Gold’s Gym reveals the ultimate workout song for 2013
Drumroll, please … The Ultimate Workout Song for 2013 is … Machinehead by Bush.
That’s right, the rock song from an era when Bill Clinton was president and grunge was majorly in style is a timeless gym classic. After all, the lyrics do tell us to “breathe in, breathe out,” right?
Men’s Health and Gold’s Gym hosted a Battle of the Bands-type tournament to determine which song is best for motivating you when you got a 1/2 mile left on the treadmill or are staring down that last set of weights. All songs recorded by a band, duo or group in the past 50 years were game for the competition.
Bush’s 1996 track Machinehead was nominated by BMX biker Mike Spinner and it beat out 63 other get-you-pumped-up workout songs. Spinner dishes that the song is his “go-to” warm-up track.
In the end, the other songs that made it into the Final Four of the bracket-based competition included Sir-Mix-A-Lot’s Baby Got Back, a tribute to glutes; Party Rock Anthem by LMFAO and Till I Collapse by Eminem featuring Nate Dogg.
Song nominations came from celebs including actor Will Ferrell, athlete Gabby Reece and rapper 50 Cent, as well as members of Gold’s Gym and readers of Men’s Health. The submissions were whittled down to 64 by celebrity trainers and fitness experts and more than 40,000 votes were cast before the winning song was determined.
We love the competition because it gives us new song ideas for our workout playlists.
“There’s no doubt that music has become an integral part of the workout experience. In fact, studies have shown that music can increase the intensity of a workout by up to 15 percent,” said Dave Reiseman, vice president of communications for Gold’s Gym, said in a news release.
As part of the competition, Gold’s Gym is donating $5,000 to Spinner’s charity of choice, which happens to be the Coastal Boxer Rescue of Florida, a nonprofit that takes in abused, abandoned and neglected boxers and finds permanent homes for them.
Need some music motivation?
- Get an iPod Nano 16GB at Wal-Mart for $139.
- Got a lot of music? Get an Apple 160 GB Hard Drive portable media player from Best Buy. It can stash up to 40,000 songs.
- Need some ear buds that stay put when you work-out? Try the Sony Sport Over-the-Ear buds from Sam’s Club.
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