Bold and Determined

Get Up Off Your Ass, Enjoy Your Life and Get Out of the 9-5 Jive Forever

The Benefits of Music and Weight Training

By 87 Comments

music-dsFor the longest time I didn't train to my own music.

My iPod (given to me by a friend years before) was stolen from my car when some “youth” hoodlums busted the window and I never bothered to buy a new one.

I didn't like the idea of shuffling through the music to find the perfect song, messing with the volume and other settings instead of focusing on my workout.

I was wrong.

I purchased an MP3 player a couple months ago and I noticed an absolutely huge change in the quality of my training. Far more aggressive, lifting heavier and taking shorter rests.

To get pumped up I walk around the gym with my mood enhancing tunes until I'm ready to attack the weights and then it's on!

Music is a necessity in the gym. The right music takes you to a new level. The right music will turn your workout from ‘ok' or ‘good' to ‘monster‘.

Music makes a huge difference. Music makes ALL the difference. Music that moves you and makes you want to move puts you in a more aggressive state of mind and helps you hit the weights harder. Music fires you up more than anything.

It wouldn't matter so much if one were able to work out in silence or to the simple clanking of weights, but that is impossible in almost any gym. All gyms play music for teenage girls, the most inappropriate workout music known to man. Even trying to ignore that baloney it still affects your workout in a negative way. Working out to your own music is the only solution unless you like working out to teeny pop.

Heavy music that pumps you up, Ballads that remind you of pretty little Mary Sue in the 7th grade and flood you with emotion, Hip Hop that has an animal beat, music that transports you into another world, music that FIRES YOU UP - it all helps to push us further in the gym.

The right music can transport you into beast mode in the gym. Music is a way to manufacture a feeling. To feel energized listen to energetic music. To feel happy listen to happy music. To feel sad listen to sad music. To get into the mindset of a gym warrior, listen to a warrior's music.

Gym time is no time to be a music snob. Pick the music that pumps you up, not the music that makes you cooler and smarter than everyone else.

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The Official BOLD & DETERMINED Gym Playlist:

Hard and Heavy:

Pantera : Mouth for War / A New Level / I'm Broken

Hatebreed : I Will Be Heard / Facing What Consumes You

Slayer : Here Comes the Pain

Metal is the gym music. The above songs were just made to pump iron to.

Rock n Roll:

AC/DC : If You Want Blood (You've Got It)

Godsmack : I Stand Alone

Coheed and Cambria : Welcome Home

These rock songs are full of fire and energy.

Hip Hop:

Necro ft. Jamey Jasta : Push it to the Limit / Push it to the Limit Version 2 (one of the top 5 best lifting songs of all time)

Tech N9ne : The Beast / Riotmaker

Achozen : Deuces

Ill Bill ft. Immortal Technique and Max Cavalera : War is My Destiny

BOLD & DETERMINED hates rap but these songs are full of fire.

Ballads / Soft:

Dwight Yokam : A Thousand Miles From Nowhere

Sun Kil Moon : Duk Koo Kim

Guns N Roses : Don't Cry

These songs are great for light-weight days or cardio days. These aren't pump-up songs, these are songs for steady-state work.

Fun:

Survivor : Eye of the Tiger (Rocky Theme Song)

Hulk Hogan : I Am a Real American

Nine Inch Nails : Closer (Seven Remix)

These songs make you want to get up and kill and do it with a smile.

Check out one of these songs before gym time and get FIRED UP!

Post your favorite gym tunes in the comment section.

Comments

  1. An artist named Stic……he has a mixtape called The Workout.

    Its an entire rap cd devoted clearly to working out.

    I know you said you don’t like rap music but I highly recommend you at least check it out.

    Especially the INTRO!!!!

  2. Hey man would love to see that “How to get over a breakup” post you mentioned in the poll not so long ago!

    Keep up the awesome work with this blog! Keeps me motivated as a motherf**cker!

  3. Music tempo has the same effect on driving:-

    http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn2032-fast-music-linked-to-car-crashes.html

    I find it difficult to concentrate with music on though, music before/between sets seems to work well.

    • I’ll believe that. I used to drive on the highways like a maniac when I was both pumped on adrenaline and playing certain songs.

      re: I find it difficult to concentrate with music on though, music before/between sets seems to work well.

      Gym tunes are used to pump you up for the set, during the set I don’t even hear the music - unless it’s lightweight, pro-longed set and then the rhythm of the music becomes the rhythm of the set as if it were a dance.

  4. I listen to EPIC battle music from some video games and action movies.

    Good Epic Battle Songs:
    O Fortuna-Carl Off
    Duel of the Fates-John Williams
    O Verona-Craig Armstrong
    He’s A Pirate-Hans Zimmer

    • Will,

      I don’t care for the music but that video fired me up. He’s clearly a lifter too. Good video.

  6. It’s not music, but this short clip always fires me up! It represents the point in time when you stop being scared, and make up your mind to go the distance no matter what.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMZNrE8TMng

    • Jeff,

      Great clip. Rocky (1-6) is one of the favorites at BOLD & DETERMINED. Especially Rocky Balboa.

  8. I’m a big fan of “Let the Bodies Hit the Floor” by Drowning Pool and the new album “American Capitalist” by Five Finger Death Punch:

    Let the Bodies Hit the Floor:
    http://grooveshark.com/s/Bodies+Remix+/3yyywM?src=5

    American Capitalist:
    http://grooveshark.com/album/American+Capitalist/7038224

    I’ve never been much a death metal fan, but these songs have changed my perspective.

  9. Kataklysm- “Taking the world by storm”

    Winds of plague- “A cold day in hell”

    Amon Amarth- “Twilight of the thundergod

    Just a few off my mp3 I can think of that get me pumped. That is, if you like the hardcore metal stuff

  11. brainwave entrainment, usually gamma or beta level works quite good for physical activities.

    • I gotta be honest with you partner, I don’t know what brainwave entertainment is.

      • To those unfamiliar, brainwave entrainment works on the idea that by producing certain sounds at certain frequencies, your brain will match those frequencies. Each frequency has it’s own function, from high activity, insight or levels of sleeping.

        Not sure if there is any actual effect on the brain or not, but that’s the gist of it.

  12. I’m getting my timeless rock ‘n roll together on my MP3 player before I start the 30 days of discipline. Thought I’d share some of these gems I’ve been listening to:

    Rebel Rebel by David Bowie:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4SLXaF-lIc

    Born to Be Wild by Steppenwolf:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMbATaj7Il8

    20th Century Boy by T. Rex:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ylww2dOW7fg

    Cold Shot by Stevie Ray Vaughan:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2ou-WIxfLY&ob=av2e

    Gimme Danger by Iggy Pop & The Stooges:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9_hegaKOaY

    Miss You (ext. version) by the Rolling Stones:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDaC0hKzpmg

    Sharp Dressed Man by ZZ Top:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pn2-b_opVTo

    No More Mr. Guy by Alice Cooper:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0YrXjeRSoE

    Roadhouse Blues (live) by the Doors:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJ9GDiYU0-I

  13. Try out Onward to Victory by Icepick, the song makes me feel like an animal, song is also used by UFC heavyweight Andrei Arlovski for his entrances

  14. Fuck yeah. I thankfully have a gym where I actually CAN work out in silence/clanking (and they’re the only gym in my area that also allows dropping the bar), but whenever I’m forced to work out in another gym, I’ve got heavy metal playing on my MP3 player.

  19. That’s cool for you kids. If you need music to motivate you to work out, you should probably just do something else. I like the sound of my heart beatin’ though my chest when I’m 8 plates in the hole. Used to use my ipod religiously but hated the power it had over me, now I lift in silence.

    • This song makes you lift like a hungry juggernaut on a mission OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWW:
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAg6whO8gs4

  24. If there’s a soundtrack to your website it will probably be Pantera’s album Vulgar Display Of Power.

  25. This site has given me so much, so here are a couple songs that fire me up consistently.

    Here you go guys,

    Disturbed- get physco
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1VF0XdhYCw

    Pain redefined
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Psy_Ohh4sH8

    The night
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyctTU_0FiM

    Saliva- click, click, boom
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Psy_Ohh4sH8

    Busta Rymes feat linkin park- we made it
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYxzRYMrcVc

    Kid Rock- bawitdaba
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSz95zceQfQ

    there’s a couple to get you started. If this music fires you up and you want a couple more let me know

  27. Rammstein - Sonne

    Best song to workout on, get’s you pumped up like a german war machine

    Eminem - Lose Yourself

    When times are tough get back to working out you pussy!

  28. Rammstein Sonne

    Gets you pumped up like a german warrior
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIBeYoP9Wi0

    Eminem - Lose Yourself

    When times are tough, get in the gym you pussy
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmXumtgwtak

  29. Young Jeezy - I Luv It

    Eminem - Till I Collapse

    Nas - N.Y. State Of Mind

    DMX - Intro

    Roy Jones Jr. - Can’t Be Touched

  30. One of my favourite heavy songs is “Zevuun harts” (Evil Eye) by the Mongolian heavy metal band Hurd (Speed), from their album “Uncomparable” (2005).

    http://www.xyyp.mn/a/OItkUFPNKn/ (lyrics page, plays the song automatically, lyrics are in Mongolian)

    Another song I like off that same album is “Alt” (Gold):

    http://www.xyyp.mn/a/QzBSvacJxE/

    I did a pretty intense workout to these songs while reading your blog.

  33. Hey mate,

    After remembering this article from a while back, i thought i’d vouch for listening to only one song in the gym.

    I’ve listened to a lot of shit, but i find i come back to the track Mombasa by Hans Zimmer, from the Inception soundtrack. Very fast paced and dynamic, brings good intensity to my workouts. From about 2 minutes 50 onwards is epic.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ux6AxOnGZRw

    Cheers

  41. Nothing makes me squat and deadlift more than disturbed ” down with the sickness”
    It used to be played in my old gym before it shut down. To this day when I hear it I still get flash backs of walking down the stairs into the legs room with my brother imagining our legs as hydraulic rams rather than legs. We were squatting 240kg’s back then
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fq3QmtV8vT0

  44. My favourite tune…. no, my entrance theme is Atreyu - Blow:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWrV6PqtLnA

  46. I like to listen to most slipknot songs while working out. It gets me really pumped up and gives me the extra 5% motivation and energy that I need for a great workout.

  47. If you haven’t heard of him yet, check out Rob Bailey and The Hustle Standard (Battle Tested). Just listening to his stuff makes me wanna fight.

  49. Vic,

    I highly suggest the industrial act 3Teeth hailing out of L.A. to feed those actin/myosin filaments. Check out the 3Teeth songs Pearls 2 Swine and Final Product.

    The artist Fear Factory can help you break through those plateaus with raw aggression intertwined with the transcendence of rebirth by shedding the tenacious husk of weakness and suffering.

    You should consider reviewing wireless Bluetooth headphones for lifting. There are a ton of options out there with only a few that are truly worthy of a fitness afficionado. I like the sweat proof Bluetooth Jaybird X2 earbuds myself.

  57. I used to listen to my own music while working out until I decided to give up listening to music all together. The first two weeks were slow and I really felt like listening to music to get that pump. A while after, I realized that music goes against the Spartan lifestyle and quitting made me more concentrated and I lifted heavier by honing and taming my thoughts rather than listen to garbage. Music is a distraction from reality. Simplify your lives gentlemen, it makes it that much simple.

  60. I love that you talked about how the right music can motivate you to your best self when working out in the gym. With that in mind, I guess I would have to choose rap music since it is what I have been addicted to right now. Thinking of rap music, I became curious just now regarding this genre since there is really a lot of content in each song. With that in mind, I will be checking online articles about this genre to help me better understand them.