I find it hard to believe that I used to never workout with music. Now, I’m obsessed! Awhile ago, I transferred a bunch of music to our iPhone for me to use during my workouts. For the longest time I just let the songs play on shuffle. That got annoying really fast. How is it that with over 150 songs it seems the same 20 get played over and over again? I ended up always having to mess with my iPhone mid-run to get something new.

So, I took matters into my own hands. I went through and organized my music into a bunch of mini-playlists by genre. Things like “Upbeat Girly” (Katy-Perry-esque), “Old Rock” (Aerosmith-esque), “Glee” (it gets its own category), “Lady Gaga” (she does too), “Teeny Bopper” (Taylor-Swift-esque), “Christian” (Relient-K-esque), and more.

Then I added another playlist entitled “Mini Workout”. Before every workout, I clear out the songs from this playlist and then go through and add 1 or 2 songs to it from all my genre playlists. This helps me pick what I’m in the mood to listen to each workout and rotate out my music so I don’t get bored. Plus, I get a nice little mix of things every workout. My recent playlist featured the following songs I am currently obsessed with:

Katy Perry’s Firework

Seriously – obsessed with this one right now. It pumps me up!!!

David Crowder Band’s Like A Lion

I love inspirational songs like this to keep me going strong.

Aerosmith’s What It Takes

This is my favorite Aerosmith song for some reason. I heart Steven Tyler!

Kelly Clarkson’s Don’t Let Me Stop You

Can you tell I like girly music?

Glee’s version of Gives You Hell

I’m a total Gleek. I own it.

P!nk’s F***ing Perfect

Once again..can you tell I like girly music?

Question of the Evening – What songs are you currently obsessed with? How do you manage your workout playlists?

I skipped my workout on Tuesday. I couldn’t bring the kids to the child care in the morning because M was (and still is) sick. Then, as the day wore on I found myself increasingly tired and decreasingly motivated. I battled back and forth with whether or not to go. I thought of all the usual things that get me out the door when I lack motivation:

• The popular “I never regret a workout” mantra. <—I know Julie loves that one!
• Telling myself I can take it easier because something is better than nothing.
• Putting on my workout clothes to get in the workout mood.
• Thinking about the energy at the gym and how it may help my tired, sour mood.
• Questioning if there was a physical need to rest and determining there was none.
• Remembering that my progress pictures/measurements are this weekend.

No matter what I told myself, however, the thought of heading to the gym almost made me cry. In that moment, I knew I needed to skip out for the day. 99% of the time I look forward to the gym. 99% of the time it doesn’t take much to get me out the door or down in the basement for a workout. So those days I feel myself hating the thought of the gym, I tend to know something is going on and I shouldn’t push it. A growth spurt and two harder days at mommy work had me hitting rock bottom. I had very little energy and just wanted to relax.

So, I watched The Bachelor instead and hit the gym again right away Wednesday morning feeling refreshed and ready to kick butt. We always hear tips to increase motivation to get in that workout, but I want to say sometimes its okay to play hooky too. Just be sure its not every workout. ;) 

Question of the Day – When do you know you need to skip a workout? How hard is it for you to skip?