Listening to music while exercising is very common, especially with teens, but the genre, tempo, volume etc. of the music you listen to have an impact on your performance. Studies show that this impact varies from person to person, with some doing better without music while others performing at their best with high tempo loud music. Finding where you stand on this spectrumcan help your progress and make your workouts even more fun. But this discovery doesn’t happen overnight. You’ll have to try out new kinds of music at different volumes to find what works best for you, and once a particular type keeps you motivated, focused, and sometimes distracted from pain, you’ve found your exercise playlist. 

The creation of my gym playlist is always an ongoing process, since I keep adding every new song that I like to the same playlist, irrespective of the genre. This has caused me to end up with a mix of rock, white girl music, metal, pop, Indian music, and almost every mainstream song. But I like the mix, it surprises me with a completely different song each time. I also have practically remembered the lyrics to all 131(and counting) songs which helps me mouth the song to distract myself while hitting legs.

So if you’re like me and want a bit of everything, or if you’re a hardcore AC/DC or Taylor Swift fan, spend some time making a playlist that suits you. Now go out there and crush it.