I am relatively new to the music downloading thing. I'm kind of a traditionalist when it comes to my media. I like to watch TV and listen to the radio. I still buy newspapers. Hell, I didn't even warm to CDs until the early 2000s! So it was hardly a surprise that I resisted MP3s and downloads for so long. Surely I rationalized my technophobia by asserting that music loses its "warmth" when it's compressed and digitalized. But I've now owned an iPod for about a year, and I have to admit I really dig it. It's cool to be able to buy new music instantly. And considering that my entire CD collection was recently, uh, taken without my permission, downloading has been a good way to start re-building my tune stockpile.
I play my iPod in the car, and sometimes I play it at work when I'm eating lunch. But mostly I play it at the gym. It's become a necessity. The music they actually play at the gym is hardly conducive to heavy lifting. Half the time it's the local Top 40 station, and half the time it's one of those "light hits of the '70s and '80s" formats. That will not do. A man needs to get himself fired up for a set of deadlifts or heavy bench presses. This cannot be accomplished with Jimmy Buffet or the Black Eyed Peas coming through the house speakers. I will not set a personal record on the clean and press while The Script is moping into my eardrums. If I am to pull 400 pounds off the floor within the next nine months, Jackson Browne will be no help. To lift heavy iron, a man needs heavy music. So I've been forced to take matters into my own hands. I downloaded a bunch of songs that would get me fired up, and I put them together to make a lifting playlist. The list is essentially comprised of aggressive, powerful tunes that stir the inner beast. I originally thought it would be mostly metal tunes, but the "harder" side of punk seems to have the edge at the moment. Through trial and error, I've made additions, deletions, and re-arrangements. Here's what works for right now:
Black Flag- "Rise Above"
Agent Orange - "Bloodstains"
Danzig- "Mother"
Motorhead- "Ace of Spades"
Zero Boys- "Civilization’s Dying"
Anti-Nowhere League- "Animal"
Turbonegro- "Good Head"
Pantera- "Fucking Hostile"
Fear- "Let’s Have a War"
Guns N’ Roses- "My Michelle"
The Dils- "I Hate the Rich"
Adolescents - "Creatures"
Motorhead- "Bomber"
Anti-Nowhere League- "I Hate People"
Dead Boys- "Sonic Reducer"
Iggy and the Stooges- "Search and Destroy"
The Clash- "1977"
I have found that for medium rep deadlifting, nothing gets me dialed in like "Bloodstains". For max pulls I turn to "Rise Above" or "Fucking Hostile". "Mother" and "Ace of Spades" are my favorites for the bench press – unless I’m doing high reps in which case I go with "Civilization’s Dying". "Search and Destroy" is not the balls-out rage inducer I expected it to be – I'll blame David Bowie for that. Some of these songs, like "I Hate the Rich", were "borrowed" from my California Punk playlist and ended up staying on. "1977" was pulled from my '77 Punk playlist.
This list is very much a work in progress, and all suggestions for further additions will be highly appreciated. Stay hungry!
11 comments:
Thats an impressive list of music... 2/3 of THE SOCIALS are currently involved in a fitness program with Julie and Juice both taking Krav-Maga at a location that allows the class to hook up their own i pods during class time. So at least cool music is hitting the sound system there, if even for a minute.
I've said it before, but Pantera's Vulgar Display Of Power gets my vote as the best weightlifting album of all-time. Cowboys from Hell bench-press horses.
Think I am gonna give Vulgar Display a shot. A full album of lifting inspiration might give me the juice to bust some plateaus! After all, tomorrow is leg day.
It'll take your reps to "A New Level."
Do you still listen to Metallica?
Early Metallica - specifically their 2nd, 3rd, and 4th albums - is awesome lifting music. I don't always like the long intros for working out, but I love all that shit. Gonna download some of those tunes for my playlist!
Lars is the reason why Metallica didn't make my 25. That and the collective haircut shit.
All good Metallica is pre haircuts. You could call that their shark jumping moment if they hadn't already jumped the shark by doing the black album. I'm always put off by drummers who think they're the star of the band.
"Why don't you go and sue Napster, you little Danish twat!"
I'm gonna have to second (third?) Vulgar Display of Power as one of the best powerlifting records out there. Punk rock is usually my go to but the first five or six tracks of this one are indirectly responsible for some of my PRs.
Weirdly enough, Dropkick Murphys make my list too. I'm not a huge fan when I'm not picking up heavy shit, but at the gym they work for me. Oh, and Minor Threat works wonders as well. Nice list, man.
Oh yeah, I gotta get some Minor Threat added to the playlist! Good call! Haven't listened to the Murphys in years, but they'd fit in pretty nice too.
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