Adk_dib
New member
Put The Bee-Gee's "stayin Alive" on your music player and put it on replay-loop. You would be amazed on how much ground you cover walking to the beat.
Only thing missing is the Paint can.
Only thing missing is the Paint can.
Walking Music
- Thread starter Adk_dib
- Start date
Help Support vftt.org:
Some songs can really get you moving. I've got a few playlists on my ipod for walking. Start out with a warm-up song or two, then 45-50 minutes of songs that really push me, then a song or two to slow it down at the end. These ipod things practically do the exercising for you. 
erugs
New member
I have an iPod Shuffle dedicated to walking/hiking music. It really helps. I have "Staying Alive" but also a very strange assortment of music, including:
We Are the World - USA for Africa
This Land Is Your Land - Woodie Guthrie
Kilimanjaro - African Sound Band
Beat It - Michael Jackson
Straighten Up and Fly Right - Natalie Cole
Salmon River Run- Montana Mandolin Society
Sunny Day - Ilo Ferreira
My Horses - Radmill Cody
Mozart Divertimento in D for Strings K136 Allegro
and perhaps the strangest of them all, Golden Gate Gospel Train - Golden Gate Jubilee
and the most fun (for me) Middle Aged Woman (unknown, but I got it off the 'net)
I preview my iTunes for what sounded like music I'd want to walk/hike to but also select music generally that is at least three minutes long.
We Are the World - USA for Africa
This Land Is Your Land - Woodie Guthrie
Kilimanjaro - African Sound Band
Beat It - Michael Jackson
Straighten Up and Fly Right - Natalie Cole
Salmon River Run- Montana Mandolin Society
Sunny Day - Ilo Ferreira
My Horses - Radmill Cody
Mozart Divertimento in D for Strings K136 Allegro
and perhaps the strangest of them all, Golden Gate Gospel Train - Golden Gate Jubilee
and the most fun (for me) Middle Aged Woman (unknown, but I got it off the 'net)
I preview my iTunes for what sounded like music I'd want to walk/hike to but also select music generally that is at least three minutes long.
walker
New member
- Joined
- Sep 19, 2003
- Messages
- 206
- Reaction score
- 39
"Stayin' Alive"
The last time I took a CPR Refresher course, we were instructed to use this song (Stayin' Alive) to time our chest compression timing.
The song title is ironic when used for this reason, but hard to forget when the pressures on.
See you on the Trail...(walkin' to the beat)....Walker
The last time I took a CPR Refresher course, we were instructed to use this song (Stayin' Alive) to time our chest compression timing.
The song title is ironic when used for this reason, but hard to forget when the pressures on.
See you on the Trail...(walkin' to the beat)
....Walker
Adk_dib
New member
For steep sections that kill your legs "ZZTop!"
Lefty E
Active member
Yea and when one hikes too hard they might become "Lazy" (Deep Purple); I usually get a "Peaceful, Easy Feeling" (Eagles) upon reaching a nice viewpoint...
PA Ridgerunner
Active member
...and after chewing up miles of trail at record speed, you'll be amazed that you still have more than enough energy to smash your music player to bits!!!
+1 for "Lazy". If you "just stay in bed", you're likely to miss the hike.
Some tune thoughts
Funny what can pop up on an iPod set to shuffle… Today I had just stepped on the trail, and out of the headphones pours “Also Sprach Zarathustra”. Made a local trail in CT almost seem like looking out over the Pemi from West Bond.
I contra dance, and the jigs, reels and marches used are designed to make your feet move. So when a contra tune pops up on the iPod, it will keep me going at a nice rate. Especially when in the hands of bands like Yankee Ingenuity, Popcorn Behavior/Assembly, Nightingale, Swallowtail, or Wild Asparagus, they simply demand that your feet move. But I only use the iPod on the local trails that I frequent here in CT. I get to the White Mountains infrequently enough that when I get there, I want the experience to include what I will *hear*.
Plus, I have tune in my head that keeps my feet going when I need it. It was August 23, 1974, the first full day of my first backpack trip in the White Mountains, with a group of older Boy Scouts from several troops in my area. I was apprehensive about keeping up with everyone else. I was a competent enough camper, but hadn’t been a strong hiker. The night before we had driven up from Connecticut, and hiked in on the trail far enough to find a legal place to camp, and as usual, I had brought up the rear. But on this particular morning, I was astonished to find myself ¾ of the way up Carrigan, and everyone from my group was behind me, not well in front. I reached the firewarden’s well and quaffed the best tasting water I had ever tasted, then climbed the tower, (at that time topped by an enclosed cabin) and took in those wonderful views. We descended the Desolation Trail and had our lunch at the Desolation Shelter. It was heading down the Wilderness Trail, towards a bridge that no longer exists that there were three of us, side by side by side on the wide trail, and someone, who knows why, started up with the “March of the Winkies”. Now those Flying Monkeys sure knew how to pick a song to keep feet moving. Even someone like me, who can’t carry a tune in a wheelbarrow, let alone a bucket, can sing it. You can make the cadence slower or faster, as you need it. So there we were, three of us, striding down the Wilderness Trail, bellowing “O we O” at the top of our lungs. Later that week, we’d climb North and South Hancock, Cannon, Jefferson, and Washington, but that day was my first real taste of the White Mountains.
Ever since, when I’m slogging along some trail and need a tune to move my feet, that’s what the internal iPod shuffles up. And there I am, once again on the Wilderness Trail, alongside George and “Gawk”, with my feet moving. While we don’t always make it to the summit anymore, we always get back home.
Tomk
Funny what can pop up on an iPod set to shuffle… Today I had just stepped on the trail, and out of the headphones pours “Also Sprach Zarathustra”. Made a local trail in CT almost seem like looking out over the Pemi from West Bond.
I contra dance, and the jigs, reels and marches used are designed to make your feet move. So when a contra tune pops up on the iPod, it will keep me going at a nice rate. Especially when in the hands of bands like Yankee Ingenuity, Popcorn Behavior/Assembly, Nightingale, Swallowtail, or Wild Asparagus, they simply demand that your feet move. But I only use the iPod on the local trails that I frequent here in CT. I get to the White Mountains infrequently enough that when I get there, I want the experience to include what I will *hear*.
Plus, I have tune in my head that keeps my feet going when I need it. It was August 23, 1974, the first full day of my first backpack trip in the White Mountains, with a group of older Boy Scouts from several troops in my area. I was apprehensive about keeping up with everyone else. I was a competent enough camper, but hadn’t been a strong hiker. The night before we had driven up from Connecticut, and hiked in on the trail far enough to find a legal place to camp, and as usual, I had brought up the rear. But on this particular morning, I was astonished to find myself ¾ of the way up Carrigan, and everyone from my group was behind me, not well in front. I reached the firewarden’s well and quaffed the best tasting water I had ever tasted, then climbed the tower, (at that time topped by an enclosed cabin) and took in those wonderful views. We descended the Desolation Trail and had our lunch at the Desolation Shelter. It was heading down the Wilderness Trail, towards a bridge that no longer exists that there were three of us, side by side by side on the wide trail, and someone, who knows why, started up with the “March of the Winkies”. Now those Flying Monkeys sure knew how to pick a song to keep feet moving. Even someone like me, who can’t carry a tune in a wheelbarrow, let alone a bucket, can sing it. You can make the cadence slower or faster, as you need it. So there we were, three of us, striding down the Wilderness Trail, bellowing “O we O” at the top of our lungs. Later that week, we’d climb North and South Hancock, Cannon, Jefferson, and Washington, but that day was my first real taste of the White Mountains.
Ever since, when I’m slogging along some trail and need a tune to move my feet, that’s what the internal iPod shuffles up. And there I am, once again on the Wilderness Trail, alongside George and “Gawk”, with my feet moving. While we don’t always make it to the summit anymore, we always get back home.
Tomk
Stash
Active member
Benny and the Jets. Elton John. Every other step is a beat. Worked running track in high school when it was on the radio all the time. Works now. No player needed. It just sticks in my head...
Dana
Member
I'll listen to music working in the yard or shop, or sometimes walking in non wilderness areas, but for the most part in the woods I just can't get into the music... I'd rather hear the sounds of the woods, the wind in the trees and the critters that live there.
erugs
New member
On the occasions I hike alone (agree it would be rude to use it with friends) I enjoy my Shuffle loaded with goo hiking tunes. Otherwise I hear nothing (i am hard of hearing) or I hear the ringing in my ears or the inane re-run of an annoying song (think Mario Brothers). Mp3 comes to my rescue.
I have a slightly different take. In addition to about a hundred other artists, Jimi Hendrix and Norah Jones are permanent fixtures on my MP3 player...talk about polar opposites. Neither of these two musicians, nor any other musician, has the effect of making me hike more quickly or more slowly. Whether hiking, working out, or running...I'm no more or less energetic because of the music I'm hearing. Good music has the power to move me emotionally, but not physically. Music hits the soul, not the muscle fibers.
gaiagirl
New member
I would never have tunes on while hiking .... I want to hear everything around me outdoors at all times for naturalistic as well as safety reasons. The hiking itself, when I'm alone, helps to put me squarely in flow while still having complete awareness, unlike at the gym. When I'm hitting the cybex, or elliptical or whatever, it is a much different story though. I would get super bored while kicking my own a#$ at the gym, and that's where the Foo Fighters come in . I love lots of different music, from The Dead to heavier stuff, but Dave Grohl and company throw me into overdrive like nothing else
. I love lots of different music, from The Dead to heavier stuff, but Dave Grohl and company throw me into overdrive like nothing else 
DougPaul
Well-known member
I also listen to the woods when hiking--the sounds tell me a lot about what is going on around me.
Doug
sierra
Well-known member
I solo alot and always have my radio going, I can tell you what stations are available in any part of the White mtns. Im very far behind technology wise, I dont even own a computer. I do like the idea of an ipod, but Im under the impression that downloading songs is expensive, whats the skinny? There are many places where my radio wont work and an ipod would be great. If you didnt own a computer but had access to one, how much and how hard is it to fill an ipod? ty.
erugs
New member
I love my iPod. Sure, the tunes are more expensive that radio, but you can pick and choose what you want to listen to. If you just like one song from an albumn, it's just 99 cents for that one song, sometimes a little higher at $1.29 or so. If you own other music, you can download that to your iPod library. (For example, my mother, at age 88, created a solo CD of piano lullabyes to honor the birth of her first grandchild, and I have that downloaded.) Also, some podcasts (which are free) sometimes offer music. Podcasts are another resource I enjoy for their wide and varied topics. Albums that you can't get anywhere else are available and if the albumn is older the costs are much lower.
Chip
Well-known member
don't forget about the library. my sons borrow cds, load them to the computer and then fill their 'pods for free. same deal with ebook readers; our library has a 2 step coded process to get books off amazon for free.
Brambor
Well-known member
I have never really tried to listen to music while hiking. Part of me somewhat feels that I will be less alert to my surroundings and more prone to fall or slow to react to events around me.
At work, when I am programming, I almost exclusively listen to music in headphones. It helps to tune out the distractions around me.
My current playlist albums are:
Kate Bush - 50 words for snow
Kazachstan - Kazachstan
Metric - Fantasies
And my favorite Pandora radio stations right now are:
Fun.
Siuxie and the Banshees
At work, when I am programming, I almost exclusively listen to music in headphones. It helps to tune out the distractions around me.
My current playlist albums are:
Kate Bush - 50 words for snow
Kazachstan - Kazachstan
Metric - Fantasies
And my favorite Pandora radio stations right now are:
Fun.
Siuxie and the Banshees
Last edited:
erugs
New member
That's the opposite for me. I can't listen to music while I'm working; I can't hear all the voices in my head, then.
I also don't play the radio in my car when others are traveling with me, unless we are mutually interested in something special, but I know some for whom it is automatically on.
