Posting this question merely out of curiosity.

I have a ton of playlists for working out, or sometimes I just put my iPod on shuffle to see what happens. I find that music drives me along on my workouts...I tend to think "oh, I'll finish at the end of this song" or "ooooh, I forgot about this tune...I'll just stay on the treadmill till it finishes".

For those of you who don't listen to music when you work out, what do you do? I notice some people in the gym not listening to anything which isn't quite bizarre to me, it's just a totally different behavior that I don't think would work for me. (I've been known to drive into the office in my workout clothes on a weekend when I've left my iPod at work because I can't bear the thought of exercising music-less...I may be hopeless!).

What works for you?

I have to either have music or the TV on. I'll often DVR my favorite shows & only allow myself to watch them if I'm on the elliptical. I absolutely can not work out without something to watch or listen to!

I worked out a few times w/ out music .. sometimes they have music playing at the gym and a few times i got to listen in a few "good conversations" going on around me lol but that only happens when i forget my music which doesn't happen often lol I don't do as well w/ out it .. there's this man at the gym he does the elliptical for 2 hrs every day and he listens to no music and bobs his head back and forth the only way i can describe it is like Stevie wonder idk how he does it

I sometimes listen to music, but I enjoy not listening to music too. I listen to the sounds of the world, birds, wind, focus on my breathing, listen to my feet hitting the ground. Mostly I try not to think about anything, just enjoy being outside because I really don't get out enough. However if I were in the gym? I'd definitely need music or some distraction!

-Aimee

When I'm in the gym, I definitely need some music playing or else workouts seem to drag on. Once in awhile I'll listen to a TV show instead but there's usually nothing good on. Plus I don't feel as pumped up as when the music's going.

When running outside, I prefer to have music if I'm on my own but like Swimgirl, don't mind just listening to the sounds of my breathing and whatnot either. I don't like to run in groups (like at a 5K) with music since I like to hear what and who is going on around me.

I never listen to music when biking outside - too dangerous and distracting.

I'm completely dependent on music-- I count songs, to prevent me from counting down the minutes...

Actually when I'm walking, I enjoy no music and just enjoying the silence, but when I'm running-- i NEED music.

I don't belong to a gym anymore, but when I did, it was before I had my Ipod and cd players felt too bulky. when I used the recumbant bike, I would bring a book to read. It was a great way to keep my focus off how long I had left, and if I hit my goal amount of time, sometimes I pushed for a few more minutes until I was done with a chapter. The gym also had TVs facing the bikes and treadmills and had them closed captioned so you could read along, or plug in head phones to your machine and hear it.

I'm with you on the music thing. I absolutely cannot get through a workout, no matter where I am, if I don't have my iPod. I can't even listen to the music at the gym or watch TV. It has to be my iPod. Studies have proven that music fuels the body's natural rhythm and songs that have a fast beat that match your heartbeat when you work out can help you to exercise longer and harder. There are many web sites out there than will actually tell you how many beats per minute (bpm) a song has, and if you match it your approx. heartbeat during exercise, you'll get an extra kick. Interesting, isn't it?

I'm another that HAS to have music to workout to. I constantly change the songs on my ipod so that I don't get bored, and put them on shuffle so I don't know what's coming next.
And when I'm running on the treadmill I run by songs as well. I will say run for 5 songs before I allow myself to look at the time, because I know by then I'll have done at least 15mins approx.
Music really motivates me to workout and I have some really cheesy songs on that as soon as I hear the opening notes I suddenly get a rush of motivation.
The one time I tried to run outside and forgot my ipod I managed 10mins and I was done, and I hated every minute of it.

ABSOLUTLY cannot workout without music. Unless I am doing a yoga dvd. It is like dancing without music. The music drives me. And it has to be my playlist or it's not the same.

Cardio is way less fun without something music, podcast, tv my gym has individual tv's on most of the cardio equipment -but I've noticed that I don't need to be listening to anything while I am lifting. it's more fun to kind of talk to myself (in my mind not out loud ) during the lifting and really focus on how I feel physically while lifting weights cause it turns out I REALLY like how I feel physically while lifting weights and having something on distracts me from the feeling. It's really nice to be really aware of the exact moment when the endorphins Kick in.

I feel like I'd probably have the same reaction to cardio if I gave it a shot (and I actually can do that with HIIT that I don't do for very long) but for regular long duration cardio it just goes on to long for me really want to make that kind of commitment.

After no distraction weight lifting though I think I'd definitly give no distraction long duration cardio a shot if I forgot my ipod or it ran out of battery or something just for the awareness experiment.

I was just thinking today that I may have to start using my MP3 player for something to listen to as the only thing I don't like about my exercise regimen is too much thinking time. I tend to worry a thought to death during my workouts. I'll still have that thinking time while swimming laps, but maybe I can get my brain turned off during the other activities.

I exercise longer when I have an mp3 player on; it gives me something to focus on instead of getting bored or discouraged or focusing on how tired I am or whatever. I can't imagine trying to exercise much without it.