Heart Beats

What are the best songs for running and cycling?

by My Finish Line

This week we collaborated with former England and British Lions rugby star (and now celebrated DJ) James Haskell on a bespoke My Finish Line training mix. Ironically, as much as his career has gone from entertaining the masses at Twickenham to entertaining the masses in Ibiza, this collaboration also showed that we at My Finish Line know the close relationship that exists between music and sports performance. We aren’t the only ones.

Extra Reps and Music

As study by researchers Karageorghis and Priest (2012) 1 concluded that fast-paced music aided performance where increased distance travelled or repetitions were required. And this is where we at My Finish Line, being the music and sports buffs that we are, got our anoraks on even further. A study by Hodges (2009) 2 stated that even the type of music had a bearing, and that beats per minute had a significant effect on the psychological approach. In other words, to get you going for your tempo run, move over Mozart and step forward Calvin Harris.

To get a best performance for cycling (which we can extrapolate here through our own experiences for running also, but this actual study 3 was done on cyclists), the best tempo was between 125 and 140 beats per minute, and remarkably even finer for a treadmill run (123-131bpm).

So, as a gift to our fantastic members – here is a list: (thanks to Jog FM for the info)

125 bpm:

Lady GaGa – Paparazzi

Daft Punk – Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger

Swedsh House Mafia – Greyhound

130 bpm:

David Guetta – Sexy B*tch

Will.i.am – Scream & Shout

Calvin Harris – Stars Come Out

135 bpm:

Darude - Sandstorm

Gina G – Ooh Aah…Just a Little Bit

Calvin Harris – Ready For The Weekend

140 bpm:

Justin Bieber & Skrillex – Where are Ü Now

Sash – Encore Une Fois

Calvin Harris – I’m Not Alone

Does it work? Give it a try and let us know!