The last gym I tried out (on a one-week trial pass) played Fox News on five TV screens in front of the cardio equipment. Needless to say, I did not join.

I just read your article about the unfounded dislike of Journey. Now you heap hate on Techno/House/Trance.

I listen to a mix of pop, techno, and rock while I work out (which I do a lot), but I find that most gyms place classic rock. I have no issue with with classic rock while I'm working on the car or driving an old pick-up... I *personally* don't like it while I run.

Nike has taken on the "music while you work out" thing with all they've got, and they have a huge number of mixes to offer to match with their Nike+ system. ( http://nikeplus.nike.com ). They even paid LCD Soundsystem to build the 45:33 or whatever its called. From the look of it, they've thought about what people want to work out to. Sure, some of it is "new enlightened" music like the Presets, Cut Copy, the New Pornographers, etc... but a majority of it is still driving electronic music spanning from LCD Soundsystem and Crystal Method to the Benassi Bro.'s.

I think they've spent some time looking into what people would workout to, if they could. I didn't see Journey anywhere ;)

.....probably just me, but i'm finding that "broken beat" (lordy i hate these categories/labels) does the trick.....new sector movements, jazzanova, bugz in the attic.....also jazzy drum&bass along the lines of danny byrd and london elektricity....

. . . Buzzcocks!

Hey I like techno! I find a lot of pop and R&B too slow and I am SICK of classic rock, cock rock, caterwauling pop, sad alterna-chicks, angry alterna-chicks, the lot of it.

Like an earlier poster, I like to mix up the techno/electronica/whatever you call it with Latin and some other genres that have a pretty fast beat. Even gospel! Here are some of my workout favorites:

Jean-Michel Jarre, Oxygene parts ii and iv

Chemical Brothers, Racing the Tide

Juliet, Avalon (I don't know what genre you call this)

(Various groups do this one) Mas Que Nada

MFSB/TSOP

A Fifth of Beethoven

(A lot of groups do this one ) Sway (Marimba Rhythm)

Chicane--Saltwater

Southern Culture on the Skids -- Tee Ni Nee Ni Nu, Haw River Stomp, you get the idea

Shpongle--Dorset Perception

Ozomatli -- (Who Discovered) America

Crusaders -- Put It Where You Want It

Rev. Ernest Davis Jr.'s Wilmington Chester Mass Choir -- Hosanna

Hallucinogen -- Alpha Centauri

Overclocked Remix -- Fortuna Favors the Funk (this is some site where they take the music from old video games and remix it)

A selection, since I have more than one song for some of the bands:

In Transit - Albert Hammond Jr.

Eyes - Apollo Sunshine

I Bet You Look Good On the Dancefloor - Arctic Monkeys

Holla! - Baha Men

Pump It - Black Eyed Peas

Banquet - Bloc Party

She's So Modern - The Boomtown Rats

Jique - Brazilian Girls

The Right Profile - The Clash

Clampdown - The Clash

My Way - Conehead Buddha

Connection - Elastica

I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down - Elvis Costello

Rankin' Full Stop - The English Beat

Oh No - Gogol Bordello

Walking Contradiction - Green Day

What You Waiting For? - Gwen Stefani

Dance Wid' Me - Hepcat

Arms Aloft - Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros

Holy Roller Novocaine - Kings of Leon

Cornman - Kinky

We Share Our Mothers' Health - The Knife

Ooh La - The Kooks

Off The Record - My Morning Jacket

Twin Cinema - The New Pornographers

Excuse Me Mr. - No Doubt

Sister Rosetta (Capture the Spirit) - Noisettes

Here It Goes Again - Ok Go

Karma Hunters - The Pinker Tones

Steady As She Goes - The Raconteurs

Whoo! Alright-Yeah...Uh Huh - The Rapture

Dani California - Red Hot Chili Peppers

Hooplas Involving Circus Tricks_96 - Say Hi To Your Mom

I Turn My Camera On - Spoon

Hard To Explain - The Strokes

Oh! Gravity - Switchfoot

Thinking Of You - Test Your Reflex

Mama's Room - U T I O G

Alive With Pleasure - Viva Voce

Dope Nose - Weezer

My Doorbell - The White Stripes

Y Control (Brooklyn Fire Retouch) - Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Radio -- Apes & Androids

Else -- Built to Spill

Sweet Sweet Heartkiller -- Say Hi to Your Mom

Hey Now Now -- The Cloud room

Our Swords -- Band of Horses

The Wonder -- Figurines

German Engineering -- Maritime

Electric Slide -- The Wildlife

Ten Thousand Lines -- Electric President

Heart it Races -- Dr. Dog

We Will Become Silhouettes -- The Shins

Skeleton Key -- Margot & The Nuclear So And So's

Wolf Like Me -- TV on the Radio

Black Cab -- Jens Lekman

I Think I Need A New Heart -- Magnetic Fields

I Want to Be Your Driver -- Nic Armstrong & The Thieves

I Ain't Saying My Goodbyes -- Tom Vek

Alone Again Or -- Calexico

This Room -- The Notwist

Trouble -- Voxtrot

Such Great Heights -- The Postal Service

My gym doesn't play much techno. They will play pop country, and I find it nauseating. BodyFlow classes (Les Mills' yoga/pilates/tai chi) sometimes have some awesome music.

Here's my playlist for the elliptical machine--with that machine, especially, you want to kind of get the beats to coordinate w/ the movement so it drives you forward instead of pulling you down. I start mellow and work my way up, but try to vary the beats. My music really helps me kick it faster and endure longer than the other elliptical folks, because instead of being bored, I'm actually grooving and enjoying myself.

Jolene - Dolly Parton

Chain of Fools - Aretha Franklin

Eternalists - Talib Kweli & Hi Tek

September - Earth Wind & Fire

Gone Daddy Gone - Gnarls Barkley

Ain't No Other Man - Christina Aguilera

Turn to Stone - ELO

Workin' Day and Night - Michael Jackson

Your Touch - The Black Keys

American Girl - Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers

The Seed (2.0) - Cody Chestnutt & the Roots

Crazy - Gnarls Barkley

Hip Hop is Dead - Nas

Number One - Kanye West/John Legend

You & Me & the Bottle Makes 3 Tonight - Big Bad Voodoo Daddy

PYT - Michael Jackson

Twenty Five Miles - Edwin Starr

God Put a Smile Upon Your Face - Coldplay

Movin' On - Elliott Yamin