Pure Adrenaline

Nothing makes a workout great like your favorite music. It makes the best workouts even better, and the not-so-great ones bearable. Listening to the right music when you’re working out will give you a huge boost of adrenaline and power you through better than any fake high you could get from a preworkout.

Music does something that no caffeine boost can: it taps into the deepest parts of your mind and breaks through that psychological block that’s holding you back. It shuts out any negative thoughts that might be lingering in your head, and flips that little switch that takes you from “I can’t” to “I totally can”.

Music is what gets me through everything in life, and exercise is no exception. Music and exercise both allow me to process my emotions, thoughts, and stress better, and together they’re an unstoppable combination.

Styles of music are like food groups; you get something different yet important out of each one. Just like with workouts, variety is important when it comes to music too, which is why I’ve got a type of music and a playlist for every possible mood. And it’s why my workout playlist is a mix of different genres.

Sometimes I want something to dance to so I can have dance breaks in between sets. Other times I need something heavy and scream-y to give me that extra push when my body’s about to give out (and to match the fact that I’m internally screaming).

But no matter what kind of music I’m working out to, it’s gotta be intense.

Intensity is everything to me when I’m working out. It’s what gives me that rush of adrenaline and mental fortitude I need to power through. It’s what gives me my strength.

What’s interesting about intensity is that it can look so many different ways, and it can come from different aspects of a song.

Sometimes the intensity comes from the upbeat music.

And upbeat music can sound like a lot of different things. It can sound like a heavy metal guitar solo, some of my favorites being Hybrid Earth, Dementia, and Snowblood by Erra. It can also sound like a solid dance beat, like Katie MAC’s Best You Ever Had and In Love With The Letdown. And it can even sound like a mix of both, like pretty much every song by Polyphia (Look But Don’t Touch, O.D., Icronic, and Champagne are just a few of my favorites).

Sometimes the intensity comes from the vocals.

Anything by Erra and Ghost Atlas is guaranteed to have loud, rough, intense vocals. And both bands always manage to strike the perfect balance of epic screams, like in Erra’s Warrior, and high-energy clean vocals, like in Ghost Atlas’ Technicolor (which in my opinion is the most underrated Ghost Atlas song ever).

Sometimes the intensity comes from the lyrics.

Most people assume that intense lyrics are always automatically angry. But that’s not true. Sometimes they are angry, like in Erra’s Disarray, but they can also be uplifting, like in HAYL’s I Will, or emotionally validating, like in Chey Rose’s For A Friend.

And other times, the intensity comes from a combination of all of the above.

I find that the songs that are a combination of intensity on all fronts are the ultimate workout jams. That’s what I love most about every song on this playlist. Each one has its own combination of elements that makes it intense, and they prove that intensity comes in many forms. It’s emotion. It’s anger. It’s euphoria. It's honesty. It’s empowerment. It’s validation. It’s strength. It's perseverance. It's everything you need, both in and outside of the gym.

This playlist combines all of my most intense, dance-y, head-banging, high-energy jams. And together, they make up the perfect adrenaline rush that can break through any physical or mental block.

I hope you love it just as much as I do!