Top 50 Pump Up / Motivational Songs (10-1)

10) Gonna Fly Now - Rocky Orchestra (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 - Eminem
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
"Don't call it a comeback."  And from there, my man rips off a tirade that never fails to get me going. One of my favorite lines: "Destruction, terror and mayhem. Pass me a sissy soft sucka, I'll slay him."  I wonder they use these lyrics in a speech therapy class somewhere.  Say “sissy soft sucka” three times fast - but I digress.  I dare you to listen to this song without throwing hook, uppercut combo. 

6) Run This Town – Jay Z, Kanye West, Rihanna
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
When you look up "passion" in the dictionary, a picture of MJB should be next to it. I've written an entire blog post about how much I love this song.  Do yourself a favor and watch this YouTube video of her singing this song live.  And then find something to do with your life about which you can feel as passionately as Mary does this song. THE lyric: "it's up to us to choose, whether we win or lose, and I choose to win!"

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 feeling 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
"That, that, that, that, that don't kill me, will only make me stronger". Now, isn't that, that, that, that, that the truth!  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
It's the hook, friends. The hook! "All I do is win, win, win no matter what. I got money on my mind. I can never get enough. When I step into the building, everybody's hands go up. And they stay there!"  Every day I wake up resolved to make this true about my life. "All I do is win, win, win no matter what."  The beat is fast and the message is clear.  And if you quit running while this song is playing, you'd better have a pulled hammy. 

1) Victory - Puff Daddy 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!