Never gonna give you up!

There’s a film that I’m sure most people haven’t seen, about Beethoven’s life. It starred Gary Oldman and came out in the 90s. I remember him having a conversation where he asked someone “what is music?”, to which the man responded something about being exalted. Beethoven calls his meaningless response and tells him that you hear a march and you’re not going to feel exalted. No, you are likely to feel like marching. When you hear music, it’s the composer bringing you into his state of mind.

So what does that have to do with fitness? Well, there’s a reason why so many people wear headphones while working out, or why so many gyms think they need to play so-loud-you-can’t-hear-yourself-think music during group classes. It’s because music has such a powerful effect on people that it can be a great motivator (or de-motivator, in my case for group exercise classes).

When i’m really struggling to make an effort in my morning exercise, I often put on an upbeat or exciting piece of music (one of my faves) and I find myself able to push myself just that little bit I need to get in a warmup, and that usually does the trick to get me ready for an actual workout.

You’ll also see a lot of people wearing headphones while out running, and it’s definitely something I needed every time I was out for the first year or so that I started running. I still often use music, but once I was in the habit of running, I found I often enjoyed hearing the sounds of nature and being that ‘one with nature’.

So really, this is a long-winded way of saying that find some music that you like, that you have a connection to. It doesn’t have to be pop-music, but something that you can use to lift your spirits and help push you to achieve your goal for that day. You’ll notice a lot of exercise tracks give you the beats per minute (bpm) of the song. And this can be a way to mix-up your exercise – move a little faster to the beat for a few minutes and then a little slower. And as in my own ‘exciting’ example above – it doesn’t have to be what others listen to – I have that history of gaming, and I can recall the excitement of the stage leading to a big boss fight, and so that connection helps push me to keep moving and ‘be the hero’. Find what works for you – don’t be afraid to experiment!

I hope that offers some help. If you already use music as part of your fitness inspiration, please feel free to share with us here or on facebook!