The Secret’s Out: Gym Goers Listen to ‘Cheesy’ Pop Music.
July 4, 2008 by Liz Lewis
Filed under Exercise, Fitness, Happy Living Tip, Humor, Misc., Psychology
So you’re at the gym and everyone around you has earplugs in. Ever wonder what they are listening to? Well, here’s your chance.
According to a survey conducted by Fitness First, the UK’s largest gym operator, it’s pretty much ‘cheesy pop music’ – music that you’d never admit to listening to normally.
Those surveyed favored the following…
- Eye of the tiger – Survivor
- Holiday – Madonna
- Jump – Van Halen
- The Final Countdown – Europe
- Dancing Queen – Abba
- Life is a roller coaster – Ronan Keating
- I should be so lucky – Kylie
- Love Machine – Girls Aloud
- Umbrella – Rihanna
- Disco Queen – Hot Chocolate
Turns out ‘Eye of the Tiger’, ‘Jump’, and ‘The Final Countdown’ inspires male gym-goers the most, whereas female gym-goers preferred ‘Dancing Queen’ and ‘Life is a Roller Coaster’.
Me - I only listen to ’Into the Great Wide Open’ by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers when tackling the crosstrainer.
But I’m thinking of changing. The new ‘Mama Mia’ soundtrack is calling my name….
So Healthbolt readers, what’s your secret gym music? Does ‘cheesy pop music’ inspire your workout? Or do you have more cultured tastes?
(source)
Marky-Mark and the Funky Bunch – Good Vibrations…THERE I said it…BAH!!! :\
There’s a metal tribute album to Abba that is really good. You can probably torrent the tracks, but here’s a sampling:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_yotJKuIx4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kta-lkump8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcFfzz-y7k8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBOg_g6BxOo
Ha! I’m a podcast and audiobook boy, putting me into the 4% camp so I’m a real abberation. When I do listen to music, it’s techno & trance because they’re great background and don’t become (any more) repetitive.
I wonder if this is a matter of finding the least common denominator. These are individual songs on an iPod which could store hundreds or thousands of tracks so you’d expect a huge overlap yet the “top” song was only on 19% of iPods. Perhaps most people listen to music which is personal and interesting but which isn’t shared so doesn’t appear on the list. The only things which get several hits are the cheesy schlock.
Final Countdown and Rainbow are both on my workout playlist! I also rock out to Pink, Carrie Underwood, and Miranda Lambert – most of which I’d admit to in real life.
Okay, okay, Jay-Z is on there too.
I love the cheesy pop.
all the time
Cheesy pop is perfect workout music. Good beats, uncomplicated lyrics, mood-enhancing happiness – it’s all good.
And for the record, Final Countdown is crazy-inspiring to me. Heh.
I listen to mostly indie rock and some hardcore rock. Anythign that will get my heart pumping and help me fire up when tryin to put up some big weight!
Looks like we’ve got an eclectic group of music fans here…
Scott, thanks for sharing the links to ‘metal Abba’…interesting but think I’ll stick to the original.
Adrian, good to hear one of us is using exercising the gray matter at the same time — what sort of podcasts and audibooks?? Was just reading an interesting article where a scientist was suggesting that people should start forming ‘walking book clubs’ …. although his idea was to read the book first and then walk with others and discuss it…
Thanks everyone for letting us into your gym music…
Hey Liz,
The Teaching Company has some great lectures which give a good overview of the state of many modern sciences and are always entertaining. Audible.com has a huge range of books in fiction and non-fiction.
The podcasts that I listen to right now are “The Sceptic’s Guide to the Universe”, “Quirks and Quarks”, “Point of Inquiry”, “Democracy Now” and the very funny “Bugle Podcast” (from timesonline.co.uk), with a half-dozen others that deal with my work. I think you’ll find that the sheer number of great podcasts can be overwhelming. If you don’t listen to them at the gym, there’s always the commute.
I’ve never been able to work out and listen to music but it looks like I’m in the real minority here! I think it’s more important that everyone finds out what works for them than to try to press into some mould. With iPods, we can all listen to our own quirky collections and everyone is happy, if a little anti-social
I like pop. But i mainly listen to audio books as well. Boring i know but i learn so much through audiobooks.
Adrian, sounds like you listen to some serious stuff while exercising. Thanks for the heads up about The Teaching Company – will have to check it out, although it sounds like something I’m more likely to listen to commuting rather than exercising…
As I said before, it’s a good idea to exercise the brain as well as the muscle…plus like Mr Calorie Counter’s pointed out, you can learn so much through audiobooks….
That list doesn’t match what is in my Ipod at all. COurse, I’ve got a bit of everything. My favorite gym music is anything with a fast beat-it makes a huge difference on how hard I work out.