Music | Health & Wellness

Create A Mood Boosting Exercise Playlist

There are certain songs that completely enhance my mood and make me want to hit the gym. I love to run to house music and lift to hip hop. No matter what, I need to have something constantly on that makes me want to dance. Studies prove that the rhythmic speed of your tunes influence your athletic performance.

Fast-paced music is great for cardio (it makes sense that I like to run to house music). The best pump-it-up music should be between 120-140 beats per minute. If you really want to check to see if you’re maximizing your playlist for your workout routine, simply count the beats in the song or you can use a Windows BPM calculator.

Choose your favorite, most high-energy song to start and finish your cardio routine. This will help you get going and entice you to finish. Just when you think you can’t go anymore, the song will come on reinforcing you to fight to the end.

Here are some of my personal favorite, up-beat songs that get me to the finish line:

Gloss Find: BudFits

budfits Gloss Find: BudFits Music can be a great exercise motivator. When you get that perfect music mix on your iPod — a little slow for your warm up, a faster tempo for the bulk of your workout, and then slower again for your cool down — it can keep you moving just so you can hear your favorite songs.

But your motivating music can become an annoyance when your ear buds keep falling out of your ears. Enter BudFits.

BudFits are compatible with iPod and iPhone ear buds. The ear buds snap right into the flexible BudFits, which molds to the shape of your ear keeping the ear buds comfortably in place no matter how vigorous your workout is.

I like walking, so while it’s a nuisance when my ear buds fall out, I don’t really lose pace at all. My son, however, is an avid runner and can’t stand stopping every time his ear buds fall out. We’re both really excited to try out BudFits. If, like my son and I, you like working out to music, remember to keep safety in mind. Music can partially block traffic noise, so you need to be particularly mindful when crossing intersections and you should keep the volume level relatively low.

BudFits — $8.99 on BudFits.com.