Build a Workout Mix: Successful Mix 7

If you’re not sure what this is about, start by heading HERE and reading the introduction to this section of my blog.

This mix is an altered version of Successful Mix 6 which can be found HERE

1. HARDER, BETTER, FASTER, STRONGER – Daft Punk

2. We R Who We R – Ke$ha

3. Crazy In Love – Beyonce

4. Paper Planes – M.I.A.

5. Boom Boom Pow – Black Eyed Peas

6. Right Hand Hi – Kid Sister

7. Dont Stop the Music – Rihanna

8. My Life Feat. Lil Wayne – The Game

Since my last mix was already mostly pop and electronic music, I decided to completely dedicate this mix to that theme. I replaced “Boom Boom Pow” with some Daft Punk, and moved it down to replace “Chariots of Fire”. I also added “Paper Planes” and “Dont Stop the Music” as my new strides and “Right Hand Hi” replacing the B’z. Finally I added The Game’s “My Life” to replace the Offspring to complete my all pop oriented mix.

Daft Punk’s “HARDER, BETTER, FASTER, STRONGER” is a perfect Warm Up because the song has this natural build to it. It starts off working with these separate ideas and then starts playing them off of one another ratcheting up the songs intensity. When the 2 minute mark hits and the song reaches its best sections, my body was primed for my run. Couldnt ask for more.

“We R Who We R” and “Crazy In Love” continue to do their jobs.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, strides are all about consistent beats and a bit of variety to keep you interested. “Paper Planes” is a natural fit, providing a cathartic beat juxtaposed with an amazing hook full of gunshots and M.I.A.’s soft vocals. This one is a winner.

If there was any stumble in my workout, it was probably “Boom Boom Pow“. While the song worked great as a mix opening warm up, it stumbles a bit as a mid-mix song. At this point I was getting pretty tired and was looking forward to taking things down a notch. This song just starts with a bit too much intensity for the slower paced song I was hoping for. Still, I made it work and it wasnt enough to ruin or breakup my workout so I’m still claiming success. If anything it made me run a little bit faster and longer.

Kid Sister’s “Right Hand Hi” works for one very solid reason. A MONSTER BEAT! One of the most ferocious bass beats I’ve heard in recent memory, the song works great as a burnout because your body just cant think of moving slowly to something this aggressive. One weakness is that I really wanted to break out dancing when I heard it, which unfortunately is not a good idea on a treadmill.

Rihanna songs are almost always good for strides. They have fun beats that keep you moving and often times allow for some great sing-alongs to keep you entertained for their entire length. Plus who doesnt love Rihanna’s voice?

For a cooldown I selected The Game’s “My Life”. Two reasons. The first is I’m a big fan of Lil Wayne’s autotuned singing (Sacrilegious I know). The second is that a good emotional story is a great way to end a run, encouraging you to finish out those last couple minutes by keeping your brain occupied.

So there you have it. Another run finished and another mix completed.

Build a Workout Burnout: Beyonce – Crazy In Love

Just like Ke$ha, I think a love for the artist goes a long way in making her songs work for Burnouts. That being said, the horns that make up the back bone of “Crazy In Love” should propel anyone forward for that extra push. I ran to this a couple times and every single time, the horns shamed be into running that extra mile. How can you slow down with those blaring in your ears?

Build a Workout Mix: Successful Mix 6

If you’re not sure what this is about, start by heading HERE and reading the introduction to this section of my blog.

This mix is an altered version of Successful Mix 5 which can be found HERE

1. Boom Boom Pow – Black Eyed Peas

2. We R Who We R – Ke$ha

3. Crazy In Love – Beyonce

4. Poison – Bell Biv Devoe

5. Chariots of Fire – Vangelis

6. IT’S SHOWTIME!! – B’z

7. Du Hast – Rammstein

8. Gone Away – The Offspring

Its been a MONTH since my last workout post! The lesson here is that sickness is the absolute enemy to working out. I actually ran this mix a month ago, then got sick before I could write about it. Ran the mix again a few weeks later and then again was sick. I finally ran this mix for a third time last night and I’m finally getting a chance to sit down and write about it after throwing “A Feast for Crows” across the room to stop myself from reading it long enough to work this up. (See my Current Obsession)

Obviously if you remember Successful Mix 5, much here has changed. If things are working, I’d like to add lots of new stuff so that the lists will continue to build and you in turn will have more tools to work with. The only songs that remain are “IT’S SHOWTIME!!” and “Du Hast” which have been moved to the latter half of the mix.

We start off with Warm Up “Boom Boom Pow” which worked perfectly for me. Each verse adds a bit to this ever changing futuristic beat. My body was constantly being pushed to run a little bit harder and a little bit faster which is EXACTLY what you want from a Warm Up. Plus that moment where Fergie asks Will.I.Am. to drop the beat pushed me into a frenzied dash. And excellent warm up for anyone more interested in electronic sounding music. I’ll also point out that I used the 4 minute radio edit rather than the 5 minute album version.

Continuing with the electronic theme, I rolled right into “We R Who We R” for my first stride. The song just has this pulsing driving beat that works perfectly. Ke$ha is definitely a hate it or love it kind of pop star so if you dont like Ke$ha, definitely dont add this to a mix. If you love Ke$ha, this song could actually work as both a Warm Up (cause it will get your blood pumping) or as a Burnout (cause Ke$ha love has an huge intensity about it! 

Rounding out the electronic theme of this opening fast paced mix is Beyonce’s “Crazy In Love”. Just like Ke$ha, I think a love for the artist goes a long way in making her songs work for Burnouts. That being said, the horns that make up the back bone of “Crazy In Love” should propel anyone forward for that extra push. I ran to this a couple times and every single time, the horns shamed be into running that extra mile. How can you slow down with those blaring in your ears?

My second stride for the run is the amazing “Poison”. I absolutely cannot listen to this song and not picture Mac from Always Sunny doing karate chops in the Dance-Off episode. Seriously go find that video if you’ve never seen it. The repetitive drum beat kept me moving at a constant place for its entire four minute length while the different vocalists and playful nature of the song keeps your mind occupied along with your body.

This song was literally made for running to! I mean thats what the movie is about right? I will say that I still associate this song most with Will Ferrell doing is acrobatics in Old School. A perfect Warm Up because not only does it build at a soft slow pace, it motivates your psyche. Its very important that you listen to music that almost forces you to want to win and succeed because otherwise theres nothing stopping you from quitting. To be honest, making this your alarm when you wake up the mornings you plan to run couldnt hurt.

“IT’S SHOWTIME!!” and “Du Hast” I’ve already spoke about and each song still served me well near the end of my run.

Finally, I selected “Gone Away” for my cool down. I really wanted to use this song for a stride or burnout but it wasnt well paced enough for the former and not energetic enough for the latter. I think it works well as a cool down because it has that end of the movie feeling to it. There’s an element of exhaustion in the delivery that coincides well with those final walking minutes after a long run. If you still have breathe, feel free to sing along!

So thats it for this long delay mix post! Hopefully the next one wont need another month to go up. Im sure my belly is hoping the same.

 

 

Build a Workout Mix: Successful Mix 5

If you’re not sure what this is about, start by heading HERE and reading the introduction to this section of my blog.

This mix is an altered version of Successful Mix 4 which you can find HERE

1. One-Winged Angel (orchestral version) – Nobuo Uematsu

2. Du Hast – Rammstein

3. IT’S SHOWTIME!! – B’z 2003

4. Aaj Ki Raat – A R Rahman

5. My Body Is A Cage – Arcade Fire

6. Totalimmortal – AFI

7. Baby Boy – Beyoncé

8. Path Vol 2 – Apocalyptica

9. Aint No Sunshine – Bill Withers

10. Down to the River to Pray – Alison Krauss

The first thing you’ll notice about this mix is that it is LONGER! It’s a good idea that you constantly push yourself to run further and faster. To run longer, obviously you want to add more songs but you also want to have more strides since this is the portion where you can gain some steady productivity. Faster requires more burnouts to encourage you to run your hardest. Lets look at the changes.

I started off with a new warm up. Most people who know “One-Winged Angel” would immediately think of burnout. The final boss music for one of the most beloved videogame villain of all time. I chose the lighter orchestral version specifically so that I could use it as a warm up. The song does have a slowly progressive nature as it spins and winds toward something grander. This allowed my body to start off at a gentler pace and slowly work my way faster. It never got me running at top speed but it definitely prepared me for the additional ten minutes on the end of this run.

Industrial Metal and specifically Rammstein music lends itself VERY WELL to the stride. Strides are all about keeping a steady pacing which is most easily found in dance music. Metal rhythms are also great because a good guitar riff works much the same way. “Du Hast” works to combine these two elements into something great. The metal side adds lots of little guitar flourishes to keep your brain occupied and the dance side adds little digital noises like at 2:04. I must also mention that the drums are beast!

Continuing this so far all new mix, we have a new burnout in the form of B’z’s all caps “IT’S SHOWTIME!!” How can a song with a title in all caps and two exclamation points not be a burnout? This song was used a lot in Japan for national sporting events and even the 2004 Olympics. The song was specifically made to ramp you up and thats exactly what it does!

I was then treated to ANOTHER new stride! Here’s another from the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack. “Aaj Ki Raat” is a monster of a stride topping out at over 6 minutes! It kept me going with its simple danceable beat and trance inducing singers mesmerizing me for the entire time. So pretty!

We finally get to some familiar ground with the newly located “My Body is a Cage” warm up which I absolutely loved in my last run and couldnt bear to part with yet.

This was followed by two other recent staples, the burnout “Totalimmortal” and the stride “Baby Boy” which both continue to succeed completely. I was definitely getting tired by the time I got to “Baby Boy” and thought I’d slow to a walk. The beat was so good I had to keep running for another four minutes!

“Path Volume 2” by Apocalyptica is one of the rare occasions where the band is accompanied by a singer. This song blew my mind the first time I heard it years ago and I knew it would work perfectly as a burnout. I mentioned how tired I was at the beginning of “Baby Boy” and this point I was ready to collapse. The haunting vocals and insane chugging cellos made it impossible for me to slow down and there I was off sprinting all over again!

Wow. What a beautiful cool down! Bill Withers sexy voice and thumping guitar slowed me way down so that I could stretch out my sore muscles walking the last couple minute of my workout in perfect bliss.

“Aint No Sunshine” was originally intended to finish off the mix. This leads to another lesson for a successful mix: ALWAYS CARRY SOME BACKUPS! In this case, my legs just werent ready to stop walking. They were really tensing up and cramping and I needed another couple minutes to walk it off. Thankfully I always pack some spares so I simply pulled out this wonderful acapella spiritual that I first heard on the O’Brother Where Art Thou? soundtrack and walked off those extra couple minutes in peace. This song is the perfect way to cool down after a long and tiresome run.

Build a Workout Stride: Beyonce – Baby Boy

Beyonce’s “Baby Boy” just has one of those BEATS!! So addictive! It could keep me occupied for hours so obviously it kept my body in full stride for its entire four minute length.

Build a Workout Mix: Successful Mix 4

If you’re not sure what this is about, start by heading HERE and reading the introduction to this section of my blog.

I didnt have much time to reorganize my mix tonight and the gym was closing in 25 minutes so I had to shorten it too! But it was still a success. Heres the tracklist:

1. My Body Is a Cage – Arcade Fire

2. Fuckin’ In the Bushes – Oasis

3. Alive & Amplified – The Mooney Suzuki

4. Baby Boy – Beyonce

5. The Dragon Boy – Joe Hisaishi

6. Totalimmortal – AFI

7. Intergalactic – Beastie Boys

8. Invocation – …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead

As you can see I had to remove “…To Die For” near the end in order to finish on time. Mainly everything stayed the same and worked just as well. The two changes were both successes.

I knew “My Body is a Cage” would be a PERFECT warm up! The song has this natural build that slowly adds instruments over the first couple minutes. By the time the drums are crashing and the organ is blaring, your body can go into a full on run!

Beyonce’s “Baby Boy” just has one of those BEATS!! So addictive! It could keep me occupied for hours so obviously it kept my body in full stride for its entire four minute length.