Creating a playlist of any kind is somewhat of a skill, whether you are trying to create flow to a party, cleaning your house, or a 10 mile run. Here are some helpful tips to creating a playlist that will get you through your toughest workouts, or calm you during a long stretching session.
*Know what your activity will be before you begin. Are you strength training for a half an hour? Are you doing cardio for a long or short amount of time, and are you doing intervals or a longer session at moderate intensity? Even the equipment you will use can play an important factor: elipse, track, bike? With the elipse or bike you can up the resistance to make each motion harder, so choosing a song with a slower beat is the perfect time to slow down your feet but turn up the resistance. Working in intervals like these will blast more calories by keeping your body guessing as to what's coming next, and music is a perfect motivator.
*Map out your workout for the playlist and how long you want your session to be. Maybe you need a jumpstart song to get you going right away, or maybe you want a slower song to get through your warm up and then kick it up a notch with a faster song. If you are planning to do intervals, choose songs with a faster tempo and place them after a song or two with a slower beat. If you know will be working on flexability about half way through your workout, choose a song you can sing along to in your head to distract yourself from any pain you may be feeling at that time. Then, make sure you have enough songs to get you through your whole workout so that you're not stuck with ten minutes left and no motivation music.
*Decide when you'll probably feel the most like quitting and put one of your favorite songs in that place. Maybe your goal is to run for a full hour, so at 50 minutes place a song with a fast beat, something that will pump you up and make you want to keep going! Maybe you know that squats will come towards the end of your workout and you need a little extra motivation to get you through those exercises. Once that song comes on, you'll want to continue your workout so that you can keep listening!
*Also remember that just because you may not like to listen to a song in the car home from work, doesn't mean it won't motivate you during your workouts. Songs with fast, strong beats can fill you with adrenaline so try out some different songs while your working out and see if they give you that burst of energy you need.
*Along the same lines, definately be willing to tweak your playlists after a trial workout or two. Sometimes you may find that a certain beat will make you want to slow down as opposed to speed up, or maybe a song you really like will actually bore you to tears during a workout. Be open to moving songs around, trying different combinations, or even continuously updating old playlists, keeping the songs that work and adding in new songs to spice it up a bit.
*Lastly, it's nice sometimes to have a song with a slower beat for your cool down, whether you're slowing down your cardio or stretching out after weights, the last song or two of your playlist should help your heart rate come back to normal and calm you down after a job well done.
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