There are some Thursday morning when I just don’t want to get out of bed, and I DEFINITELY don’t want to go teach spin class.

But I always do.

And my music always gets me through. There have even been studies and articles written (like this one by the NY Times) about the fact that music can motivate and help us push through fatigue during workouts.

Why did this come up when I typed in "working out to music" in Google images?

Some of the songs that I love when I spin or workout are songs that I would be embarrassed to admit that I love to listen to…Like Sexy and I know it.

Super stupid song, but between the beat and the phrase “Sexy and I know it,” I just get super pumped up and always find myself pushing harder and forgetting about the fact that the sun isn’t even up yet and my muscles are sore from the leg workout the day before.

There is just something about certain songs that makes you push harder – that motivates you to push yourself beyond the initial fatigue. There are just some songs that can get you through a workout even when you would rather be snuggled under your comforter in bed!

For me these songs usually have a strong beat and motivational lyrics…I prefer hip hop, pop, rap and some country…anything mainstream…yes I’m lame and definitely don’t have good musical taste.

Some of the songs that I’ve found motivating during my workouts recently are: Sweat by Snoop Dog, Sexy and I know it by LMFAO, Stronger by Kanye West, Remember the Name by Fort Minor, Country Girl by Luke Bryan, Click Click Boom by Saliva and Good Feeling by Flo Rida.

There are many more, but those are the most recent (and admitting I like some of them is slightly embarrassing) motivational songs that I’ve include on my spin playlists. I’ve also included songs like Who let the dog’s out and Bad Touch…but those were purely for amusement purposes. Making people laugh is also a great way to help them get through the hour and a half of spin.

Do you find that music motivates you to push through a workout even when you don’t really want to be there? What songs do you listen to? Anything embarrassing!?!