Music as Motivation

For those of you who haven’t made it into one of my classes in South Miami, I’ll tell you I’m a firm believer in hard work.

To me, if you’re not working hard to achieve a goal (whether you’re at the gym, at work, or even in life in general), what’s the point?

Within reason as an instructor, I love to push my clients! Whether that means giving them a little extra motivation to keep their tailbone down while working on Footwork, encouraging them to hold plank (with proper alignment!) for a whole minute, or giving them the courage to hang upside down in a split on the Cadillac, everyone needs that extra push.

Having been a fitness enthusiast and gym-goer for quite some time now, and also as a new instructor, music has and always will be one of my biggest sources of motivation. At this point, the motivation may not be about keeping my tailbone down during footwork or even completing a reformer class, but if a fellow instructor challenged me to 20 mountain climbers on the Pilates chair, I too would need a push.

I came across this quote on Buzz Feed the other morning.

“One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.”

Because of my strong belief in the power of music, I enjoy creating my own playlists for class. I am a true believer that a song, line, or even lyric can give you that extra motivation needed to complete your hour of Pilates.

I tend to gravitate towards today’s top hits but you’ll see below that I mix in some fun oldies or throwbacks from my favorite era (the 90s of course!).

Check out one of my sample playlists:

• Black & Gold- Sam Sparro
• Hello- Adele
• Firestone- Kygo (ft. Conrad Sewell)
• All My Love- Major Lazer (ft. Ariana Grande)
• The Night Is Still Young- Nicki Minaj
• Confident- Demi Lovato
• In The Night- The Weeknd
• Infinity- AJR
• Locked Away- R.City (ft. Adam Levine)
• Hold Me Up- Conrad Sewell
• I Lived- One Republic
• Shut Up and Dance- Walk The Moon
• Cake by the Ocean- DNCE
• Lay It All On Me- Rudimental (ft. Ed Sheeran)
• Used to Love You- Gwen Stefani
• Sorry- Justin Bieber

What’s your favorite song to break a sweat with?

Peace, Love and Pilates,

Lindsay Katz

Spiegel, A. (September 6, 2013). 21 Powerful Quotes That Capture The Magic Of Music [blog]. Retrieved from http://www.buzzfeed.com/verymuchso/21-beautiful-reflections-about-music-from-legendary-musician#.mt8MdLjVM