I’m a big music fan. I used to sing in choir, I make playlists for my characters any time I’m cast in a play, and I’ll be honest- I have a really rough time being motivated to do har things without music. So if you’re like me you’re in luck! In the next few blog posts I’m going to share some songs to help you endure… Part I covers songs I use to help me endure workouts- basically my motivational playlist to help me accomplish my goal this year of building my endurance and getting stronger… which brings us to the first song…

Stronger by Kanye West: I mean… Aside from having a great beat it literally reminds me of why I’m doing all this… to get stronger and keep going. Plus… I won’t lie, one of my favorite Kanye lyrics ever is “you can be my black Kate Moss tonight…” Couldn’t tell you why…
Stronger by Kelly Clarkson: Once again… when I’m tired and am OVER IT in my workouts, I really don’t mind if my motivation is super on the nose… also, exercise and endurance are about mental strength too, right?
Runaway Baby by Bruno Mars: When I sent out wedding invitations and asked friends what songs they wanted to dance to at my wedding, one of my oldest friends sent me two entire CDs worth of music she’d love to dance to… This was one of them… which seemed a little weird for a wedding reception (But not the weirdest! I once went to a wedding where the DJ played all my Exes live in Texas. Yikes.) Anyway, I didn’t play this at my reception, but I HAVE been jamming to it ever since.
Poker Face by Lady Gaga :  Actually most of singles from The Fame Monster are pretty solid cardio music… also Born This Way…
Run the World by Beyonce: There’s actually a whole bunch of Feminist power anthems on my workout playlists but this is the one that I save for when I really need a push. I have always loved this song but loved it even more after it was part of preshow for one of my favorite plays I did in grad school and have an even greater love for it now that I can deeply relate to the lyric “strong enough to bare the children… then get back to business”
Can’t Get You Out of My Head by Kylie Minogue: I absolutely adore the play The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart and through my love of that I found I loved this song and the joy it sparked remembering its part in that play. Plus, no matter how tired you are you have the energy to sing along with the endless “la la la”s…
Can’t Stop the Feeling by Justin Tiberlake: Before I was really ready to start getting back into cardio I would just have mini dance parties with my littles. This was the favorite selection for those dance breaks and it is still one of my favorite mood boosts now that I’m back to actual workouts.
Can’t Hold Us by Macklemore: The beat and rap speed here just help me push it a little faster on runs or do a few more push ups than I might have otherwise… and I always get an extra boost from the lyric: “We came here to live life like nobody was watching/ I got my city right behind me, if I fall, they got me/ Learn from that failure gain humility and then we keep marching”
You’re the Best by Joe “Bean” Esposito: Because sometimes you need a little 80s montage music to put a smile on your face during all that hard work…
Guns and Ships from Hamilton: I love this song and Daveed Digs rapping at the speed of light is just SO GOOD for a little burst of speed and just feeling all around awesome. Practical. Tactical. Brilliance.
I’m Gunna Be (500 miles) by the proclaimers: I have so many happy memories around this song- from movies to TV shows I love that use it to singing it for a ridiculously fun play I did in grad school to just loving it in general… It’s a good pace and no matter how tired I am it turns my attitude around and gets me ready to run a few more miles toward that 500 they’re singing about.
Theme from Buffy the Vampire Slayer: I was a HUGE Buffy fan when I was younger and something about hearing the theme song just makes me want to get strong and kick butt. Strong. Female. Characters. It’s fast and fierce and gives me a great, quick, boost of speed.

I hope maybe that gives you a few songs to add to your playlists! Next post I’ll have some songs I use to endure through some hard curveballs life throws and I’ll wrap this series up in a few weeks with some reader suggested songs that I am so grateful to add to my music mixes…

**I don’t own the rights to any of these songs, nor do I get any kind of kickback from you clicking through to the youtube videos. I’m not an affiliate with those links in any way. Thanks!