5 Podcasts That Will Make You Actually Enjoy Your Workouts (Really!)


If I’d never learned the wonders of temptation bundling — pairing activities you wholeheartedly love, like listening to podcasts, with activities you wholeheartedly dislike but need to do, like, say, exercising — my house would legitimately look like a war zone, I would never (ever) meal-prep for the week, and I would rarely (if ever) run.

You see, after I go for a run, I feel great (hey, endorphins!), but unless I have someone to talk to or something I’m dying to listen to while plodding alongside Columbus Boulevard, I simply will not drag myself out from in front of Grey’s Anatomy to make a run happen. This is where temptation bundling comes in: I tell myself that if I go for a run, I can listen to a sweet, sweet podcast the entire time. And boom: I’m out the door. Podcasts are my ultimate secret workout weapon. And temptation bundling with podcasts works for plain ol’ exercising (and the aforementioned meal-prepping), too — in my case, at least.

Now, we’ve given you podcast suggestions for working out before, but we figured it was time for an update. Below, five podcasts I love to employ when I need a little extra incentive to strap on my sneakers. Hopefully they’ll work wonders for you, too!

If you’d rather be watching a rom-com …
Listen to: Modern Love
This short-and-sweet podcast (episodes usually ring in at around 20 minutes) is a play on the New York Times’ “Modern Love” column, where folks write about their sometimes messy, sometimes hilarious, sometimes tear-jerker love lives. In the podcast, the essays are read by actors, usually folks you’ll recognize from TV or movies, and then the host catches up with the actual subjects of the essay (juicy, right?) at the end. It is a 20-minute rollercoaster of emotions guaranteed to make you forget all about your burning calves.

If you may or may not have developed an addiction to Trump news …
Listen to: Pod Save America
This bad boy, usually around an hour long, will catch you up on the past few days of Trump news — the good (?), the bad and the ugly — as you get your workout in. So you’ll leave the gym or the trail a little healthier and ready to win a dinner-party debate. The hosts worked in the White House under Obama, so they also have a perspective most podcast hosts who delve into politics don’t have access to, which adds to the podcast’s allure.

If you wish Jessica Williams was still on The Daily Show
Listen to: 2 Dope Queens 
Warning: You may pee yourself a little if you listen to this podcast, hosted by former correspondent on The Daily Show Jessica Williams and author and comedian Phoebe Robinson, on a long run. Each podcast features (generally hilarious) banter between Williams and Robinson and short stand-up routines from comedians, some well-known and some not so much. Side note: This also pairs really well with a miserable morning subway ride.

If you are constantly recapping/overanalyzing TV shows/news/every kind of media imaginable for your friends …
Listen to: Still Processing
Warning: You’ll start to say things like, “Well, Jenna said” and “Wesley made a really good point,” — like you actually KNOW the hosts of this podcast … which you don’t — after listening to a few episodes of this podcast, in which two New York Times writers cover and analyze culture and media, from the Oscars to Girls to Kanye West’s breakdown (GREAT episode), each week. (Side note: Jenna, can we be friends, please?)

If you just binge-watched The Keepers
Listen to: S-Town
The Keepers just came out on Netflix, and it is, in a word, creepy. But like this podcast, which comes from the producers behind Serial, it’s a murder mystery that morphs into a story of human behavior — and how disturbing human behavior can be. It’s pretty fascinating (and, warning, also pretty upsetting). And if you just powered through and now don’t know what to do with yourself, we suggest you bust out your workout gear, throw your headphones in and press play on this seven-chapter series.

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