A major factor in making workouts bearable and even pleasant for me is music.

Whenever I am exercising on the treadmill or lifting weights, I am listening to a specially selected mix of songs on my MobiBlu. The music helps me zone out so that I am not concentrating on the physical torture I am putting my body through or on the length of time that it is taking me.

The time thing is especially important, because after a short period of time I start thinking of excuses to stop.
Consider the phrase “A watched kettle never boils”.

If you are watching the clock while your exercise it will take forever. In fact I have noticed that I am much less motivated to do pilates via an instructional DVD than I am doing weights or walking on the treadmill. I think that is because I have been listening to the instructor guiding me on the pilates moves and hence I am concentrating on not only the physical effort I am going through but also how long it is taking me. Now that I have the moves down, and I can take visual clues from the TV and from my wife whom is almost always joining me. I am going to start listening to music while I do pilates and see if my attitude toward it improves.

Portable MP3 players are fantastic for this purpose. Steer clear of ones that have a hard drive, as they generally don’t suffer kindly to vibrations and being banged around. For your exercise MP3 player, select one that stores your songs on a memory chip. While they will have lower capacity, there are no mechanical parts and should endure your workouts much more successfully. My MP3 player of choice is the MobiBlu because of it tiny size and a convenient cord that hangs around your neck.

As to the type of music you should listen to while you exercise, its really up to you. Pick tracks that you will be able to focus on. Songs that will take your mind off the physical activity that you are engaged in.

For me personally, I look for one of two things in a song in order for it to make it onto my exercise play list (if a song has both, even better):

• A rapid beat that will in itself motivate me to move in time with the music.
• Positive or inspirational lyrics.

So dig into your music collection and select music that you think will make your exercise routing more endurable, transfer them to your computer and upload them to your MP3 player. You’ll find that your exercise routine goes by much quicker and that you begin to enjoy the work out more.