I agree with most other people that if I am lifting by myself I almost need my mp3 player just because when going heavy a little HateBreed or Mishuga helps get me really going. However if I am lifting with the team then the gym music is fine I am more concerned with not messing up and getting kicked out. But that is a personal thing.
I use a Phillips Shoqbox because I don’t like having earbuds jammed in my ears or wearing headphones and I don’t like having wires and shit all nimbly-bimbly, dangling around.
Plus, I get to impose my music on everyone else this way.
I vote for IPod during lifting too. I just got one this past winter, but before that used a CD player with a “fanny pack” style holder. For me, I love to be able to play a specific song that i really like when I am trying to lift.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
Yo Momma wrote:
consumer wrote:
So how about it?
I do not lift with an iPod as i feel it diverts my attention away from lifting, i want my absolute best when i lift, but i wonder if i’m being entirely anal?
what do you guys think about blasting music while lifting?
I don’t use my iPod when I lift either. The musician in me has a “critical ear” that demands the music be the primary focus. Instead of concentrating on my lift, I’m thinking about the bassline and where my fingers should be or how I would change the timing etc. Way too distracting. But I crank the tunes when I run…or whenever I NEED the distraction.
I’m a musician too and I generally can’t go very long without listening to music. Perhaps I am more into “feeling” the music than worrying how they are playing an instrument. Music has emotion or a vibe to it. Unless I am working out around people that I know and who happen to be serious about training as well, I generally use it to tune everything else out.[/quote]
Interesting. I’m reading a book now called, “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” and part of it is talking about two schools of thought. Classical and Romantic. The classical is more concerned with the underlying form of a thing and the romantic just gets pleasure from the thing itself. That’s paraphrasing a lot, but your post Prof and the one before it made me think of that. Just an observation.
I will say the earbud wires do get in the way sometimes.
I wouldn’t care for that too much.
[quote]conorh wrote:
I use a Phillips Shoqbox because I don’t like having earbuds jammed in my ears or wearing headphones and I don’t like having wires and shit all nimbly-bimbly, dangling around.
Plus, I get to impose my music on everyone else this way.[/quote]
[quote]arDieselar wrote:
TJCooker you lift at Lifetime don’t you…
The music is pretty rough.[/quote]
Yes, he does. And that was actually MY post – I didn’t realize he was logged in and not me. My bad. 
We lift there together.
[quote]TheWookie wrote:
I wouldn’t care for that too much.
conorh wrote:
I use a Phillips Shoqbox because I don’t like having earbuds jammed in my ears or wearing headphones and I don’t like having wires and shit all nimbly-bimbly, dangling around.
Plus, I get to impose my music on everyone else this way.
[/quote]
Conor is later heard to remark:
“I don’t know what happened to my Shoqbox, but it’s busted and it really smells like Big Foot’s dick…”
[quote]Djwlfpack wrote:
I just bought my iPod not too long ago and I love it…so much better than strapping my portable CD player around my waist. I have a shuffle so the only thing is that it hangs around my neck, so for chest exercises, I have to make sure to move the iPod off to the side of my chest just to make sure I don’t crush the thing.
I couldn’t take it if I had to listen to the gym’s music when I lifted.[/quote]
hey, get the armband - go to your nearest apple store - they sell special armbands for us bigger guys. I wish I still had the box so I could give you the brandname.
The Apple brand iPod armbands are built for the little Abercrombie boys.
iPods are essential for the gym, what with all the garbage they play.
[quote]TheWookie wrote:
Gotta have my iPOD as my gym plays the queerest pop music. I have playlists speciifcally for lifting - lots of Maiden, Motorhead, AC/DC, etc. It is even more important when I do cardio - it helps me zone out on the track.[/quote]
I personally think Cannibal Corpse is perfect for heavy lifting. Pantera, Metallica, and Slayer aren’t too shabby either.
I absolutely have to have my ipod when I am lifting. Now that I am used to it, I have trouble lifting without it. I don’t see it as a distraction, but as an inspiration. I also have specific playlists for lifting & specific songs that I like when I am doing power cleans, maxes, etc. I think it is just down to a personal preference, do what works for you.
i get easily distracted by music especially stuff i like. it’s easier for me to ignore the stuff they play @ the gym since i don’t like it.
if i’m working out @ home i do like to crank it. it’s a whole different vibe though when you feel the house shaking, than just having something loud in your ears. but even then i have to put on a disc i know really well. if it’s something new i get too distracted/can’t focus.
I gotta say that I use an MP3 play about half the time, either that or listen to something brutal before I head out…really helps get me motivated:)
I keep the player in a waist high pocket and run the cord under my shirt to keep it out of the way.
man i really thought i would have had more people seeing it like i do, but i guess this just means i got to try heavy lifting with some amping music to see whether or not i drop the bar on my neck
It’s Wookie dick you racist bastard!
[quote]conorh wrote:
TheWookie wrote:
I wouldn’t care for that too much.
conorh wrote:
I use a Phillips Shoqbox because I don’t like having earbuds jammed in my ears or wearing headphones and I don’t like having wires and shit all nimbly-bimbly, dangling around.
Plus, I get to impose my music on everyone else this way.
Conor is later heard to remark:
“I don’t know what happened to my Shoqbox, but it’s busted and it really smells like Big Foot’s dick…”[/quote]
[quote]Charles Staley wrote:
Many of the more “hard-core” lifters will shun the idea of using an iPod (or any other type of Walkman, etc) during workouts. Their rationale is a sound one: you shouldn’t be trying to distract yourself from the task at hand.
That said, if you use an iPod to inspire, instruct, or motivate yourself, it’s a different story. Like anything else, the iPod is a tool…useful in some contexts, not useful in others
[/quote]
Shunning the idea of an iPod? How is ite any different than having your wife slap you, scream like a mad man or look at a picture of your kids? Those are all aids in their own respect. Use whatever gets you going for the task at hand. Claiming an iPod, not saying you are, distracts from the task at hand is absurd. Its no different and no more distracting than thinking “i’m doing this for my kids.” while looking at last years christmas morning photo!
[quote]swivel wrote:
i get easily distracted by music especially stuff i like. it’s easier for me to ignore the stuff they play @ the gym since i don’t like it.
[/quote]
And THAT is primarily why I don’t worry about making sure I have my player w/ me. Provided I can ignore that ridiculous bikini commercial. (I think it’s actually for Yoplait.)
I can’t wait to get mine! I soo tired of hearing the blarring-ass techno! I know some of you Euros dig it, but not me.
Here is why I bring an MP3 player with me…
While lifting at a gym in Iraq, I got tired of the rap, R&B, hip-hop, pussy rock, etc and brought in a Slayer CD. After a bout of arguing and debating with the retarded Philipino bastard at the desk I got him to put it in the multi-changer. My CD came on 20 minutes later and the beautiful strains of War Ensemble came screaming through the speakers and stunned the crowd in the gym, kinda similar to the response to a very loud bomb going off nearby. The bastard changed the song! The rat bastard!! I went out and got an MP3 player right after that. How can you play the crap every day, like the rap and hip-hop, and that trendy new crap that spends a few weeks on the billboard and peters out and have the balls to shut down vintage metal like that? Not like I was imposing on anyone, since it was a public stereo for anyone to use, and everyone likes to impose crappy music on everyone else daily.
Enjoy your iPods and MP3 players. Holy crap I feel for all of you that have to listen to garbage music when you lift. I have a power rack and GHR in my basement, and love the solitude and the ability to crank whatever the hell I feel like, as loud as I feel like (but in accordance with the wife).
Be strong
My iPod Shuffle is a must for me. Wear it around the neck, run the headphone wire under your shirt, and voila, it’s out of the way.
It is also useful as a way to keep gym 'tards from talking to you. I like this aspect so much that when the Shuffle’s battery died the other way, I kept wearing it.