It's well known that a good playlist can help you stay motivated, and on track during a workout. In fact, there is a whole industry which revolves around creating music compilations for exercise routines. Usually, songs are grouped by BPM (Beats Per Minute); they can remain steady for an aerobic workout, or the tempo can start slower for warm-up, increase in steps, and then slow down again for cool-down. A good beat can keep your movement in time, keep you motivated, and help take your mind off the pain.
The vast majority of workout mixes are dance, or pop-centric for aerobics, and heavier rock for more demanding weightlifting programs. But what's a poor sensitive indie kid to do when they decide to get their body in shape? The number of indie workout compilations are few and far between. So I thought I would help out a bit and create one.
Of course, when you create your own playlists for your workouts you can tailor them to your exact tastes and specifications. This one contains enough music for a good hour-long workout and each song averages between 130 and 140 BPM. There are a good deal of small software applications available on the market to help you determine the BPM, but for this list, I used a simple web page where you just tap any key on your keyboard to the beat and it spits back the BPM. Hopefully, one day subscription music services will include much more metadata on songs including BPM. Then creating workout mixes will be an effortless endeavor.
In the meantime, if you dig indie music, put this on your portable player and take it for a jog.
The Playlist:
2. O Valencia! - The Decemberists
3. An Honest Mistake - The Bravery
4. Portions For Foxes - Rilo Kiley
6. Twin Cinema - The New Pornographers
7. Lights - I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness
9. Let The Cool Goddess Rust Away - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
10. Bokkie - Elefant
11. Take Me Out - Franz Ferdinand
13. Evil - Interpol