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Top-10 workout song list sweats at 120 beats per minute

Posted by Tom Held on Dec. 20, 2011

fitness

Work out mixes are as individual as the millions of exercisers sweating into their ear buds.

Whether its dance beats, Euro pop or 80s classics, there is one universal rule: it has to bounce at 120 beats per minute.

Chris Lawhorn, a DJ and workout mixologist from Fort Wayne, Ind., has done the research to prove it. Lawhorn surveys his audience on the HundredRun.com site each month, and the roughly 5,000 votes he receives set the top 10 playlist for coming work out sessions.

His findings from three years of surveys:

“It might seem obvious, but the vast majority of what folks listen to in the gym are up-tempo, pop songs. To that end, if a song is above 120 beats per minute and made it into the Top 40, it will almost always get voted into our monthly top 10.

“It's almost mostly women who look for workout music.  While both sexes exercise to music, guys tend to use songs they already have and are more interested in aggressive tones.  To that end, they'll listen to hip-hop--no matter how slow--as long as it sounds intense.  But, women are much more proactive about seeking out new songs, looking for suggestions, and matching their workouts to a certain BPM.”

To help readers find motivation in the winter months, Lawhorn surveyed his readers for a dark season top 10.

“The resulting10 list has a little of what you'd expect; and a little you might not.  Flo Rida, who's no stranger to this list, shows up in two recent tracks.  Enrique Iglesias continues his transition from balladeer to club rocker.  And Kelly Clarkson, after faltering with the first single off her new album, bounced back ferociously with the second.

As for surprises, they're mostly entries from folks relatively new on the dance scene.  Highlights include songs from Tim Berg (who remixed his own track under his Avicii moniker), Skrillex (whose collaboration with Kaskade is the first dubstep track ever the make the Top 10), and Wolfgang Gartner (who's made the chart with a little help from the Black Eyed Peas' Will.I.Am).

Here's the latest winter mix: