Digital music and convenient storage and playback for it are made for the gym (or the track, or wherever you find yourself).
Our games have soundtracks, or we fire up a setlist lovingly called Sonata for Sniper Rifle and Machete. We stream audio to make the workday go by faster (or to drown out the questionable crap a coworker does for exactly the same reason). Portable music players have been around for thirty years (goddamn, I’m old; I actually had a Walkman when they were practically new). There are iPod docks for everything from the car to the kitchen, it seems.
Why wouldn’t we want some tunes to get us pumped up, or help keep us going?
Here’s what the guys here at ShrinkGeek Orbital HQ reach for:
Mike:
The Run Lola Run Soundtrack – “The movie itself, as the title implies, basically involves ninety minutes of the main character running for her life. The soundtrack, as a result, is chock full of high energy techno inspired by the movie. It really makes me want to move (and it sounds good, too).”
Scott:
“I have a mix of 180 songs that mainly consist of 80′s alternative and gothic industrial.”
Rafe:
“I have the cheapest MP3 player known to man, but it’s stuffed with heavy metal (Pantera, Megadeth, and like that) and crunchy industrial/EBM (Velvet Acid Christ, Front Line Assembly, KMFDM, etc) for when I’m lifting, with a subdirectory I can usually remember how to navigate to that’s full of upbeat techno for cardio, or running — stuff like Nitzer Ebb, Darude, Juno Reactor and remixes of pretty much any and all of the above.
I also have the Numa Numa song on there. It’s great for cardio, because it’s so perky. However, giggling while doing bench presses is an occasional hazard.
While writing this up, I realized that my playlists for WoW raiding and weightlifting are pretty much the same. I’m not sure what this might suggest.”
Rob:
Turisas – The Varangian Way – “Viking metal that just makes you want to destroy shit. It’s like the Rennaissance Faire showed up to kick your ass. Guys in armor playing Scandinavian folk metal (complete with the ever-geeky addition of a full-time accordionist) all about war, conquest, and destruction. The music itself is full of fanfares and bombast. It’s just as at home used as a soundtrack for your weekly D&D game as it is at the gym. What could be better for a geek’s workout?
Sent from my iPhone.”
[Editor's Note: No, we're not kidding. He really iPhoned this in, and we have the headers to prove it.]
Frankly, I’m just glad nobody admitted to Sweatin’ to the Oldies.
Related posts:
Since others seemed to post a variety of things rather than one “what I’m listening to now” sort of post, I’ll throw out a few other standards in my workout mixes:
- Arch Enemy (“We Will Rise” off Anthems of Rebellion and “Nemesis” off Doomsday Machine)
- Chimaira (“Pure Hatred” off The Impossibility of Reason)
- Crematory (“Wake Up” off Revolution)
- Diecast (“Rise and Oppose” off Tearing Down Your Blue Skies)
- Hatebreed (just about anything really. “Live For This” off The Rise of Brutality and the title track off Perseverance are both excellent.)
- In Flames (“Only For the Weak” off Clayman)
- Killswitch Engage (“Rise Inside” off Alive or Just Breathing)
- Machine Head (“Kick You When You’re Down” off Supercharger)
- Pantera (“Walk” off Vulgar Display of Power. If this song doesn’t make you want to break shit, there’s something seriously wrong with you.)
- Slayer (“Disciple” and “Here Comes the Pain” off God Hates Us All)
- Tomoyasu Hotei (“Battle Without Honor or Humanity” off Electric Samurai. aka “that cool ass shit from Kill Bill”. Guaranteed to both make your car go 10mph faster and make you lift 10 more pounds than you did before.)
- White Zombie (“Thunder Kiss ’65″ off La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Vol. 1)
Okay, that was more than a few. Looking at that list, you’d think I’d be a much more violent and hateful person than I am in real life. When I’ve played some of this stuff for my clients, they’ve looked at me in disbelief.
“You really listen to this?”
“Yup! and it’ll give you one HECK of a workout.”