I have been walking, mostly, for my exercise. It's done outdoors, and doesn't make me too warm so long as I go early or just before dark. After a few weeks of consistent walking, I can now feel that I am getting stronger. I've cut five minutes off a walk I do once a week or so, so I am getting faster, too. I also take shorter walks every evening with my dog, but those are slow. Petey tries to stop at every tuft of grass to sniff! Strangely, the frequency of his stops is much less on the way home, so I'm quite sure it is a delaying tactic. He is so excited and happy to go out each day, but then he is ready to go back about three minutes later - lazy little guy!
Anyway, I was reading in David Kirchhoff's book and blog about using "cheesy" exercise music to help motivate you. I don't have much of that sort of thing in my collection, so decided to see if I could try out some new music, record it to MP3s, and put it on my Sansa MP3 player. I have discovered that just about every song you can think of is on YouTube. I use a (free) edit/record program called Audacity to record right from YouTube to a saved MP3 file on my computer. It is pretty easy, but of course the sound quality is not great. I am recording various things to try out, and the ones I really like I'll gradually buy from Amazon or Google Drive. My budget just does not allow me to buy a whole playlist all at once, so this is a way to start out at zero cost.
What music have I found to like? Well, I was hoping for some classical things, and someone recommended Hooked on Classics. I've recorded the original, and it's OK. I would never, ever listen to it for anything but exercise, but it's kinda fun for that. Cheesy, definitely. But high energy.
I've found some of the old Motown classics to be wonderful - very high energy! Da Doo Ron Ron by the Crystals. Heatwave, and Dancing in the Streets by Martha & the Vandellas. And lots of newer stuff too. Summer in the City by The Lovin' Spoonful. Stayin' Alive by the Bee Gees (that was a Kirchhoff recommendation, and a good one.)
Sadly, as I began test driving this music, my earbuds failed, so I'm going to need to get some new ones to get the full effect, without the static and cut-outs and having to hold the player at a certain angle when I walk. So I guess it's off to Staples, where there is a sale according to their Sunday flyer. Earbuds are, I'm convinced, purposely designed to last only a few months. I've found cost to be no guarantee of a long service life, either, although of course I have never purchased really expensive ones. My last pair was at the low end of the price spectrum, well under $10 from K-Mart, and has lasted about a year, I think, A record.
Bottom line, though, is that high-energy music, of any degree of cheesiness, does seem to ramp up my energy level and make it easy to walk briskly, farther, and even enjoy it. Much more so than the recorded novels I'd been listening to.
Anyway, I was reading in David Kirchhoff's book and blog about using "cheesy" exercise music to help motivate you. I don't have much of that sort of thing in my collection, so decided to see if I could try out some new music, record it to MP3s, and put it on my Sansa MP3 player. I have discovered that just about every song you can think of is on YouTube. I use a (free) edit/record program called Audacity to record right from YouTube to a saved MP3 file on my computer. It is pretty easy, but of course the sound quality is not great. I am recording various things to try out, and the ones I really like I'll gradually buy from Amazon or Google Drive. My budget just does not allow me to buy a whole playlist all at once, so this is a way to start out at zero cost.
What music have I found to like? Well, I was hoping for some classical things, and someone recommended Hooked on Classics. I've recorded the original, and it's OK. I would never, ever listen to it for anything but exercise, but it's kinda fun for that. Cheesy, definitely. But high energy.
I've found some of the old Motown classics to be wonderful - very high energy! Da Doo Ron Ron by the Crystals. Heatwave, and Dancing in the Streets by Martha & the Vandellas. And lots of newer stuff too. Summer in the City by The Lovin' Spoonful. Stayin' Alive by the Bee Gees (that was a Kirchhoff recommendation, and a good one.)
Sadly, as I began test driving this music, my earbuds failed, so I'm going to need to get some new ones to get the full effect, without the static and cut-outs and having to hold the player at a certain angle when I walk. So I guess it's off to Staples, where there is a sale according to their Sunday flyer. Earbuds are, I'm convinced, purposely designed to last only a few months. I've found cost to be no guarantee of a long service life, either, although of course I have never purchased really expensive ones. My last pair was at the low end of the price spectrum, well under $10 from K-Mart, and has lasted about a year, I think, A record.
Bottom line, though, is that high-energy music, of any degree of cheesiness, does seem to ramp up my energy level and make it easy to walk briskly, farther, and even enjoy it. Much more so than the recorded novels I'd been listening to.
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