Running & Workout Playlists By A DJ

For Pounding The Pavement…

Before any run, there’s the warming-up and the easing into your stride. Folamour delivers a calming melody to help you stretch out your muscles in a relaxed state of mind. Black Coffee then steps up with a beautifully executed beat to start your run proper.

In a bit of a gospel style, the Joubert Singers offer a vocal classic to get things going, followed by Purple Disco Machine reworking something by Diplo to add a bit of modern-day disco funk to the mix.

By this stage, you should be firmly in your stride and setting a pace. Next up, Jesse Perez provides a fresh take on an old club sample with his driving ‘Never Talk To Aliens’.

Neutron Dance then up the ante with a compelling 80s synth-laden track to push you on. Taking the baton from them is Bristol-based Cousn (yes, the two great guys that make up this act are indeed cousins) with a wonky acid bassline to keep your pace high. Cinthie then delivers with an energy-filled vocal and strings piece that lives up to its name – ‘Mesmerizing’.

I’ve dropped Bicep in here for you to catch your breath as their latest masterpiece washes over you, before Disclosure put you firmly back in motion with their aptly named drum-filled track ‘Energy’. Head straight here if you’re in need of a second wind.

On the home straight now, I’ve followed ‘Star Guitar’ by the mighty Chemical Brothers with Loods, who takes the reigns with a delicately evocative vocal to get you up to the finish line.

To fuel the elation of finishing, I’ve dropped in a classic LCD Soundsystem track that makes an uplifting vocal anthem for a victory lap – or warm-down. Finally, Marshall Jefferson brings the pace right down as you look back on your run, warm down and take a bath in those freshly released endorphins.
 

For Pumping Iron…

Right now, there’s no better way to get the blood flowing than a workout. I’ve designed this playlist to take you and your workout to another level.

Opening up, with something that’s compelling but keeps a little in reserve, there are two powerhouse electronic pioneers: it’s Four Tet remixing a future anthem by Caribou. Next up it’s an early track from the trio that would become the Swedish House Mafia – look out for a searching, familiar vocal that’ll pump energy through your veins.

Redlight drops an emphatic, piano-charged number before Nero launches a frenzied attack of bass and synths that will take even the most hardened workout fiends up a notch. The onslaught of energy-inducing tracks continues with Gerd Janson, changing the feel slightly with a reworking of the classic rave anthem ‘Don’t Go’.

Throughout all of this, the bassline rumbles on. Club crossover ‘San Frandisco’ by Dom Dolla will only enhance your focus. Le Tigre is a slice of classic electro-clash before there’s a bit of a break in proceedings – take a moment with an exquisitely ethereal piece of electronic music of the sort only Flume can create.

We’re back to it with Double 99 and a speed-garage classic that moves any body, any time, wherever you are. The nostalgia-inducing ‘Sweet Harmony’ by Liquid would be a ‘hands in the air’ moment in a club, but I’ve included it here for a further surge of energy.

‘Obey’ takes you direct to the forefront of the electronic music scene right now with a powerful leading vocal. Love Regenerator is Calvin Harris’s latest alter ego – this one’s a bubbling bass-ridden, synth-stabbing track to launch you into DJ Zinc’s indomitable ‘138 Trek’ that is the light at the end of your workout tunnel.

Katy B is the warped-bassline cherry on the cake as you enjoy a hard-earned warm-down, then Moby closes things out with a relaxing anthem that you may or may not want to sing along to as you head into the shower.

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