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Best Workout/Wake-Up Songs

post #1 of 25
10/28/09 at 2:56am
Thread Starter 
My latest wake-up-when-I-don't-want-to mix (gets the ball running when I hit the shower):

B.O.B. - OutKast
Hey Ya! - Andre 3000/OutKast
Push It - Salt-N-Pepa
It Takes Two - Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock
Wild Thing - Tone-Loc
Would I Lie to You? - Eurythmics
The Reflex - Duran Duran
The Look of Love, Pt. 1 - ABC
Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See - Busta Rhymes
Body Movin' - Beastie Boys
Just Can't Get Enough - Depeche Mode
Kiss - Prince
Groove Is In the Heart - Deee-Lite
The Rockafeller Skank - Fatboy Slim
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post #2 of 25
10/28/09 at 4:33am
When I go running I put on Pink Floyd 'Echoes' live at Pompeii, it's so great to listen to while running at dusk.
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post #3 of 25
10/28/09 at 4:41am
I do morning workouts at the gym. If I'm feeling pretty laid back and good about myself I'll stick on Air, but if I'm feeling shitful and needing some musical oompf it's Ministry.
Jesus Built My Hotrod, specifically.
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post #4 of 25
10/28/09 at 9:53am
Weezer's first album is a good workout album.
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post #5 of 25
10/28/09 at 9:58am
Mechanical Animals is the ultimate hard run/workout album.
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post #6 of 25
10/28/09 at 10:06am
I'm really partial to any of Chamillionaire's mixtapes for working out. Houston rap, maybe not for everyone, but I love the guy, and his mixtapes are legendary in Houston. Can download most of them free at www.chamillionaire.com.
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post #7 of 25
10/28/09 at 10:10am
I've currently got my alarm set to play AC/DC's Thunderstruck in such a way that it doesn't really get any volume until the first utterance of THUNDER. Works like a fucking charm in the mornings.

When I'm working out I actually favour more complex, spikey or sound scapey sort of stuff to high tempo dance music. So I tend to have stuff like the National or Arcade Fire or Godspeed You Black Emperor! more than straight dance. Even the dance music I listen to whilst working out is more structured than usual with stuff like Faithless and LCD Soundsystem which is built on crescendos and layered soundscapes.
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post #8 of 25
10/28/09 at 12:07pm
My workout albums:
Most of Mastodon's stuff
Harvey Milk - Life...The Best Game In Town
Most of Baroness's stuff
Slayer - Reign in Blood
Fucked Up - Chemistry of Common Life
R.A.M.B.O. - Wall of Death The System
Total Abuse - Self Titled

Kinda overcompensating here, but might as well have something grinding and ominous going while going at it, right?
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post #9 of 25
10/28/09 at 12:19pm
I'm big on Tool and Mars Volta while working out, especially running.

The long song lengths really help the time on the treadmill disappear.

Occasionally Mastodon as well.

I also go for electronic music every now and then, as the steady bpms facilitate the whole getting lost while running/jogging/walking thing.
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post #10 of 25
10/28/09 at 12:29pm
Michael Giacchino's "Roar" is great for when I'm on the elliptical. In fact, I've tended to move towards film scores and classical pieces for my workouts -- their usually longer length seems to make the time go by less slowly.
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post #11 of 25
10/28/09 at 12:35pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Spike Marshall View Post
I've currently got my alarm set to play AC/DC's Thunderstruck in such a way that it doesn't really get any volume until the first utterance of THUNDER. Works like a fucking charm in the mornings.
Nice. You can't go wrong with 'Thunderstruck'. If I'm ever in a coma for any reason, I'd want the doctors to put on that tune as a last resort. My blood and AC/DC mix like peanut butter and jelly.
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post #12 of 25
10/28/09 at 2:30pm
For working out, I always used to use pretty much anything from the Rocky Movies. Especially Hearts on Fire from Rocky 4.

I also used "It don't come easy" by Ringo Starr. "Gotta pay your dues if you wanna sing the blues"...
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post #13 of 25
10/28/09 at 5:02pm
I like using a whole album when I work out. My two favorites are Daft Punk's "Discovery" and Bloc Party's "Silent Alarm".
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post #14 of 25
10/28/09 at 7:02pm
First 15 songs on my iTunes alarm playlist, organized by playcount:

Pull Shapes - The Pipettes
World Spins Madly On - Weepies
Stuck Between Stations - Hold Steady
Paper Planes - M.I.A.
Lit Up - National
Turning of the Tide - Bob Mould
Bleeding Love - Leona Lewis
You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb - Spoon
Take Me To The Riot - Stars
Any Way You Want It - Journey
Bastards of Young - Replacements
Lost In The Supermarket - Ben Folds
Four Winds - Bright Eyes
Who Loves You - Jersey Boys
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post #15 of 25
10/28/09 at 7:08pm
Given that I hate exercise more than almost anything in the world, when I'm at the gym, I tend to go for podcasts and audio books, as they take my mind off things, and seem to make the time go more quickly for me.

If I needed something to keep a rhythm to, I'd probably go with Nicola Conte's Jet Sounds.

As for waking up, loud music isn't a great choice, since I have to be up at 5, and my wife doesn't. I tend to go for NPR, and have it timed that I can get through the top of the hour headlines just in time to prevent the buzzer going off if I move quickly.

But if I needed a song to get me up and going, in my current frame of mind, I'd probably alternate between The Replacements' "Alex Chilton", The Hives' "Hate To Say I Told You So", The Raveonettes' "Love In A Trash Can" and Southern Culture On The Skids' cover of "Biff Bang Pow".
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post #16 of 25
10/28/09 at 7:29pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by TzuDohNihm View Post
Mechanical Animals is the ultimate hard run/workout album.
Fucking A. Any Manson leading up to Animals is gravy to work out to. Anything after: not so much.
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post #17 of 25
10/28/09 at 7:34pm
Best Wake Up Song Ever!

Paper Planes- MIA
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post #18 of 25
10/28/09 at 7:50pm
Although if you wake up to Paper Planes enough times, there's very little difference between your average "electronic alarm clock" noise and the opening beats to that song.
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post #19 of 25
10/28/09 at 8:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by RathBandu View Post
Although if you wake up to Paper Planes enough times, there's very little difference between your average "electronic alarm clock" noise and the opening beats to that song.
That's true, but I don't wake up to it in the alarm clock sense of "Waking Up". I wake up to the "Strum" sound on my iPod, and then put on Paper Planes till I have the energy to emerge from the covers
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post #20 of 25
10/28/09 at 8:37pm
I used to have my alarm set to "Woke Up This Morning." (I was killing too many people during the day, so I stopped.) These days it's a NIN track that fades up over two minutes or so.
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post #21 of 25
10/28/09 at 9:29pm
Favorite amp up song: Public Enemy's Welcome To The Terrordome.

And I second (or third) AC/DC's Thunderstruck. I love listening to their live album on my iPod when I run; that first couple of minutes of chanting and crowd noise really make me anticipate Angus's first guitar riff and that's what let's me know that I should kick it in a higher gear.
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post #22 of 25
10/28/09 at 9:44pm
The Venture Bros. soundtrack by JG Thirlwell is great for both.
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post #23 of 25
10/28/09 at 9:44pm
Leftism by Leftfield, Beaucoup Fish by Underworld and Homework by Daft Punk are my go to albums for the gym,especially when hitting the running machine. I did, for a time, listen to Doug Stanhope's live albums Die Laughing and Something To Take The Edge Off...both are funny as fuck but you just look plain crazy when you're pissing yourself laughing on a running machine. It tends to annoy everyone else in the vicinity
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post #24 of 25
10/28/09 at 9:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by OCallaghan View Post
Fucking A. Any Manson leading up to Animals is gravy to work out to. Anything after: not so much.
I had to erase Holywood from my phone because it was bogging down my cardio.
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post #25 of 25
10/28/09 at 10:20pm
The Daft Punk Alive 2007 album.
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