Monday, April 27, 2009

To Hell With the Music You Like

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.

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