How to Find the Right Music for Your Workout

Workout clothes on, headphones on, and….go! Whether it’s rock, pop or electro, the right workout music is a must. Here, we explain the fundamentals of choosing the perfect tunes to break a sweat to.

That moment when your favourite song suddenly bursts from the speakers at spinning class, when “that one” song comes on during your run, when you hear your most motivating track during weight training—there’s no doubt about it: something magic happens. Maybe you do one more bench press or pedal a little more energetically to the beat of the music. Maybe you even have a smile on your face. Whatever the effect, there’s no denying it: music is the perfect motivation booster during training!

So how should you integrate music into your training routine?

Before a workout

Calm and relaxing sounds help you to release tension and reduce stress and anxiety before you start your workout.

During a workout

When you’re working up a sweat, music increases endorphin secretion and ensures that you are more excited about your workout. We automatically connect our most-beloved tracks with positive emotions like power and strength. 

Here are some more advantages of adding music to your workout:  

• You stay motivated, delaying exhaustion and lackluster. 
• Music improves your mood, even when your energy is declining. 
• Towards the end of your training, music has a “heating” effect—it helps you to get through the last kilometres, minutes or poses and, (in the best case) it helps you to be able to go full throttle again.

After a workout

If you have had a hardcore workout and want to relax and cool down, you can put on some peaceful tunes. These will help you to lower your heart rate, which increases during exercise, and helps your breathing slow, allowing your body to return to a state of rest. The result: you can relax faster!

But which music is the right music?

If you’re wondering how to choose the best music for your workout, we can help!

Essentially, music can be used in three ways during training:

• To coordinate your movement with rhythm, for example when running (= synchronized music)
• As background music (= asynchronous music)
• To evoke positive feelings or memories
• (to motivate during warm-up or to calm down during cool-down)

The tempo of a track, expressed in beats per minute (bpm), is also crucial. The optimal tempo for asynchronous music is usually between 125 and 140 bpm. Since we automatically adapt our movements to the rhythm of the music during sports, it is important that the music offers us an appropriate tempo. Music that is too slow can unnecessarily slow you down, while music that is too fast can make you overexert yourself.

A great workout playlist should include familiar or popular songs that you associate with something positive. Finding a good mix of calm and energetic tracks also proves useful. 

If you know in advance how intense your workout will be or how many sprints and rests it will include, you can easily create a suitable playlist in advance.

How do I make a good workout playlist?

Here are some things to pay attention to:

• The tempo of the music (bpm) should correspond with your heartbeat.
• The bpm should also match your movement sequence (think jogging…), and maybe even be a bit faster.

Motivating pre-run music with 110 to 150 bpm:

Slower running music with 80 to 100 bpm:

Faster running music with 140 to 160 bpm:

Calming post-run music with 95 to 100 bpm:

• The ideal music has an in-depth melody or a pleasant harmony. Major keys (like in “Haus Am See” by Peter Fox, for example) are more motivating than songs in minor (like many Rammstein songs for example “Engel“).
• The song should be familiar to you without being boring or annoying.
• Ideally, the music you play should put you in a good mood. The rhythm should make you want to exercise.
• The music should evoke images that motivate you.
• The music should bring up positive memories.
• The lyrics should drive you, like Runnin (Lose it all) or You got it. Watch out: a Yeah! refrain might motivate you more than an Oh, no, no!

The verdict? Working out to music is an absolute win. When chosen correctly, it can bring you to peak performance and distract you from the agony of even the hardest workout, making it even more fun and giving you an essential motivation boost.

Psst…. If you’re looking for some quality equipment to make your workout music experience even better, we have an exclusive offer for our members until the end of February together with Teufel.

As an Urban Sports Club member, you get 12% on Teufel headphones. Submit your request here and receive your personal code from us by email. When you’re ready, simply enter it here!

*The coupon is valid until 29.02.2020 and can only be redeemed in the Teufel Onlineshop www.teufel.de The 12% discount applies to the value of goods in the “headphones” category, but not to B-goods, novelties, purchase vouchers, merchandise or special editions. Shipping costs are not included. Not valid for purchases already made. Cannot be redeemed in combination with other promotion vouchers.