Musical preferences are as diverse as training programs are.  People with various tastes in music will find certain styles more motivating than others.  In other words, not everyone is pumped up by the same type of music.  Regardless of musical taste, there is one commonality that should be considered when picking good training music; an upbeat tempo and intense style that gets your heart beating a feet moving.

Good Training Music

Listed below are some various genres of rock to heavy metal music and a few example bands/musicians who typically have an upbeat tempo and intense style which is good for training.  The genres are loose here and some bands can transcend a certain style or genre label.

Rock

• Jimmy Eat World – Check out the album Bleed American for the most driving rhythms and rock sound
• Stone Tempe Pilots – Most of the music from STP is upbeat with a grind element to it, check out Thank You! their greatest hits album
• Lesser Known (Hot Water Music) – HWM has a very upbeat and uplifting sound, check out the album Caution for pure man rock.

Hard Rock

• Deftones – Chino provides great melodies over heavy rock.  Check out a classic album Around the Fur
• Tool – A truley legendary sound, the album Aenima brings some of their classic radio hits and some other driving hard rock tunes
• Lesser Known (Cancer Bats) – With 3 albums under their belt this Canadian band is bringing hard rock back, check out their second album Hail Destroyer

Punk

• Bad Religion – There is hardly any of their songs that aren’t in at least half-time (means they are fast) check out greatest hits album All Ages, you’ll even learn about anti-establishment while you are training
• New Found Glory – While more traditionally an emo or poppy punk band, the album Catalyst provides some driving tunes great for lifting
• Lesser Known (Thrice) – Mix of cool guitars, fast beats melodies and hard vocals, check out The Illusion of Saftey

Metal & Metalcore

• Atreyu – Get ready for some 80s style guitar solos mixed with wailing screams and falsetto singing, check out their first LP Suicide Notes and Butterfly Kisses
• Poison The Well – An old school Metalcore band that should get your blood boiling, check out The Opposite of Decemeber
• As I Lay Dying – Double bass heaven, all their albums have a similar vibe however Frail Words Collapse has a few more intense songs
• Underoath – There last album Disambiguation has a heavier sound if you want to avoid screamo singing
• Norma Jean – Their album O God, The Aftermath is nonstop driving song-in and song-out
• Lesser Known (Life In Pictures) – This Prescott, AZ based band only released one full length album, By the Sign of the Spyglass before breaking up, if you can find a copy somewhere you are in for a treat

Southern Metalcore

• Every Time I Die – Each album brings a unique intensity but Gutter Phenomenon has a special edge to it
• Maylene & The Sons of Disaster – Each of their four albums have become progressivley more southern and less metal, their second release titled II is a good balance between the two.
• He Is Legend – Their second album Suck Out The Poison is about as southern metalcore as you can get
• Lesser Known (The Holly Springs Disaster) – Their only release Motion Sickness Love, is simply one word, intense.

Heavy & Death Metal, Mathcore Djent

• Periphery – Their second release II is the perfect album to play start to finish in the gym
• Between The Buried and Me – Their 30 min three song EP The Parallax Hypersleep Dialogues is the optimal choice
• The Chariot – The Financee is the best Chariot album for training
• The Dillinger Escape Plan – Their album Ire Works provides a good mix of driving rhythms and intense craziness
• Lesser Known (Botch) –  The intensity and heaviness of We Are The Romans will suprise you that it was released in 1999.

Instrumental

• Animals as Leaders –  If you like heavy music but hate the vocals AiL is for you, check out Weightless
• Cloudkicker – Check out Beacons for more heavy instrumental fun
• Lesser Known (Chimp Spanner) – The album Imperium Vorago brings some unique elements to the genre

Not On The List?!

Have another favorite band and album you like for your training regimen.  Let us know about it in the comments section below.