My friend and I decided to start a 75 soft challenge a few weeks ago and one of my goals was to be more consistent in the gym. I aim to work out for at least 45 minutes 5 days per week and hit a goal of 8,000 steps per day. All of that would be no fun in silence, and I love a good playlist to keep things moving. Here are 5 songs that have been keeping my workouts going over the last few weeks.

1. Algo Contigo — Gente de Zona

When rowing or cycling (my preferred forms of cardio), I need fast, upbeat songs that make the time on the machines fly by. If the music is too slow, I become painfully aware that I have been rowing for approximately four minutes and somehow still have another twenty to go. This song does exactly what I need it to do. The beat is catchy enough that I naturally want to move with it, and there’s enough energy throughout the song that I don’t find myself slowing down halfway through. On the rower especially, I love having a song where I can settle into a rhythm and let the music carry me through a few hundred meters without thinking too hard about how much longer I have left.

Best for: Rowing, cycling, or any steady-state cardio where I need something upbeat to keep me moving.

2. Wipe Me Down — Boosie Badazz

This is the song that will get me through the last rep of my last set. Especially useful when I’m doing Bulgarian split squats, which I remain convinced were created specifically to humble even the most humble of people. When I’m weightlifting, I prefer songs that have a bit of a slower tempo with a HEAVY bass line. I don’t necessarily need a song that makes me want to move faster; I need a song that makes me feel like I can pick something heavy up one more time to really maximize my time under tension. The feeling of having bass pounding in my ears while it feels like I’m fighting for my life is unparalleled.

Best for: Heavy sets, Bulgarian split squats, and the point in the workout where I have started negotiating with myself.

3. A City on Fire — Fightstar

Another great song with a strong bassline, but this one fills a slightly different role in my workout. This is the song I put on when I’m somewhere in the middle of my lifting session and my enthusiasm is starting to fade: the first few exercises are done, but there are still several more to go, and suddenly resting for five minutes between sets starts sounding like the best idea in the world. This song comes on and suddenly I have a second wind to carry me through the rest of my gym session.

It has that heavier, more intense sound that works really well when I’m lifting because it makes everything feel more dramatic than it actually is. Am I simply doing another set of lat pulldowns at Planet Fitness? Yes. Does the song make me feel like I’m training for an intense fight scene in a Marvel movie? Also yes. This is very much my, “Okay girl, just a few more sets and then we get to move on to the next exercise,” song.

Best for: The middle of a lifting session when the initial gym motivation has worn off but the workout is nowhere near finished.

4. The London — Young Thug feat. J. Cole

It’s not a playlist from me if J. Cole isn’t somewhere on it. The London is one of my favorite songs to start a lifting session with because it has exactly the kind of energy I want when I’m easing into a workout: the tempo isn’t too fast, the bassline isn’t as aggressive as some of the other songs I love while lifting, and the entire song has a very relaxed confidence to it. It’s perfect for the days when getting to the gym was the hardest part — the motivation isn’t there, but you know you’ve got to start.

Sometimes I walk in ready to lift. Other times I walk in because I told myself I had to show up, and my brain has not yet caught up with that decision. On those days, I don’t need something screaming at me to work harder the second I put my headphones on. I need a song that lets me settle in, start my warm-up and do that first exercise as I gradually switch into workout mode.

Best for: The beginning of a lifting session, warm-up sets, and those days when making it through the gym doors was already an accomplishment.

5. APESHIT — THE CARTERS

This is the ultimate cardio song. You have Beyoncé. You have JAY-Z. You have the Migos ad-libs. And of course a strong bassline and an upbeat tempo. There is simply too much happening in this song for me to start thinking about how tired I am. For me, this is a song that is specifically reserved for the end of my cardio sessions. If I have a minute left on the StairMaster, a couple hundred meters left on the rowing machine, or I’m at that point in a cardio workout where I am staring at the countdown like I can somehow make the seconds move faster through sheer force of will, APESHIT is going on.

There are certain songs that are good for maintaining your pace, and then there are songs that make you want to find another gear. This is firmly in the second category for me. By the time that beat comes through my headphones, I’ve convinced myself that whatever amount of cardio I have left is completely manageable. Will I be exhausted when it ends? Probably. Will I finish? Absolutely.

Best for: The final push on the rower, StairMaster, bike—or whatever form of cardio has you questioning your life choices that day.

What songs keep you moving during your gym sessions? Did any of these make the cut? let me know down below!

With love,

Ash ♡