Workout Music for Cardiovascular Training

Workout music can get you energized and help you stay motivated when you hit the gym for a workout, the pavement for a job, or even the trail for a stroll. But, that's not all that workout music can do. With the tips in this article, you can create a workout music mix that will rhythmically cue you to get the most aerobic benefit from your exercise.

What Will A Workout Music Mix Do For Me?
It will make it possible for you to exercise smart without even thinking about it! Having different workout music for different parts of your workout will help you remember the ideal cardiovascular sequence of warming up, getting moving, pushing hard, slowing down, and cooling down. This workout plan will get you maximum caloric burn while minimizing the strain on your heart. This step by step guide will take you through planning a forty minute cardiovascular routine that will help you burn calories, lose fat, and boost your heart health. Once you've got your exercise routine set to workout music playlist or mix CD set up, you won't have to think about the structure of your workout ever again: just relax, exercise, and follow the music!

Warm Up
A good warm-up should include five minutes of gentle stretching to get your muscles warm and your blood moving before you start to seriously raise your heart rate. A full-body stretch at the start of your workout will help you prevent injuries and increase your flexibility. Let workout music help you time your warm-up: choose five to ten minutes of soothing music that will help you relax mentally and physically so that you can shake off your worries and focus on your fitness goals. If you're stumped for workout music to play during your warm-up, try some soft jazz, or a few songs by Erykah Badu.

Get Moving
Now, it's time to gradually raise your heart rate. By slowly bringing your heart rate up into your target zone, you're easing potential stress on all the muscles in your system. Start out with five minutes of gentle marching in place, then gradually escalate to a run. Cue yourself to speed up by adding a faster track to your workout music mix. Try starting out with a few light, upbeat tunes by an artist like Annie Lennox or The Talking Heads, then bring yourself up to serious speed with a fast disco track, some Tina Turner, or some Prince.

Ramp It Up
Once you're warm, it's time to move on to some workout music that will really get your blood pumping. You can use this time to run, to march in place, to jump around, or even to dance! To keep yourself pushing hard while building endurance, this is a great time to do what's called "interval training." That means alternating periods of very intense aerobic activity like running with periods of gentler, lower-intensity movement like walking. To naturally build intervals into your workout music, just alternate very fast songs with slightly slower songs. You'll switch back and forth between high and low intensity without even noticing! For high intensity workout music, try Kylie Minogue, Michael Jackson, Fischerspooner, Outkast, or anything with a serious beat. For lower intensity workout music, try Massive Attack, David Bowie, The Flaming Lips, or anything that will keep you engaged and energized while you wait for the next burst of activity. Start with twenty minutes of interval workout music. As you get more fit, challenge yourself by adding more songs to this section of your workout music mix.

Slow Down
A brief cool down will help you ease out of your workout to minimize the strain on your system, so end your workout music mix with a few songs that will encourage you to slowly return from a hard aerobic session to your normal movement pace. Include five minutes worth of songs that are a good speed for marching in place. Start out marching quickly, and gradually slow down until your heart has stopped pumping at an elevated rate. By slowing down gently instead of stopping abruptly, you'll minimize the stress on your heart muscle. Good workout music for this period will help you ease to a slower speed; try a bright up-tempo pop song followed by a slower rock ballad. Two songs by a favorite artist played back to back is a great way to bring the aerobic section of your workout music mix to a close; try "Holiday" and "La Isla Bonita" by Madonna.

Stretch It Out
Now the hard work is done, and it's time to luxuriate with a nice stretch and some workout music to soothe and uplift you. When you stretch, you minimize your risk of aches and muscle fatigue tomorrow, plus it will make you feel great. To mark your stretching time, add five final minutes of workout music that will leave you feeling refreshed and invigorated. During your stretch, your brain will flood with endorphins that make you feel great, and listening to a few great tracks will help you coast on that great feeling for hours to come. Try some gentle, minimalist electronica like Air or Brian Eno, or a few acoustic guitar tunes by Bob Dylan.