Proper programming and choosing your playlist is an art, there is no doubt about it, you have to think about your warm-up music, you don’t want to start too fast, but not too slow either where you just kill everyone’s buzz and put them to sleep, you have to work it up and save the best for the high-intensity part of the WOD.
There are some awesome songs out there like Radiohead with Creep, but they have these slow parts in it which unfortunately make it a bad choice to include in a high-intensity WOD, another such example is Five Finger Death Punch with House Of The Rising Sun, it definitely would have made the list, had it not had been for the cinematic slow bits.
Awkward!
I had a few awkward moments in my time where I programmed some awesome songs too hasty and forget about the lyrics which included some C & N words, I’m not prudish and enjoy a little SHIT and FUCK thrown in at the right times, but sometimes you might have the wrong crowd, and when you do, you just get that sinking feeling, ever had that? So, make sure you know the lyrics of what you program.
So with that said, let us start with listing some of my personal favorites. Also, check out the list of favorite songs submitted by others.
- Slipknot Feat. Justin Bieber – Psychosocial Baby Remix
- Twenty One Pilots – Ride
- Imagine Dragons – Radioactive
- Nirvana – Smells Like Teen Spirit
- Avenged Sevenfold – Hail To The King
- System Of A Down – Toxicity
- More
6) Slipknot Feat. Justin Bieber – Psychosocial Baby Remix
This one is a bonus and I could just not leave it out.
I’m not a fan of Justin Bieber, he comes across as a spoiled brat with no respect —yes I’m judging a book and understand he’s a victim to fame—, and I’m also no fan of Slipknot, which is just a tad too much for me, but throw the two together, mash ‘m up and you have one of my favorites, I just totally dig this song, it gets me pumped to the max.
They’ve done another similar mashup with Linkin Park, not as effective IMHO.
5) Twenty One Pilots – Ride
Number five just making the cut, I was contemplating on this one as it has some slow bits in it, but I figured, play it loud enough and no one will notice. Twenty One Pilots have done such a great job with their song ‘Ride’, it’s such a unique mixture of hip hop, rock and pop.
4) Imagine Dragons – Radioactive
Number four is tops as long as we cut the first 30 secs, it’s Imagine Dragons with ‘Radioactive’ a powerful song which makes you want to thump along, great to lift some heavyweights too and awesome to smack ‘m down on.
3) Nirvana – Smells Like Teen Spirit
Number three is a classic but gets everyone pumping, it’s Nirvana with Smells Like Teen Spirit, once it starts, it keeps building and keeps you going, pushing to get the best out of you
2) Avenged Sevenfold – Hail To The King
Number two is by Avenged Sevenfold, no need to say much, just press play and be blown away by ‘Hail To The King’.
1) System Of A Down – Toxicity
Number one on my list would be System Of A Down with Toxicity, it has a bit of a slow start for the first minute, but it builds up and makes up for the slow start with a big bang!
Not a WOD song, but I like this one for some mobility work
there is also a remix which is a bit more suited to WOD
Post your WOD songs on this post here or in the comments below.
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Submitted songs by others
- Metal covers by Leo Moracchioli
- Foo Fighters – Run
- The Prodigy – Firestarter
- Rob Bailey & The Hustle Standard – Hungry
