Perfecting The Ultimate Cardio Playlist

Honestly, I should be the spokes person for how hard it is to stay motivated to exercise. It probably doesn't help that Australia is currently experiencing one of the coldest winters on record, because who wouldn't rather stay at home in an oversized hoodie with a bowl of carbs than go outside in the rain and get sweaty? But one thing that keeps me getting to the gym on some of the coldest mornings is an awesome playlist. Having a kick-ass playlist that will literally kick your ass will not only get you moving off the couch but also moving some of that winter weight, and who doesn't want that?


Every good gym playlist should have good balance of slow, medium and fast tracks. All of them are important for different parts of the workout. I'm going to share one of my most recent cardio playlists and break it down to explain what's on there and why it works.


Warm Up
This part of the playlist is pretty self explanatory - songs to warm up to. I generally go for songs that have a slightly slower tempo, but are still somewhat upbeat and make you want to start moving.

Where Are U Now ft. Justin Bieber - Skrillex & Diplo
She's Kinda Hot - 5 Seconds Of Summer
Cool For The Summer - Demi Lovato
Drag Me Down - One Direction
The Night Is Still Young - Nicki Minaj

The Hard Part
It's time to turn up the notch, and like the name suggests, it won't be easy. This part of the workout I always use fast tempo, up-beat songs to pick up speed and challenge myself. Can you run for the extended remix of your favourite song? Can you match beat-for-step jogging on the cross trainer on the hardest setting? It's all on you.

Fun ft. Chris Brown - Pitbull
Outside ft. Ellie Goulding - Calvin Harris
BO$$ - Fifth Harmony
Work B!tch - Britney Spears
She Wolf (Falling To Pieces) ft. Sia - David Guetta
Warrior - Ke$ha
Five More Hours - Chris Brown & Deorro
I Want You To Know ft. Selena Gomez - Zedd
Run The World (Girls) - Beyonce
Shake It Off - Taylor Swift
Pretty Girls - Britney Spears & Iggy Azalea

Cool Down
The blood, sweat and tears are over, so this part of the playlist should slow you down and get you through the easiest and one of the most important parts - stretching!

Doing It - Charli XCX
Lean On ft. MO - Major Lazer & DJ Snake
Good For You ft. A$AP Rocky - Selena Gomez

Keep in mind, playlists are quite a personal thing and what works for one person won't necessarily
be what works for another - so here are a few useful tips and ideas to get you started:

- You can extend the playlist for a longer work out of course, or create a weights playlist by using an extended warm up/cool down playlist.

-  If you find your favourite songs aren't so fast-paced use youtube or tumblr to find a cool new remix; it'll be like listening to a whole new song!

 I definitely recommend having a few playlists around you can use at a time because repeating the same one day by day will get old fast. Playing around with older songs and different genres is always good, some of my favourite playlist themes include:

> Fall Out Boy, and only Fall Out Boy.
> 2011 Anthems
> Songs from 2011
> Best of the 80's - Janet Jackson, Spandau Ballet, Duran Duran
> Good Charlotte vs 5 Seconds Of Summer
> Leading ladies - Beyonce, Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus

Have some more awesome ideas? Post them in the comments! I'm always looking for more suggestions. I hope this postl was helpful, or at least gave you some new ideas. Thanks for reading!

 - Nikki.