Music at the gym

Before I started going to the gym, I always wondered why people wore headphones in the there. You would see them working out hard, but with massive headphones on. Then I begin my weightloss journey and I realised why… Music in most gyms is trash.

Now I am sure that some gyms play great music, but I have yet to step into one that does. For example, the first gym I went to (and still do) would play the radio… If you are from Northern Ireland you will know that all morning radio is the absolute worst, the dirt worst. Just plain terrible. How could you be working out and listen to a DJ try and baby feed someone the answers to a competition? It would drive me mad, and then when they would actually play some music, I would be happy, bouncing my head about enjoying the song as I exercised and then just as you know the good bit is coming… They finish the song early so they can talk to you. NO! JUST KEEP PLAYING THE SONG. It was then I realised, I had to get myself some headphones too, which was slightly sad, as I enjoyed engaging with others if they walked past or were beside me. I felt as if I was distancing myself from them by putting the headphones.

Late evening workout

Music helps me concentrate in the gym and in some occasions keep me going. If I can’t handle looking at the clock and struggling for another 5 minutes, I would break the workout down and say to myself ‘just get to that mile or so many calories’. With music, I had another method, ‘get to the end of the song and see where you are’. Then I would hope that the next song that would come on would get me going again and distract me from all of the stress I was putting my body under.

When I went to a bigger gym I had hoped that the music would be better and that I wouldn’t need to worry about headphones and I could use their music to distract or motivate me through my workout… Nope. A different issue arose for me, the music was just, for the most part, God awful. I am not a music snob in the slightest, but this music was just not my jam. I couldn’t get into most of the songs they played and instead of me hoping that the music would distract me from the workout, the workout was distracting me from the music. Which is a different approach I guess! So back to the headphones, I went until this very day.

 

Stupid radio making my ears warm…

 

I was speaking to a few people about music and the gym when I revealed what music I listen to while in the gym. Some were bemused at my choices. I would listen to indie stuff that would keep me going because of their fun beats. Whereas they would listen to heavy stuff as it made them use their energy to the utmost. But for me, I couldn’t do that as I would start my reps too fast or cycle/row too fast and then lose all focus as I wasn’t concentrating on the set plan I had devised for myself that day. So I go to indie, rock and he even some Michael Jackson, as the songs would go at a good pace, but not make me go slower in my movements. It is all personal preferences after all!

I then realised that my music playlist is completely different from my running playlist. Where I would listen to podcasts or just one artist on a run. In the gym, I need an actual playlist of different artists to keep me going. I found that interesting, as it had to be from the continuous movement of running that would keep me wanting something consistent in my head. Whereas when I workout in the gym, I am doing speedwork, short hills, weights and circuits, so I would need constant change and short bursts of things. I would probably have to look into that more!

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