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RCUK's Top Ten Turbo Tunes©

We still have a prize for the best submissions, get on the Turbo and plug in the iPod...

Posted: 28 October 2005
by Guy Andrews
Just remember you read it here first... so we've bumped this up a bit as it seems to be the time of year to get the Turbo out of the shed and find the plastic office fan...

It's tricky enough trying to stay motivated to get on to the turbo in the first place, let alone do a 45 minute workout without completely losing the will to live.

Seriously though ten songs gets you about 45-50 minutes which is about right for a warm up, training session and a warm down. You can do 'one-song-on, one-off' for a standard long interval session. Or a ramp up to a max-out with a progressive build up (e.g. start with Bob Dylan and finish with the Chemical Brothers)

Here's a list to get you started:

  1. A Roller Skating Jam Named "Saturdays" - De La Soul - 4:01
  2. Tour De France - Kraftwerk - 5:10
  3. Firestarter - The Prodigy - 4:39
  4. Take California - Propellerheads - 7:21
  5. Beating around the bush - AC/DC - 3:56
  6. Road Block - Stock Aitken & Waterman - 3:18 (trust me, it's a cracker)
  7. Take Me Out - Franz Ferdinand - 3:57
  8. Breathe - The Prodigy - 5:34
  9. American Idiot - Green Day - 2:54
  10. Bang On! - Propellerheads - 5:45

Obviously you can buy these songs from the iTunes website. Ask for an iPod for Christmas, you can set playlists easily and it saves skipping around changing CDs etc. I now look forward to a turbo session... (actually this is a lie, but it's a lot easier than it was)

More suggestions for playlists for the following genres:

  • Indie Intervals
  • Seventies Soul Session
  • Diggin' Deep Disco
  • Eclectic Eighties Endurance (I've got one of these already... sad isn't it)
  • (Cross) Country
  • Theme Tune Thunderin'
  • Rockin' Rollers
  • Sixties Sprinters
  • 'Easy' Listeners

Last year we had a competition... but failed to pick a winner so we can carry on the fun through this year's winter months... Ian Cleverly's list was, however, suitably eclectic:

  • 1. Public Enemy - Fight the Power
  • 2. Specials - Guns of Navarone
  • 3. Gotan Project - Queremos Paz
  • 4. Lemon Jelly - Return to Patagonia
  • 5. Ojos de Brujo - Ventilator R80
  • 6. Ash - Burn Baby Burn
  • 7. Arrested Development - People Everyday
  • 8. James Brown - Sex Machine
  • 9. Blur - Song 2
  • 10. P.I.L. - Public Image

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Discuss this story


SloBoy
I'm still on the old shiny discs rather than the new fangled digistuff so I need long albums. I find greatest hits stuff is good recently I've been going with those kings of poodle rock - Queen - and by contrast Groove Armada. Also U2 and Red Hot Chillis seem to not know when to stop when they're putting together a play list so Achtung Baby and By The Way can do you a good hours worth.
Posted: 10/12/2004 13:00


Guy Andrews
U2 doesn't float my boat...

Groove Armada, now you're talking...
Posted: 10/12/2004 13:50


David Squires 2
Well, I think some of those songs are good, but there are so many out there! Here is a top 10 that I know would really get me going:

1. Prodigy - Smack My B!tch Up
2. Prodigy - No Good
3. Public Domain - Operation Blade
4. 2 Unlimited - No Limit
5. Mauro Picotto - Back To Cali
6. Ferry Corsten - Cafe Del Mar
7. Chemical Brothers - Hey Boy, Hey Girl
8. Barthezz - Infected
9. DJ Tomcraft - Loneliness
10. Darude - Sandstorm

Any of the old techno music (2 Unlimited, Capella, etc) is great, and stuff from the likes of the Prodigy, Snap, and so many others deserve a mention. Modern day trance music is also pretty cool to get you going on a workout, and there is always room for a little house music too!!!
Posted: 10/12/2004 14:20


Thrusty
What was John thinking off - 5 x 2 minute all out intervals. Thought I was going to die last night! Undoubetdly the most unpleasant workout I have done but at least I am sure what my max HR is now.

Depending upon my mood I go for nosiy and aggressive (Prodigy, Green Day, Nirvana, SLF, Foo Fighters ) or a bit of trance for the right tempo (Fat Boy Slim raise the tempo?)
Posted: 10/12/2004 15:41


M@
I tend to stick on a bit of DJ Shadow.
Posted: 10/12/2004 16:54


Stephen Brierley
Vienna by Ultravox
The 12 inch version will probably get you through a 10 mile TT and make you care less about the artic taking you out at the finish
Posted: 13/12/2004 15:23


Guy Andrews
Ultravox. Are you kidding?

Kraftwerk maybe, but Ultravox!?
Posted: 13/12/2004 15:33


Guy Andrews
...Actually that bit where it picks up is quite funky. Maybe I confused it with Chris De Burgh.
Posted: 13/12/2004 15:38


Stephen Brierley
For a warm up - Sweet Home Alabama Lynyrd Skynyrd
Finetime - Cast
Waterfall - Stone Roses
Love is the Law - The Seahorses
Too Much Too Young - The Specials
A Bomb in Wardour Street - The Jam


Posted: 13/12/2004 15:43


Guy Andrews
strange choice for a warm up. Great finish though.
Posted: 13/12/2004 16:59


Tim Buckley
Faithless - We come one
Faithless - This is my Church


Posted: 13/12/2004 18:12


SloBoy
Think I may have to git myself some Faithless - now I'm a born again Funkmeister and Groove Daddy an' all.
Posted: 14/12/2004 10:31


Arthur Heaton
Surely the beat has to be in time with your cadence ?!?!
Posted: 16/12/2004 15:12


SloBoy
No, not really.

Mind you, I can't dance.
Posted: 16/12/2004 16:21


Arthur Heaton
Sloboy, anyone can dance. It just depends on who's watching
Posted: 17/12/2004 10:36


tccc42
Hi, I'm the sad one whose training is mostly on a turbo when my son sleeps so I don't get out much. I agree with those of you that have posted Operation Blade by Public domain but any Trance anthems compi serves the purpose I find.
If I am feeling hat training will be hard the Power Ballards CD's help me sing along for half an hour or so but I don't think they help me train! LOL
Posted: 17/12/2004 17:11


ian cleverly
1. Public Enemy-Fight the Power
2. Specials- Guns of Navarone
3. Gotan Project- Queremos Paz
4. Lemon Jelly- Return to Patagonia
5. Ojos de Brujo- Ventilator R80
6. Ash- Burn Baby Burn
7. Arrested Development- People Everyday
8. James Brown- Sex Machine
9. Blur- Song 2
10. P.I.L.- Public Image

Wrestling the ipod off my son is a different matter, though...
Posted: 18/12/2004 16:43


ShouldTriHarder
Motorhead - Ace of Spades.The whole album.Can't beat it for an intense session.Anything by AC/DC (the old Bon Scott stuff) ssems to work well too.
Posted: 20/12/2004 09:46


peter turpin 3
My favourite tape after warming up goes -
1.ace of spades - motorhead
2.burn - deep purple
3.johny b goode - jimi hendrix
4.highway star - deep purple
5.1'm going home - 10 years after
6.eliminator - zz top
7.my generation - who
8.sick mind - napalm death
9.rock and roll - led zepellin
10.crossroads - cream
11.paranoid - black sabbath
12.feel the noise - slade

basiclly anyting heavy and fast except that big lump of lard meatloaf
Posted: 20/12/2004 13:14


Guy Andrews
That's 12 not 10. But rock-on daddy-o...

ZZ Top kicks ass!
Posted: 20/12/2004 13:18


ShouldTriHarder
OK - a '10' but in no particular order

1.Motorhead - The Hammer
2.AC/DC - Let there be Rock (live)
3.The Clash - English Civil War
4.Motorhead - Overkill (live)
5.Big Black - Kerosene
6.Soundgarden - Jesus Christ pose
7.Motorhead - Fire,Fire
8.Pearl Jam - Rearview mirror
9.Dinosaur Jr - Out there
10.Anthrax/Public Enemy - Bring the noise
Posted: 20/12/2004 14:12


Robin Browning
On the deep house/Disco tip -

1. Frankie Knuckles - Only the Strong Survive
2. Loletta Holloway - Hit and Run
3. Salsoul Orchestra - Catch me on the rebound
4. Loft Classics - Go Bang
5. Sharon Red - Can you handle it?
6. 2 Guys on Acid - House Music All night long
7. Hardfloor - Transcript
8. Leftfield - Not Forgotton
9. Dexter Wansal - Life on Mars
10. Soulfuric - Passion De Gozo
Posted: 21/12/2004 13:13


Andrew Johnson 3
I often use my IPOD on the Gym trainer as found to to my cost that wearing headphones and cycling on london mean streets don't mix to well.

This is mixture of Soul and Electro from the 80's with a dash of the modern.

Not in any particular order

1. Jump Around - House of Pain
2. Never too Much - Luther Vandross
3. Al-Naafiysh (The Soul) - Hashim
4. Wonderwall - Oasis
5. Flashlight - Parliament
6. Rebels without a Pause - Public Enemey
7. Praise You - Fatboy Slim
8. Seven Nation Army - The White Stripes
9. Back To Life - Soul II Soul
10. I've should of known better - Mica Paris



Posted: 24/12/2004 17:02


James "i am an architect, htey call me a butcher" Stout
more punk for me start with some more recent manics stuff and finish wiht some real energy early stuff:

1. Manics- No surface all feeling
2. Manics- Baby Elian
3. Manics- from despair to where
4. Manics- Judge yr'self
5. Manics -Stay beautiful
6. Manics - love's sweet exile
7. Rage against the machine - killing in the name
8. Manics - Faster
9. Dropkick murphys - cadence to arms
10. Manics - A design for life
Posted: 07/01/2005 12:53


Guy Andrews
It seems you like the Manics then...
Posted: 07/01/2005 13:41


James "i am an architect, htey call me a butcher" Stout
just a bit... Went to their gig the other day, awesome. I do have a picture of James Dean Bradfield which gives it away...
Posted: 07/01/2005 15:53


James "i am an architect, htey call me a butcher" Stout
"the band we didn't have when we were young"
Posted: 07/01/2005 15:53


Damian Johnson
Well, I am on the turbo at 6.30pm for a quick half hour blast normally so, for variety, I have Radio 4 on Monday and Friday - usually some good comedy including the News Quiz today :-)

Tuesday through Thursday its 5 Live...


Posted: 07/01/2005 21:51


Martin Smith 2
my girl friend came round once and when i was on the trainer without headphones and she said she was worried she might have to chuck me due to the loud euro disco rubbish that i was listening to...

must keep with tempo...
Posted: 18/02/2005 13:07


Robert Kershaw
Where to start on a top 10. Spoilt for choice, nice to see that we are all different though. Try for a top 10(+) in no order. (Has to be guitar based though, keeping up the revs)

Black Crowes - Hard to Handle
Black Crowes - Twice as Hard
ACDC - Highway to Hell
ACDC - Thuderstruck
Bluetones - Are You Blue
The Bluetones - Cut Some Rug
The Music - Welcome to the North
The music - Freedom Fighters
Jet - Cold Hard Bitch
Jet - Last Chance
Blues Traveler - Alone (live)
Guns n Roses - Paradise City
Stevie Ray Vaughan - Texas Flood (like Hendrix)


Posted: 18/02/2005 21:42


The little onion
On a less serious note (you guys are taking this far too seriously) can I nominate the great Scottish band, and favourite of John Peel, the Delgados (yes, they are named after Pedro), particularly their first two albums, named "Domestiques", and "Peloton".
Very good they are too, but perhaps without the rythm necessary to keep up the cadence.
Posted: 28/10/2005 11:43


Arthur Heaton
Not used turbo much but i can't imagine listening to anything that didn't match the cadence !.
Am I alone ?
Posted: 28/10/2005 12:07


SloBoy
It doesn't have to match it exactly - it more has to have a kinda "forward momemtum" feel to it.

I find for example "hard to Breathe" by Maroon 5 quite suitable.


Posted: 28/10/2005 12:15


James Stout Is NOT wearing a livestrong band
burn baby burn by ash helped me towards the end of an hour on the ergo the other night... actually it was saturday night and i was so knacked at the end that ifell over\!!
Posted: 28/10/2005 13:44


Alistair Robinson
NIN - the hand that feeds
Metallica - fuel
Rob zombie - Dragula
Bruce Dickinson - Kill Devil Hill
Iron Maiden - 2 minutes to midnight
AC/DC - TNT
Guns n Roses - Welcome to the Jungle
Sunna - Power Struggle
Ted Nugent - Stranglehold
AC/DC - Given the dog a bone

Top ten in no particular order, no warm up tunes exept maybe the start of Hand that Feeds. Pretty much anythng from AC\DC will do it or Iron Maiden.
Posted: 28/10/2005 13:47


Chris (Kenny) Lawson
Ian Brown - F.E.A.R.
Sub Sub - Spaceface
Bomb The Bass - Bug Powder Dust
Daft Punk - Harder Faster...
Chemical Bros - Leave Home
Mylo - Destroy Rock 'N' Roll
DJ Shadow - 6 Days (Soulwaxx mix)
The Charlatans - 9 Acre Dust
Oasis - Bring It On Down
The Stone Roses - Begging You
Posted: 28/10/2005 14:31


Bally
Got 85 tracks on my MP3 player based on Clubland tracks, works for me and did for the Spin class it was used in yesterday - mega motivational! Use the different beats/tracks to simulate seated hill climbs and efforts on chorus etc...
Posted: 29/10/2005 07:33


Nic Rackley
I find that banging out the endless (or should that be mindless) miles on the Turb is more of a challenge with a cadence target. A useful tool hear is to run a Beats per Minute analyser on your PC before downloading to your MP3 player or iPod. Pick you fave tunes, check the BPM (cadence) and see if you can keep up!!
p.s. - theres a simple free BPM analyser on www.mixmeister.com/downloads - (bottom of the page)

Top 5 all time turbo tracks (not)
5. Queen - I want to ride my bicycle (obviously)
4. Katie Melua - Nine million bicycles
3. Roy 'Chubby' Brown - Santa where's me f***ing bike?
2. Lifehouse - Sick Cycle Carousel
1. Taking back Sunday - Bike Scene

Posted: 29/10/2005 15:23


Milhouse
Having been a rower in a previous life and had the unfortunate chance of sharing a boat house with people whose taste in music can only be described as "disney novelty tunes", the following 1/2 hour ut1 ergo playlist was drawn as a complete antithesis: basically the loudest, wierdest, psychopathic, antisocial music, I could come up with. As it turns out, t'was absolutely brilliant on the ergs and I'm assuming will equally as good on a turbo etc.
Anyway, the 'ASBO' playlist:
1. Beastie Boys - Sabotage
2. Mudhoney - Touch me I'm sick
3. The Ramones - Don't wanna be tamed (demo)
4. White Stripes - Black Math
5. The Stooges - Shake Appeal
6. The Pixies - Allison
7. Nirvana - Pay to Play
8. The Pixies - Broken Face
9. The Gorillaz - White Light
10. Aphex Twin - Remix/AFX
11. Sonic Youth - Heather Angel (last 2mins thereof)
11. Nirvana - Scentless Apprentice
12. Nirvana - Tourette's

Followed by a chillout session of:
1. The Beatles - Lovely Rita
2. Velvet Underground - Who Loves The Sun
3. Beck - Lord Only Knows
4. Beatles - I Am The Walrus
Posted: 29/10/2005 17:05


James Stout Is NOT wearing a livestrong band
one of the oxford lightweights cds is called ergoing into the 1980s... its shite
Posted: 29/10/2005 17:36

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