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Finding Motivation In Music
By Keith Cannone

Many people, including yours truly, often lack the motivation to get off the couch.  How many times have you put on your workout clothes, sat down to tie your shoes, then suddenly said to yourself, “the producers of The Bachelor are counting on me to watch”    Oh, ok I guess I’m the only one. We mean well, we just lack that extra push, not only to get you to the gym, but to push you through a challenging, productive workout.  My suggestion to you is to find motivation in music.

Music can be one of the most powerful means of stirring up emotion, all types of emotions.  Music enables the body to release these emotions which we can translate into energy. Even if it is short term energy, it might just drive that extra rep on the bench press or that extra 10 minutes on that elliptical machine. 

Find music that moves you. Preferably music that reminds you of a great accomplishment, a great scene from a movie, or anything that gets your heart pumping and your blood flowing. Put together a play list, maybe even a few play lists, designed for different types of workouts.  If you’re not sure which songs to use, leave a pad and pencil in the car.  The next time you find yourself playing the air guitar and singing like a first round American Idol contestant, write it down. Its probably a good song to add to your play list.  Please wait till you stop driving, to write it down, you’re scaring me. You know who you are.  :) 

You don’t need to spend your hard earned cash on the latest mp3 player, a simple walkman or portable cd player will do. Yes, I said walkman…. For those who aren’t sure about costs, a basic mp3 player holds about 40 songs and costs about $80, a portable cd player costs around 25-50$. 

A few things to remember, change your play list of songs every once in a while. If you listen to those songs too often, it may diminish the moving effect it has on you.  Also, you can repeat the best song during the most intense part of your workout. Sometimes I will listen to it at both the start and finish of my workout. Listening to music will also keep you focused on the task at hand and block out most distractions at the gym, including those cheesy pick up lines by the water fountain.  Do not play your music too loud, it is not the volume that moves you, it’s the music. 

One last thing to remember people tend to talk louder than they realize when they are wearing headphones… Try not to sing out loud in the gym, just because you love “Eye of the Tiger” doesn’t mean everyone else wants to hear your rendition. All jokes aside, get started on your play list today, it works!

To Your Health,

Keith Cannone

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