There are certain songs that completely enhance my mood and make me want to hit the gym. I love to run to house music and lift to hip hop. No matter what, I need to have something constantly on that makes me want to dance. Studies prove that the rhythmic speed of your tunes influence your athletic performance. Fast-paced music is great for cardio (it makes sense that I like to run to house music). The best pump-it-up music should be between 120-140 beats per minute. If you really want to check to see if you’re maximizing your playlist for your workout routine, simply count the beats in the song or you can use a Windows BPM calculator.

Choose your favorite, most high-energy song to start and finish your cardio routine. This will help you get going and entice you to finish. Just when you think you can’t go anymore, the song will come on reinforcing you to fight to the end.

Here are some of my personal favorite, up-beat songs that get me to the finish line:

Dynamite by Taio Curz

I'm In Love by Alex Gaudino

S & M by Rihanna

Stereo Love by Edward Maya & Vika Jigulina

Gettin' Over You by David Guetta

Over by Drake