Alt Rock Workout

Hey, muscle-bound gym-manager guy. Some of us don't want to hear pulsating techno tracks and bubblegum punk when we work out. An Alt Rock Workout playlist sounds like a much better idea, like the proper pump-you-up alternatives right here: the pit-stirring, flannel-tearing grunge of "Smells Like Teen Spirit," the classic new wave dance cut "Blue Monday," the boogie monster metal of "More Human Than Human," and the strut-your-stuff funk of "Sexx Laws." Lucky for you, there are plenty more reasons to sweat profusely in our Next Steps.

Need an end-goal for the gym membership you just signed up for? How about modeling yourself after the svelte, immaculately dressed counterculture character in "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor"? We've got the training-coach tracks to take you there, too, including the glitter-ball grooves of "Over and Over," the horn-blasting, keyboard-frying rap of "Bucky Done Gun," and the cardio-vascular jittering of "Talk to Me, Dance with Me." Go get yourselves a bottle of water — we'll have some Deep Cuts for you in a moment.

Now that you're ready to raise that heart rate one last time, we've got a playlist of peaks and valleys to mirror your workout routine. Start with the subversive synth-pop of Blur's fun-filled "Girls & Boys"; then hit the elliptical machine with the nihilistic noise of "Reverence" and filtered French disco of "Daftendirekt"; and, finally, spend your last remaining energy with Broken Social Scene and Tokyo Police Club.

Strap on your natty Converse kicks, cool kids. But instead of slouching round your local sidewalks, looking for all the world like the very thought of exercise is enough to make you hurl, why not head down to your local sweatbox. Hell, a couple weeks at the gym wouldn't hurt, especially when your exertions are soundtracked by the same sort of songs you listen to when slamming beers or cozying up to fellow thrift-store cadets at that hole-in-the-wall bar. Now, if only you could sneak these alt-rock pulse-pounders onto the gym's sound system . . .