I love to move my body. I really do. A while back, an anonymous commenter responded to one of my posts: "Why the treadmill? Why not go out for a walk, go dancing, garden, hike, ride a bike..... Why "exercise" when you can "move" and "have fun"?
For me, semantics aside, they're one in the same. I actually LIKE the treadmill. But, I also like running outside, biking, swimming, dancing, and anything else that gets my body moving.
Of course, the right conditions do help. . . Below is a view from a treadmill I used on vacation this summer (that's the Mediterranean).
See the treadmill in the foreground?
Another day, I took a dip in the sea. Heaven! (That's me bobbing around about six feet from the deck).
And, back in New York, who could pass up a bike ride that offered a vista like this? (I do not recommend taking pictures while cycling, though!)
The point is that moving your body can and should be a positive experience. If it's not, can you find a way to make it so? Hiking, gardening, doing cartwheels in your yard. . . whatever it has to be.
And, don't forget about the music. Research shows that folks who listen to music while moving their bodies move longer and faster than those who don't. Listening to music has also shown to increase the mood enhancement typically associated with physical activity. I'd be lying if I said it wasn't about the music for me--I get on the treadmill, or the elliptical, or the bike, put on my headphones, and I'm instantly transported to Drstaceyny's private dance party. Trust me, it rocks. ; )
With that in mind, I've compiled a list of my favorite "Move Your Body" songs. These are the songs that get me going, and hopefully you'll find a couple that work for you. The disclaimer? Remember, I'm not really a lyrics person, and I apologize if any of the lyrics are offensive to anyone--I just like the beat.
Direct from my Ipod. . .
Ashley Parker Angel--Let You Go
Atomic Boys--Can't Stop the Rock
Avril Lavigne--Girlfriend
Barenaked Ladies--The Old Apartment, One Week
Beatfactory & Massiv4--Sugar, Sugar
Bob Sinclair--Rock this Party
Big Head Todd & the Monsters--Boom Boom
Black Eyed Peas--Pump It, Request Line (w/Macy Gray)
Bruce Springsteen--I'm On Fire
Buck Cherry--Crazy Bitch
Carrie Underwood--Before He Cheats
Cascada--Every Time We Touch
Christina Aguilera--Candyman
Def Leppard--Pour Some Sugar On Me
DMX--Party Up
Eagles of Death--Miss Alissa, I Only Want You
Eminem--Lose Yourself
Faith Hill--Mississippi Girl
Fatboy Slim--Wonderful Night
Garth Brooks--Staning Outside the Fire
George Michael--Faith, Freedom
Good Charlotte--The Anthem
Green Day--American Idiot, Holiday
Guster--Great Escape, Bury Me
J-kwon--Tipsy
Janet Jackson--All Nite
Jet--Are You Going to Be My Girl?
Jonas Brothers--SOS
Justin Timberlake--Rock Your Body, Sexy Back
Juvenile--Back That Azz Up
Kanye West--Jesus Walks
Kelly Clarson--Walk Away, Since You've Been Gone (Remixes)
The Killers--Mr. Brightside
Le Click--Call Me
Lenny Kravitz--American Woman
Lynyrd Skynyrd--Sweet Home Alabama
Madonna-Like A Prayer
Me First & The Gimmes--(really anything--they're a punk rock group that speed up slow songs)
Mickey Avalon--Jane Fonda
Mika--Big Girls
Monroes--What Do All the People Know?
Natasha Bedingfield--Unwritten
Nelly--Hot in Here
Nikki Blonsky, etc.--You Can't Stop the Beat
Nitty--Nasty Girl
The Notorious B.I.G.--Mo Money, Mo Problems
NWA--100 Miles & Running
Outkast--Hey Ya!
Pink--U & Ur Hand, Trouble
Papa Roach--To Be Loved
Pearl Jam--Corduroy
Red Nex--Cotton Eyed Joe
Rick Springfield--Jessie's Girl
Rob Base--It Takes Two
Shakira--Hips Don't Lie
Tom Petty--You Wreck Me, American Girl
Usher--Yeah!
Van Halen--Why Can't This Be Love
Violent Femmes--Blister in the Sun
White Stripes--Fell in Love w/a Girl
Will Smith--Switch
If you have any other heart-pumping, move-your-body songs, feel free to post in the comments, so we can all enjoy. Here's to moving our bodies with joy. . .
17 comments:
What beautiful pics Drstacey. It's nice to get to learn a little bit about you from this post, like your taste in music. Hmm, I might have to put some of those songs on my mp3 to get me pumping, although a nice view of the Med. while running would also be helpful.
Ray of Light by Madonna.
I love your list!
And what a great view from the treadmill. I have my elliptical set up so I look out towards the woods. I get visits from all kinds of birds and critters, including deer and foxes.
And the endorphins. . . oh man. That's the only way I can get high any more. ;-)
I've been getting myself moving more and more, but it's a gradual thing. I recently moved to a "downtown" area of a suburb of Chicago that has lots of places to walk and explore, so I've been doing that. It hurts to start, but I know it will get better.
Your music list is great!!
There it is again. Excercise as a panacea. I have suffered from anxiety my whole life and go through periods of depression. At my most, most depressed (taking meds too) I weighed my least and worked out 2 hours a day, every day. I was trying to control anxiety. It didn't help but I looked good (I was quite a bit younger too) which is to say I was very thin and lean. I felt awful but who cares, I wore a size 4 and was glad about that. The gym at least kept me in touch with human beings so I wouln't go all feral. Today I am still depressed and work out about 90 minutes a day, 5 days a week. I don't look that great, or feel that great. Excercise is a chore like cleaning the house or mowing the lawn and I am very good at doing my chores. I think many people don't work out because it is a chore and lots of people don't clean their house religiously either.
I love to move my body too, drstacey. And, like you, I like to do it on machines (even more than outside). For me, being on a machine gives me the freedom to let my mind go and to focus on how great the movement feels (without watching for obstacles, worrying about balance, etc). I love it.
And it always involves music.
It was a huge shift for me when exercise went from being about my weight to being about the way I feel in my skin. Thanks for celebrating that here.
ae
Here's my current playlist (quite a few of your choices are on it)
U + Ur Hand ~ P!nk
Ain't No Other Man ~ Christina Aguilera
Switch ~ Will Smith
My Humps ~ Black Eyed Peas
Toxix ~ Britney Spears
Fat Bottomed Girls ~ Queen
Song for the Dumped ~ Ben Folds Five
Pump It ~ Black Eyed Peas
Salvation ~ Cranberries
Saturday Night's Alright (for Fighting) ~ Elton John
Take Me Out ~ Franz Ferdinand
Baby Got Back ~ Sir Mix Alot
Used to be a Lover, but Now I'm a Fighter ~ The Woggles
Cold Hard Bitch ~ JET
Tokyo Storm Warning ~ Elvis Costello & the Attractions
I'm Still Standing ~ Elton John
Gigantic ~ The Pixies
I love coming up with new mixes, so I thought I'd share!
Get This Party Started ~ Black Eyed Peas
Hung Up ~ Madonna
Praise You ~ Fatboy Slim
Unbelievable ~ EMF
Walking on the Sun ~ Smashmouth
Crazy ~ Britney Spears (oh, I feel kind bad about suggesting that, but it was a good song from her happier days)
So what is your favorite exercise? I absolutely love hiking. Especially up the mountains in NM where it's so beautiful. I think scenery makes exercise enjoyable. It's sad, but before I was bulimic, I would love working out and go to the gym constantly. It was something I had to do and felt great. I don't know, maybe I'm just extra lazy right now. But there's nothing like that high you get after a proper workout.
I also have some of the same songs! Others I enjoy are:
Touch the Sky - Kanye West
Since U Been Gone - K. Clarkson
Change Clothes - JayZ et al
Numb/Encore - JayZ, Linkin Park
Hips Dont Lie - Shakira
I'm Coming Out - D. Ross
Who Knew - Pink
Promiscuous - N. Furtado
I Knew You Were Waiting - Aretha and George (don't laugh)
I Wanna Dance with Somebody Whitney (from the good ole days)
Love is a Battlefield - P. Benatar
SOS-Rihanna
When you were Young - Killers
Tell Me What We're Gonna Do now - J. Stone with Common
Go - Common
Breakout - Swing out sister (my top 5 fave 80s song)
Seriously, I could trade songs all day instead of work. Dr. S - procrastination enabler! :)
Oh yeah, anything Pat Benetar and Madonna, Like a Prayer!!
Great tips! I agree that exercise should be fun. Any kind of techno music also works wonders, especially on the treadmill.
What about Stronger by Kanye West?
Michael Jackson, Don't stop till you get enough
I love the treddy, I try to run anywhere from 3 to 8 ks a day. Running songs include:
Fame by Irene Cara
Sexyback by JT
Glamorous by Fergie
Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger by Daft Punk
Funky Cold Medina by Tone Loc
Loving it all
I've come late to this discussion, but i think it's a great idea. I've just discovered your blog lately and i'm really getting into it - thanks. I've been working out to these tunes:
1. Adelaide / The Bites
2. F*cking Boyfriend / The Bird and The Bee
3. Such Great Heights / The Postal Service
4. My Life / Erykah Badu
5. Letter / New Estate
6. Consolation Prizes / Phoenix
7. I'm Clean / The New Season
8. Make out Fall out Make up / Love is All
9. Your Woman Has Just Been Sighted / Nate Dogg
10. Running Up That Hill / Kate Bush
11. Tonight I Have To Leave It / Shout Out Louds
12. A Tree Falls / Ellie Come Home
13. Joy Division vs Missy Elliott Mash-up / Dscio
14. Napoleon Says / Phoenix
15. Normandie / Shout Out Louds
16. Horse and I / Bat for Lashes
17. Busy Doing Nothing / Love is All
18. Stand Up! / Origami
19. Hit the North / The Fall
Like Anita, I use working out as a "cure" for everything. I work out on average 3-4 hours 6 days a week. I am very lean (almost TOO lean) and I wear a size 0, but I don't necessarily LOVE working out so much. I do love running, but I can't run all the time...I do the elliptical and jump rope as well. I like your playlist!
Even if it's more about being healthy than losing weight, I still dislike exercise because it's something I have to do in order to be an acceptable human. I do it grudgingly anyway. I'm with anita. What ever way you put it, working out is a chore. You work so you aren't a burden to society, you are nice to people so you aren't seen as antisocial, wear appropriate clothing, work out, eat vegetables then it's time to go to bed. And all those non food crap treats that are meant to make us feel better - like a new pair of heels (not possible when you have no cash), manicure, walk in the park (again, not possible without a lunch break and I don't even like parks that much). Society sanctioned treats. Go kiss my big behind. I'm sick of being the positive fit girl when it's a big fat lie.
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