YOU CAN tell a lot about someone by what's on their iPod playlists. The entire High School Musical album? Attempting to regain a lost childhood. Blur, James and Oasis? Attempting to regain a lost youth. The complete works of Wagner and an audio book on the life and times of Leni Riefenstahl? Attempting to get arrested.
I have been an iPod owner for more than four years now and have a fairly hefty collection of tunes and playlists, but it doesn't stop me getting bored with them. Yes, I can always download new music, the odd new tune or album to act as a little refr
esher but, as it's one of those tedious, big-ticket, square-off-an-evening-and-pour-yourself-a-glass-of-wine jobs, I rarely get round to updating my playlists.
This is something that extends to my exercise playlists, which are now so familiar to me I could probably sing every lyric backwards while performing the appropriate workout move with one hand tied behind my back*. Every exercise is ingrained, every tune word-perfect.
It does nothing to excite me, and as that Chemical Brothers tune comes round for the 400th time, I find myself so bored that it acts as a perfect excuse just to shut the damned thing off altogether, kick off my trainers and sit down and eat a Jaffa Cake.
Which is why, when my boyfriend offered to download his entire music collection on to my iPod, I jumped at the chance. Apart from the nosiness factor (why does he have so many Rihanna songs?) it was the perfect opportunity to spruce up both my tunes and my moves.
He's got more than 7,000 songs on there – some I love, some I hate, some I've never even heard of – and ten days later I'm still discovering new tunes I never even knew were there.
And the thing is, when it comes to the exercise routine, it's really done the trick. No longer am I slogging round the kitchen to the same old Madonna tunes, now I'm bopping along to Mylo, lifting weights with Lily and doing sit-ups to My Chemical Romance (does nobody else work out to them?)
I've also, inspired by the new tunes, rejuvenated the routine a little bit, with a few new moves culled from the trainer and various magazines, and am enjoying exercising at home more than I have in ages. In fact, with all these fresh songs to get me motivated I might even go for a run this weekend. Just as soon as I can delete all this Rihanna.
*I said probably. I'd prefer that you didn't test this theory, just in case.
• NEXT WEEK: Fitness online
The full article contains 461 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
