Favorite tunes boost body, spirit for better workout

Whether you run, bike, or lift, you probably do it to music. On a solo jog or in a crowded aerobics class, it doesn't matter: There's always a song out there to enhance your exercise efforts.

Music may be a personal thing, but when it comes to workout tunes, most exercise buffs like music that is familiar. This boils down to two things: classic rock and contemporary pop.

KRT CAMPUS Class participants hold the Garurasana, or eagle pose, in a recent Bikram Yoga class in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The 90-minute class consists of two full cycles of the same 26 postures in a quiet108-degree room.

“In the fitness world, music seems to work best if you're familiar with it, if you've previously experienced positive feelings with it,” says Greg Clancy, spokesman for Pro Motion, a Dallas company that makes music for the fitness industry. “Think of when you go to a concert and hear your favorite band, and they play two or three songs off the new album. But when they go into an old song, everyone responds. There's a mental and spiritual lift that translates physically.”

Music helps distract from the pain and the tedium of exercise, says aerobics class fan, Stephanie Danby, 23.

“Music takes your mind off of it,” she says. “If the music isn't there, you're thinking about lunging or whatever exercise you're trying to do, and it makes it harder. But if I'm listening to the beat, when the instructor says, ‘10 more,’ I think, ‘This will be finished when the chorus gets here,’ instead of thinking, “Oh no, 10!”

Music can also motivate, says Eric Johnson, 47, who lifts weights with CD player in tow.

“Music for me is part of the whole working-out experience — it's an emotional connect and an adrenaline thing, a catalyst” he says. “I can get pumped sometimes listening to a song. Music helps me get in the mood. Sometimes when you go in, you're mentally down, you're flat. ‘I don't feel like it, but I'm gonna go ahead and do it.’ The music helps me get to the place. It helps get me to go boom.”

Fitness instructors such as Will Amason are required not only to know fitness but music, too.

“The music is so important, it can make or break your class if you don't have good upbeat music or a quality sound system,” he says. “The volume, the cadence, the lyrics _ all of that is important when you're selecting music for an exercise class."

Terri Arends, athletic director at Premiere Athletic Club, stays tuned to the “personality” of each class.

“At 8:30 in the morning, the stereotype is the soccer moms—that's a different music style as opposed to 6 p.m., when you get a mix from students to younger clientele,” she says. “At 7 a.m., it's our 50-plus group; at noon, it's more corporate personalities. You're going to have music in some cases that's love-hate. You can't please them all. But there's something that will fit whatever type of energy.”

—KRT Campus

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TCU Daily Skiff © 2002