Gothic Council on the Perfect Gothic Workout Music

Liisa Ladouceur: Goth music is not for exercising. Unless you're doing tai chi. Or training for a round of Extreme Spiderweb Cleaning. Last year I took up running. Hey, I was preparing for a Zombie Obstacle Course Race, so I don't lose ALL my goth points, right? I much preferred it to going to a gym, particularly because I can listen to my own music. I can't say the Cure or Bauhaus or most death-rock works as a soundtrack, but I have included Gang of Four on my running playlist and find that a lot of Nine Inch Nails is built for speed, especially "Mr. Self Destruct," "1,000,000" and "Burn." Now some of you will say NIN's not Goth. To you, I can't help you!

Regen Robinson: I listen to my show. I actually started the show because I wanted something to work out to and all the other shows were a little more on the gothic side rather than EDM/Synthpop. I agree, though, that most "goth" music, although great, is not quite right for working out to.

Justin Whitney: Funker Vogt's Navigator always made me power through cardio when I was able to work out, that or a special mix of bad music that always included a track from Macho Man Randy Savage's horrible rap album, Oingo Boingo and Huey Lewis and the News. When I Lift: HEAVY METAL IS THE LAW.

Usually Carnivore, Averse Sefira, Watain, Manowar and Gwar, anything to focus my anger into pushing iron; alas, due to poor genetics and health problems not yet resolved, I don't get to work out anymore, which really drives me insane, because it was the one thing besides my kittens I truly love.

Jez Smith: I teach tribal fusion belly dance, and there are certain tempos that work well for different movement types, but if I'm going to go for movement drills on my own time or if I have open-minded students, I'll fire up the songs of my people -- like "Cities in Dust" by Siouxsie, "Every Day Is Halloween" by Ministry, "This Corrosion" -- the classics that I know note for note.

I challenge myself not to fall into decades-old movement patterns when they're on, but since I know them so well, I can anticipate each tempo change and try something new each time. Whenever I find something new that fires me up, I'll play it over and over and try to work out a routine to it, seeing where the song takes me.

Liisa Ladouceur: Well, whatever the soundtrack, I still feel that any kind of exercise apart from dancing is the least goth thing that I do, and I think perhaps I should give it up. I mean, isn't pondering one's own mortality enough of a workout? What's the free-weight equivalent to shouldering the world's suffering?