YOUR MOTIVATION IS low and the gym is the last place you feel like being at this time of year, right? Fear not, help is at hand.
Step 1: Grab your music player.
Step 2: Download the following songs.
Step 3: Belt through a 45-minute session like your life depended on it.
Step 4: Hit the town…
We know you’re sick of the same list of ‘Eye of the Tiger’, ‘Thunderstruck’, and ‘Til I Collapse’ so we’ve shaken it up a little, with a mix of old and new.
Prepare to be inspired.
1) Survivor – Burning Heart
Who could ever forget that soundtrack to Rocky IV? This 80s classic peaked at #2 in the Billboard Hot 100 way back then but it’s lost absolutely none of its appeal in the three decades since. It’s just under four minutes long, so perfect for a killer warm-up to get you ready for battle.
2) Eric Prydz – Call On Me
We just couldn’t resist this ultimate cheesy number from a whole decade ago — wow, we’re pushing on! Granted, the video might be better than the actual lyrics (which number a whopping three for the entire duration). The song reached number one in Ireland so we obviously love it. This will kill three minutes, or as long as it should take you to complete your first set of exercises.
3) Vince DiCola – Training Montage
We’re back in the ring and want to kill someone. But keep those fists to yourself please. It’s high-intensity stuff and exactly the type of thing you need to get yourself pumped for training when there’s very little to motivate you besides the pub at this time of year.
This is another four-minute belter but careful not to overdo it too soon.
4) AC/DC – You Shook Me All Night Long
We’re a bit alternative here at TheScore.ie so we went for one of AC/DC’s more upbeat hell-raisers. Forget the fact it was later adapted by Celine Dion and Anastacia and even featured in the dreadful American sitcom Mike and Molly. Remember this song for the classic it was.
5) Guns ‘n’ Roses – Welcome To The Jungle
It would be unforgivable to omit this. There’s a bit of a theme emerging with all the 80s tracks and hectic music videos but a song voted the greatest hard rock song of all time by VH1 is surely worth a spin?
6) Kanye West – Stronger
He makes no apologies for the fact that this one samples heavily from Daft Punk’s “Harder Better Faster Stronger,” but no playlist is complete without Kanye, even if the song is now a staggering seven years old. It’s fast, it’s high tempo, it has that whole fitness element to it, it’s five minutes long. We’re over the halfway point of the session… and closer to that first quart.
7) Avicii – Levels (with an Irish twist)
You’ve all heard the more mainstream version but how many of you know the one that involves a bodhrán and tin whistle? Quality stuff.
8) Calvin Harris – Summer
You’ve probably danced to this more than lifted weights but there’s no denying it’s one of those haul-your-ass-off-the-sofa songs. Just try to maintain the same intensity you packed your gym bag with for another hour or so.
9) Rage against the Machine – Killing In The Name Of
This 90s classic will make you just feel like breaking stuff when you hear it. It has been described as “a howling, expletive-driven tirade against the ills of American society” and is a great little closing gym song to help you unleash the inner monster.
10) Tupac – Life Goes On
A random entry but no playlist is complete without a bit of old-school rap. It also runs to over five minutes and is the perfect ending to your workout because you’ll be bopping straight to the changing rooms and into the nightclub.
