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WORKOUT PLAYLISTS

A Workout Playlist: But Would You Run To It?

Chris Lawhorn, the resident DJ at Marie Claire and Real Age, reviews 300-400 singles every month, trying to find the best new music for a workout. Every week, he’ll be posting an indie-centric playlist for MAGNET readers. To vote on upcoming tracks, hear this month’s contenders and find more resources for matching songs to the pace of your exercise routine, you can visit his workout music site.

Having inaugurated this column with an odd tempo, I thought I’d try to put together a more straightforward list. In order to run to the beat of a song, it usually has to be about 140 BPM or above. The trouble with this region, though, is that so few songs exist here naturally. There are lots of techno and metal songs here. And there are loads of 70 BPM songs that you can double up on. But, the higher you get—in terms of tempo—the fewer songs you have to pull from. Nevertheless, I dug up Jamaica’s most recent single, Wiz Khalifa’s admirable attempt to rap over a techno/club staple and Hot Chip’s fairly hands-off crack at “Rehab.”

You can check them out.

1.  Jamaica “I Think I Like U2” (156 BPM)
iTunes

2.  We Are Scientists “After Hours” (161 BPM)
iTunes

3.  Wiz Khalifa “Say Yeah” (144 BPM)
iTunes

4.  Spoon “You Got Yr Cherry Bomb” (143 BPM)
iTunes

5.  Amy Winehouse “Rehab (Hot Chip Remix)” (145 BPM)
iTunes