Moving to the music

IT IS a universally acknowledged truth that when January rolls in, gym membership spikes with many people trying to fulfill their “new year, new me” resolutions or to simply burn away all those holiday calories.

Colorado-based fitness business solutions provider Zen Planner, reported on Dec. 31 that historically their customers have seen their gym memberships increase by an average of 18% during the first month of the year and then steadily decline until June rolls in which is when people in temperate zones want to get their beach bodies ready.

So music streaming service Spotify decided to aid all the new gym goers by compiling the most popular workout songs in the Philippines and globally so that those sticking with their resolutions can create a playlist — or choose from 43.5 million existing workout-themed playlists on the service — that will make them run longer or pump those irons harder.

Topping the list globally is American rapper Eminem’s 2002 hit, “Till I Collapse” from his fourth studio album The Eminem Show, while another Eminem hit follows second, “Lose Yourself,” another 2002 hit which was the lead single of the 8 Mile (2002) film soundtrack.

Rounding up the top five workout songs of all time list are two Kanye West songs — “Stronger” (2007) from his third album Graduation, and “POWER” (2010) from My Beautiful, Dark Twisted Fantasy — and “Can’t Hold Us,” the 2010 hit from American rapper Macklemore and music producer/DJ Ryan Lewis featuring vocals from Ray Dalton which occupies the fifth spot.

Back home, Filipinos loved working out to UK singer Jessie J’s 2014 hit “Bang Bang,” featuring vocals from Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj, as it sits on the top spot of the country’s top workout songs of all time.

“Bang Bang” is then followed by another 2014 hit, “Uptown Funk,” this time by UK music producer Mark Ronson featuring American singer, Bruno Mars.

Completing the top five are two entries from the global list — Eminem’s “‘Til I Collapse” at number three and “Lose Yourself” at number five — while fourth place went to the American girl group Fifth Harmony’s 2015 bop, “Worth It.”

In 2018, Canadian singer Drake’s song “God’s Plan,” off of his Scorpion album released in 2018, was the most popular workout song globally according to Spotify. This is followed by “I Like It” by American rapper Cardi B from her 2018 album, Invasion of Privacy.

Completing the top five are “Til I Collapse,” Drake’s “Nice for What” (also from the Scorpion record) and “One Kiss” from American singer Dua Lipa and UK DJ/ music producer Calvin Harris.

GETTING CHILL, LITERALLY

Aside from the top song streamed while getting the sweats done, Spotify noted that they saw an increase in the number of cryotherapy/ice bath-themed playlists making it the top workout trend of 2018.

“It seems people are getting into the chill of this practice, which involves exposure to very cold temperatures in an effort to heal tissue,” said the company in a statement.

And the top songs in these playlists are Vanilla Ice’s 1989 hit, “Ice Ice Baby” and Foreigner’s 1977 hit, “Cold as Ice.”

Spotify also named Finland as the most active country in terms of the amount of workout music it streams while Sweden is the most “zen,” based on the Swedes’ enthusiasm for yoga-themed playlists. —