3 Exercise Music Playlists to Pump up Your Workouts

Choose a music playlist based on exercise type

Sometimes when you’re exercising you need an extra surge of adrenaline to help push you to run that extra kilometre, do an extra set of squats, or hold that yoga pose for another few breaths.

And for that, there’s a natural and readily available performance enhancing drug: music.

The right beats can distract you from labouring lungs, creaky ankles, and mental fatigue, plus it just makes things more fun. Research has proved that those who exercise in sync with music need less oxygen and perform better. Need another reason? It’s a lot more pleasant to hear a groovy baseline than your raspy breath.

And while there isn’t a surefire recipe for the perfect exercise song, it’s widely accepted that you want a tune that bangs out around 120 beats per minute (BPM) or more.

With that in mind, we’ve compiled the following 3 playlists for your run, high-tensity cardio and yoga workouts.

Running

Boots Electric – Boots Electric Theme

Icona Pop – I Love It

Beck – Timebomb

M.I.A. – Bad Girls

Santa Esmeralda – Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood

Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons – Beggin’ (Pilooski Re-Edit)

Robin Thicke – Blurred Lines

Mayer Hawthorne – Your Easy Lovin’ Ain’t Pleasin’ Nothin’

Muse – Panic Station

The Strokes – Welcome to Japan

High Intensity Workouts

Daft Punk – Derezzed

The Glitch Mob – Seven Nation Army (Remix)

Sleigh Bells – Demons

Tame Impala – Elephant

Avicii – Levels

Dizzee Rascal – Dance Wiv me ft. Calvin Harris

Childish Gambino – Heartbreak

Audioslave – Show Me How to Live

Dev – In the Dark remix feat. Kanye West

The Black Keys – Gold on the Ceiling

Yoga

Billy Bragg & Wilco – California Stars

Frank Ocean (feat. Andre 300) – Pink Matter

Sigur Ros – Milano

Norah Jones – Say Goodbye

Justin Timberlake – That Girl

Louis Armstrong – La Vie En Rose

Billy Swan – Don’t Be Cruel

Zamfir – The Lonely Shepard

Red Hot Chili Peppers – Walkabout

Bon Iver – RE: Stacks