Whether you listen to metal or vintage techno, when it comes to working out, music is a great motivator. Here are a few options to at least keep your eardrums fit.

YO ADRIAN!
Fans of training montages may want to have the Rocky theme in their portable to get that last burst of energy while working out. Or go for Vangelis’ theme for Chariots of Fire — though it may just make you run in fake slow-motion. Kenny Loggin’s Top Gun tune “Danger Zone” can be useful, too: in lieu of an F-14, use a bicycle, and if fantasizing about being Val Kilmer’s wingman helps, do that too.

LOSE YOUR GUT,
NOT YOUR EDGE
Now that the iPod has revived the mix, a lot of DJs and electronic artists are putting together workout mixes. Probably the peak of the trend (or the co-opting by The Man, depending on how you see it) arrived when Nike started releasing mixes commissioned from mostly electronic artists, such as The Crystal Method and LCD Soundsystem. Both of these can be downloaded via iTunes or acquired in CD form at your fave discmonger.

BE LIKE A HIP
RICHARD SIMMONS
Grant Lawrence’s CBC Radio 3 Podcast has put together two all-Canadian, all-independent workout mixes that will get even the laziest indie kid moving. “Sweatin’ to the Indies” (episode #93) and “Sweatin’ to the Indies 2” (episode #126) feature uptempo offerings ranging from Death From Above 1979 to the Riff Randells. Download them at http://radio3.cbc.ca.

CAN EXCLAMATION MARKS BURN FAT?
Though celebrity-workout mixes are mostly a half-baked PR move to keep celebs in the public eye (as well as a tool for iTunes to sell more music), some do make sense and may indicate that these people are human after all. In other cases, they seem to have been crafted by the celeb’s 11-year-old niece. For proof, Google “Jennifer Garner’s workout mix.” It’s, like, totally OMG!!!

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