The Perfect Workout Song, Deconstructed and Recommended

How do you know when you've found the perfect song to work out to? The New York Times put the question to Dr. Costas Karageorghis, an associate professor of sport psychology at Brunel University in England, who has studied the effects of music on physical performance for 20 years. Mainly, says the doc, it's about tempo, and the perfect tempo is between 120 and 140 beats-per-minute. Karageorghis points out that is the going pace for most commercial dance music, and that it, not coincidentally,  corresponds to the average person’s heart rate during a routine workout.  What to listen to? Karageorghis recommends “Push It” by Salt-N-Pepa and “Drop It Like It’s Hot” by Snoop Dogg.  He is also high on  the dance remix of “Umbrella” by Rihanna, but for a high-intensity workout like a hard run, he says, go with Glenn Frey’s “The Heat Is On.”
Read more, including musical recommendations by health club managers, in the New York Times.