3x2: Volume 3 | Records For Working Out

March 2025: Sam & I bring a few workout records to the table

Photo by belettenoir on Unsplash

Good morning!

Today Sam Colt and I are each sharing a few underrated records to listen to while working out.

Welcome to the third edition of our new series! For those of you who missed the kickoff post, here’s a bit of context:

In this monthly series, Sam Colt and I will each share our picks for titles that haven't received their due. You'll recognize Sam's name from our On Repeat and Friends Best of Series and also our Top 100 of all-time series last fall. These posts will adopt the latter's format; I will make my case for my three picks and my reaction to Sam's. Sam's page will do the reverse.

In the inaugural post, we noted that successive editions would narrow things down slightly. Maybe a specific genre…maybe a specific era…maybe a specific…well, who knows!

This month, we're each making a case for a few underrated records to play while working out.

March is do-or-die time for most fitness goals. New Year's resolutions and the heady rush that came with them are now collecting dust like that Peloton that's now a clothes rack. The weather has so far made a good case for procrastination. There have been other things to do. Hygge is nice. Sore calves are not.

Spring has sprung, and it's time to get after it. If you're like me, you need some good music to keep going.

When you're done here, check out Sam’s work at This Is a Newsletter!

Let's get to it!

KA—

Talking heads- Stop Making Sense

Ok, hear me out here. The granddaddy of all live records isn't exactly the first pick for a stint on her treadmill. But, like the band itself, you're not always sure why it works; you just know it does. And who am I to question such things?

Loving this record helps (see below), but its superpower lies in its sequencing. It's almost perfectly synced with the ebbs and flows of my routine. When I need to take my foot off the gas and level off my pace, there are the slinky grooves of "Slippery People." How 'bout some rocket fuel? Bring on "Once in a Lifetime." When I need to convince myself that this is all for a good cause? There's "This Must Be the Place" -- a song that never fails to lift my mood.

A couple of summers ago, the movie was brought back to theaters in a limited-run engagement. I took in a matinee with a handful of other people on a weekday. At one point, I noticed we were all kind of dancing. Well, more like bopping around in our chairs, hoping gravity will do the heavy work of keeping you in your seat. God forbid you have a good time in front of people you'll never see again, right? I have no such qualms at the gym, and this record goes a long way toward helping me put the reps in.

Sam’s pick and my take: Kraftwerk-Autobahn

Not in a million years would I have seen this coming. My preference for workout sounds generally lean toward ‘the faster, the better’ or ‘podcast.’ But I also see huge value in the music accompanying you more than compelling you, as I need it to do. I also sometimes just want to check the f out while at the gym, and something like this--a record I prefer to play when not sweating--would just be what the doctor ordered.

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New Order- Technique

At the beginning of January 2020, I blew out my knee. And just because the universe likes to use me as a punchline, I also broke my foot in a couple of spits on the way down.

0/10 do not recommend.

I had a decision to make: wait 6-9 months for surgery or try and rehab my knee and everything around it, give all of that about a year, and then reassess. I opted for the latter and was thrust into the world of physical therapy—or rather, what it looks like during a pandemic. I had a fantastic team and am lucky I could access care at a time when many people couldn't. In any other "precedented" time, my days would've been filled with trips to the clinic doing leg lifts and jumping on & off boxes.

And I did most of those things—I just did them on my own, often filming myself so my therapist could assess where I was at versus where I needed to be. In many ways, we were both figuring it out as we went.

The pain was manageable, and the task list was doable. The hardest part? Motivation. My PT's go-to was to tell me just to make it through the first couple of minutes—the hardest part was getting started. If I'd made it that far, the worst was behind me.

She was right almost all of the time.

Some people exercise as a proxy for religion. Others exercise to excise demons. I was relearning how to walk and then jog to reclaim some mobility, and I still needed every nudge I could find.

Enter New Order's Technique.

With uptempo tracks like "Fine Time," the pure pop of "Round and Round," and even downbeat tracks like "Guilty Partner," there was something for every literal step of my journey back to being ambulatory. It's one of my favorite records- and let's be honest; even with so much at stake, I still needed all the incentive(s) I could get.

"Oh, Kevin's writing about New Order? That's interesting news." I can hear you rolling your eyes from here. And look, I get it. This isn't the first time I've written about them, and there's a greater than zero chance (okay, much greater) that it won't be the last. Technique is a record that I literally grew up with. I have spent sweaty nights in packed clubs dancing to tracks like "Fine Time." It kept me company on empty stretches of I-90 each time I switched coasts. Name a life event for me; this band is likely not far away. Soundtracking my rehab? Who else was it gonna be?

Sam’s pick and my take: DJ Shadow- Endtroducing

This record—and DJ-- are responsible for shaping so much of what we know as hip hop, yet he rarely gets mentioned in the greater discourse. True heads know, and I guess that's enough, but it seems like a shame. This record will turn 30 next year, and it still sounds like it's being beamed back to us from the future. With addictive beats, variety, and killer overall sound, I get why Sam brought this to the table gym. "The Number Song" would make for an awesome walk-up song for any baseball player. Just sayin'.

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The Chemical Brothers- For That Beautiful Feeling

Earlier, I mentioned the value of, if not disassociation, at least distraction while exercising. When I run, I have to do it on a treadmill. I must have been absent on the day they taught kids how to pace themselves in PE. Get me on asphalt, and I'm like a comet, burning fast but not for long. So I outsource that work to a machine. On the road, I kept my ears open for self-preservation more than anything else. A lot of people here were absent the day they taught attentive behavior.

That risk doesn't exist at the gym--and if it does, you've got bigger issues--but there's a different threat: boredom. Some have TVs you can watch, which, ok. Some people swear by that, but it's never done much for me. I used to watch soccer games, but the running clock (no pun intended) just drove home how much longer I had left. Sometimes, I need a push, and sometimes, I just want to check out and get lost in the bass and BPM. Sometimes, I need both. This record's got enough of each for all of those.

When I reviewed the record right after it came out, and noted:

Live Again is all gas & no brakes, with a woozy synth line that feels like it will spin right off the face of the Earth if it’s not careful. The Weight feels like Block Rockin’ Beats era Chemical Brothers. It would work as well on Dig Your Own Hole as it does here. The Darkness feels, well, transcendent with lofty vocals, beautiful keys, and a driving beat.

They have also reunited with Beck for Skipping Like A Stone, having previously collaborated on 2015’s Wide Open from their heir Born In the Echoes album. On a record full of strong candidates, this is my runaway favorite. The best music hits you at a gut level and elicits a visceral reaction. This will remind listeners of nights on a pulsing dance floor with friends and parties still going as the sun rose.

Everyone likes a pulsing floor more than the whirring of exercise machines, right? Next time the thought of working out makes you think F that, try this: cue up "Skipping Like a Stone," and give yourself the first 2:14. Push through that far. If the bass drop at 2:15 doesn't convince you to keep going, well, at least you tried.

Sam’s pick and my take: LCD Soundsystem- S/T

Hell yeah.

That's it. That’s my take.

Great record. Big beats and deep grooves in equal measure. I’ve played individual songs by the band before while working out, but never a whole record. This has convinced me to change that.

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Honorable mentions:

Mine:

Paul Keeley-Doormatica (EP): It's worth noting that this (and industrial volumes of caffeine and nicotine) also got me through the last burst of classes I needed to earn my degree.

Metallica-Ride the Lightning: For times I haven’t had industrial levels of caffeine, this is my “break glass in case of emergency” record. As for the band? Trapped Under Ice is peak Metallica. I’ll take no further questions.

Sam’s:

The War on Drugs- A Deeper Understanding: If there’s a situation this record isn’t appropriate for, I don’t know what it is.

Metallica- Master of Puppets: Full throttle, molten metal. Sam’s a distance runner, and I can see using this to get through some of those final stretches.

Depeche Mode—Violator: You might remember this being one of my picks in the Top 100 list Sam and I did last fall. Violator came in at a solid 44. It has good, uptempo sounds, but it also has the added bonus of good sequencing, similar to Stop Making Sense.

That’s a wrap! What are your thoughts on these records? Do you own any of them? Share your thoughts in the comments! Rants, raves, and spicy takes are all welcome. And if you have any ideas on future themes, please share those as well!

Thanks for being here,

Kevin—

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