Tuesday, March 13, 2012

My Top 10 "Pump Up" Songs - 3/13/12

Working out is so often a mind over matter deal. The right music can make all the difference.  It puts me in the right frame of mind to push myself to the limit and beyond. This is my list of favorites.  I hope you enjoy this list and feel free to add your own favorites in the comments!

And if you want to see how these songs helped me lose 80 pounds, click to check out my FB page!


10) Gonna Fly Now - Bill Conti
This is the mother of all pump up songs and probably should be much higher than #10. For anyone who has seen a Rocky movie, which must be at least every American over 30, this song will make you run through a brick wall. As Eddie Murphy once said though, don't watch the movie (or listen to this song) before going out to a bar if you're 5'2" and weigh a buck twenty. It may cause you to write a check that your ass can't cash!



9) Touched a Dream - R Kelly
This is not a conventional pump up type of song. It's not especially fast- more of a ballad than a "danceable" song. But, I like R&B songs in which the singer "goes off". The passion that R Kelly brings to this song is inspirational to me, gets me in gear!



8) Lose Yourself - Enimem
Gotta love the guitar riff in this song. Always makes me run faster, because I just can't help but set my stride to it. Love the message too. This whole song is a challenge. Will you rise to the occasion, or will you let your opportunity slip away? If you've seen the move 8 Mile, the song is even more meaningful.



7) Mama Said Knock You Out - LL Cool J
When I here this song, I think of the video with Uncle L in the boxing ring. I wonder they use these lyrics in a speech therapy class somewhere. "Pass me a sissy, soft, sucka. I'll slay him". Say that three times fast - but I digress. But, I dare you to hear this song without throwing hook, uppercut combo.


6) Run This Town - Jay Z, Rihanna, Kanye West
Another song that gives me "an attitude" when I hear it. Who doesn't want to be running things? I love the combination of voices here - RiRi, Jigga and Crazy Kanye - especially the little hook that RiRi sings throughout.



5) No More Drama - Mary J. Blige
I've written a entire blog about this song alone.  It speaks for itself!



4) Cupid Shuffle - Cupid
This one is personal for me as it's one of my kids' favorite songs. When Cupid says "Down, down, do your dance," I think of my little girl saying "down, down, do-wa-day" and smile. If I'm feel especially frisky, I'll even lean "to the right, to the right, to the right, to the right" as I'm running!



3) Stronger - Kanye West
"Th-th-th-that that don't kill me, will only make me stronger". You know it's true. The best and the electronic vocals make to want to run faster or push out a couple extra reps.



2) All I Do Is Win - DJ Khaled
"All I do is win, win, win no matter what". What else do you need to hear? And if you quit running while this song is playing, you better have a pulled hammy. The beat is fast and the message is clear.



1) Victory - P Diddy and the Family
This song is no nursery rhyme, but I love the "attitude" in the song. Attitude in a rap song? Really? Not exactly uncommon, it works really well for me here.  And the combination of the Rocky sample and the hip- hop beats is unstoppable - at least, that's the way I feel when I'm running to it!



No comments:

Post a Comment