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Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
I find tool - the pot and vicarious, plus prodigy (smack my bitch up, spitfire, breathe) to all be excellent motivational songs.
If they're playing unremarkable techno or electronica, I'd wager that it's precisely because it's unremarkable. I agree with the poster who said it beats than cock rock: you may not exactly like it, but (unless they're playing happy hardcore), does it really crawl in under your skin?
Then again, my gym playlists mostly consist of cheeseball industrial and synthpop club hits, which is to say, simplistic 4/4 dance beats made into English-language pop songs for a German audience. A particular favorite, and a sterling example of the absurd shit you can get away with, is Informatik's Nymphomatik..
I like silence when I work out and when I dine.
I consider the practice of playing music in gyms and restaurants I attend to be nothing other than the rape of my ears and mind. The establishments are forcing me to listen to what I consider to be garbage.
Everyone has an mp3 player. Those who want music can listen to their players.
If I wanted to listen to music I could bring my mp3 player.
I often see people listening to their mp3 players in gyms that have ambient music. This means that the mp3 listeners must increase the volume sufficiently loud to drown out the ambient music. They are probably ruining their hearing
my gym has just got a new music system. there are two big flat screens in the cardio studio which display music videos while the music plays. the whole thing is controlled by a computer at the main desk where the trainers can make playlists, change the music etc. this would be great except the music is pretty terrible- generic R&B, hip hop, techno stuff. just once i managed to convince my trainer to put on something decent- debaser, by the pixies. i was surprised they even had it in their library.
so i bring my own music- i have one of those little clip on shuffles which is less ungainly than my ipod- which usually includes:
-metric
-pixies
-dandy warhols
-nine inch nails
-BRMC
-arcade fire
-pluto
-mint chicks
-shins
i like music which starts off with a strong fast tempo so theres no lag between the songs. once i'm done with cardio i don't mind what plays just as long as it doesn't make me want to concuss myself with a free weight. i also think variety is really important because decent music makes working out more enjoyable. some of my best friends listen to techno. i just don't want to hear it at 6 am.
Just kidding. I find Weezer or The Shins works good, or a playlist of uptempo Beatles, Fleetwood Mac, Faces and the Rolling Stones..
I understand the music in most of the gym, but I truly don't get it in the area with the cardio machines. People doing aerobics on these machines are either watching and listening to whatever is on the individual video at each machine, or they're listening to their iPod/CD player, or, like me, THEY'RE TRYING TO READ!!!! The last thing any of these people needs is extraneous music. Why doesn't anybody in gym management seem to get that?
After doing 10 years of gyms here in Chicago, I have to say the best policy was that of the first ine I went to, affiliated with a university. They had listed times of when they would be playing certain music in three hour blocks, shifted the rotations every six weeks, and stuck to it.
As I shifted from neighborhood to neighborhood, I experienced the silence of a local Y (you could here the elderly's joints crack), the Thuggin Love soundtrack of a Bally's where they allowed the tykes to play Grand Theft Auto in the playroom, and a gym downtown where it was primarily Cher themed techno. To be honest, I can see why they do the techno...it is for the most part inoffensive, upbeat, and can be tuned out pretty easy when lifting. Now I workout here in hidden suburbia, where people like the classic rock as they sit at the juice bar that serves Doritios, and you can watch others work out.
For the record, the best music to work out to is Bad Religion, NOFX, et. al for cardio, Tool, Sunny Day Real Estate while lifting.
I'm an old geezer and listen mostly to 60's music, but I discovered that for some strange reason Green Day's American Idiot is great exercise music. There is just something about it that makes me want to move (and not much does that for me these days).
I listen on my iPod, and recently added noise-cancelling headphones for the gym to try to muffle their horrible background music.
Right now I've been playing Red Hot Chili Peppers ("Mother's Milk") and Orange Range ("Musiq") every workout. Orange Range is a little like a Japanese Chili Peppers -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_Range , but with more techno (yes..) and pop.
The humor and tempo of both keep me going, with just enough soul and emotion but not enough to be distracting when I'm a dripping, drooling mess on the leg machine.
That drag queen diva dance remix shit they play is bad enough but if I had to hear one more Chili Peppers song about California or one more OAR tune with the word "I" repeated 30 million dozen times I would actually have to beat someone to death with a free weight.
Well, I don't really like RHCP's new stuff, either... even though they've become massively more successful. "Dani California" being so popular kind of escapes me.. must be a commentary on how bad (pop) music is these days..
Last summer I tried out Curves locally. I liked the equipment and the quick pace. I liked the fact I could get in and out of there in 35-40 minutes. But the over-the-top music peppered with three-minute intervals of "change stations now!" proved too much for me. I described it to my sister as, "Star Wars and Superman themes on crack." I couldn't continue. No do. No dues!
Much of the initial coverage about Fort Hood turned out to be wrong. Is there anything wrong with that?
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Fox News' morning show plays to type, talking about whether Muslims in the Army should face "special debriefings"
219 Democrats and one Republican join in favor of the legislation, which passed by a narrow margin
The survivor and author is upset about comparisons some on the right are making to genocide
Salon headlines in your mailbox
