Can Music Be Your Motivation?
Music can be the motivational platform that keeps you and your family moving forward during workouts or even stepping up your movement.
If you are unfamiliar with metabolic equivalents or METs, it's used as a way to measure the intensity of various exercises. The beats per minute (bpm) can easily be turned into miles per hour (mph), which encourages us to move more.
When we look at METs and stages of physical activity moderate physical excursion = 3-6 METs & vigorous physical excursion = 6+ METs.
I put together a list of songs that can get everyone moving more! If you have a favorite, you would like me to add to the list, please send me an email or message me.
2 mph = (great music to start moving)
1. Barenaked Ladies - "One Week" (102)
2. Black Eyed Peas- "Let's Get It Started" (108)
3. Imagine - "On Top of the World" (100)
4. Goo Goo Dolls - "Slide" (113)
5. Maroon 5 - "What Lovers Do" (110)
6. Nelly Furtado - "I'm Like a Bird" (90)
7. Colbi Caillat - "Brighter Than the Sun" (97)
8. Redbone - "Come and Get Your Love" (106)
9. Third Eye Blind - "Semi-Charmed Life" (102)
10. Beatles - "Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds" (65)
3 mph = 120-130 bpm (faster pace walking)
1. The Marvelettes - "Please Mr. Postman" (121)
2. Matchbox 20 - "She's So Mean" (120)
3. P!nk - "Raise Your Glass" (122)
4. Ke$ha - "Your Love Is My Drug" (120)
5. Aretha Franklin - "Respect" (120)
5. Shakira - "Waka Waka" (127)
6. The Bangles - "Manic Monday" (122)
7. Maroon 5 - "Sugar" (120)
8. Beatles - "Drive My Car" (122)
9. Train - "Drive By" (122)
10. Foster The People - "Pumped Up Kicks" (130)
4 mph = 140-160 bpm (picking up to a brisk walking/slow run)
1. Pharrell Williams - "Happy" (160)
2. Neon Trees - "Everybody Talks" (155)
3. The Beach Boys - "Surfin' U.S.A." (159)
4. Taylor Swift - "Shake It Off" (160)
5. The Beatles - "I Saw Her Standing There" (160)
6. The Rolling Stones - "Paint It Black" (160)
7. Smash Mouth - "I'm A Believer" (165)
8. Matchbox20 - "How Far We've Come" (166)
9. Counting Crows - "Mr. Jones" (141)
10. U2 - "Sweetest Thing" (142)
5 mph = 170 bpm (for all those joggers or runners out there)
1. Hootie & the Blowfish - "Hold My Hand" (171)
2. Imagine Dragons - "Thunder" (168)
3. Electric Light Orchestra - "Mr. Blue Sky" (176)
4. Nickleback - "How You Remind Me" (172)
5. Owl City - "To the Sky" (175)
6. Train - "Calling All Angels" (167)
7. Matchbox 20 - "Push" (168)
8. Twenty One Pilots - "Stressed Out" (170)
9. Elvis Presley - "Don't Be Cruel" (169)
10. The Who - "Naked Eye" (168)
Sources:
2. https://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/physical/pdf/PA_Intensity_table_2_1.pdf
Photo credit: Media from Unsplash/Malik Skysgaard