't matter if I enjoy the song or if I think the song is silly. If it puts me in the right mood, it will work.
So I deleted my workout playlist today and added ONLY songs that did the mood-changing thing for me. The results were clear. I got on the treadmill and really enjoyed the entire cardio part of my workout. Most of the songs were silly, but they did it for me.
