One of the things I love about working out by myself is having the chance to embrace the private world headphones allow. In the real world, there’s that annoying person on the treadmill talking too loudly on their phone, or the grunting individual who keeps slamming their weights back on the rack—but inside my headphones, it’s just me, myself, and I. Oh, and some amazing music.
Because that’s the other great thing about headphones: There’s no shame in your playlist. Rocking out to Nickelback? Great. Blasting Celine Dion at full volume? Go for it. Or how about some sing-along worthy throwbacks from Ace of Base, Alanis Morissette, and Salt-N-Pepa? That’s exactly the theme of this week’s playlist.
Break out your butterfly clips and platform sneakers (which are back in style anyway): We’ve rounded up the perfect 1990s workout playlist. This lineup has what you really really want: “Wannabe” by the Spice Girls, “Semi-Charmed Life” by Third Eye Blind, and yes, “Baby Got Back” by Sir Mix-A-Lot (bonus points if you still know all the words to that one). These are the songs that remind us that Mark Wahlberg was once Marky Mark and that Jennifer Lopez had several chart-topping hits years before she was ever dubbed Jenny from the Block. And these are the songs that made me rejoice when they came on the radio—because there definitely was not a CD player in my mom’s 1987 Ford Thunderbird—and carried me all the way through middle school, into high school, and the 2000s. They’re unabashedly upbeat, overtly earnest, and genuinely feel-good. Putting this list together also reminded me: Many of these songs deserve more regular rotation on all of my workout playlists anyway. So go ahead and jump around, get loud, and enjoy some good vibrations.
Full playlist:
- “The Sign” by Ace of Base
- “Are You Gonna Go My Way” by Lenny Kravitz
- “Good Vibrations” by Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch
- “Wannabe” by Spice Girls
- “Now That We Found Love” by Heavy D and The Boyz feat. Aaron Hall
- “Baby Got Back” by Sir Mix-A-Lot
- “Waiting for Tonight” by Jennifer Lopez
- “Rhythm Is a Dancer” by Snap!
- “Show Me Love” by Robyn
- “The Rhythm of the Night” by Corona
- “Whatta Man” by Salt-N-Pepa feat. En Vogue
- “Vogue” by Madonna
- “Poison” by Bell Biv DeVoe
- “Jump Around” by House of Pain
- “Say My Name” by Destiny’s Child
- “…Baby One More Time” by Britney Spears
- “Just a Girl” by No Doubt
- “Let’s Get Loud” by Jennifer Lopez
- “What Is Love” by Haddaway
- “Semi-Charmed Life” by Third Eye Blind
- “Tearin’ Up My Heart” by ’NSync
- “Canned Heat” by Jamairoquai
- “Ironic” by Alanis Morrissette
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