A new study has revealed which Christmas songs appear most frequently across festive workout playlists, with Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas taking the top spot.
Fitness Equipment Company Mirafit analysed 2,899 Spotify playlists related to festive workouts – which consisted of a huge 374,841 songs – to find out which seasonal tracks people find the most motivating for getting their endorphins flowing at this time of year.
The study also reveals which holiday songs are actually the most beneficial for busting the bloat and helping you to feel your best over the festive season – and it’s good news for Taylor Swift fans.
When it comes to which tracks appear most frequently, the data found that Mariah Carey’s classic All I Want for Christmas Is You snaps up the number one spot as the most popular gym song, appearing in 1,550 playlists analysed.
In second place is Ariana Grande’s Christmas pop hit, Santa Tell Me, which appears in 948 festive playlists, and Wham’s Last Christmas rounds out the top three with 940 playlist appearances.
The ten tracks that appear most frequently in festive playlists are:
1 – Mariah Carey: All I want for Christmas Is You
2 – Ariana Grande: Santa Tell Me
3 – Wham!: Last Christmas
4 – Kelly Clarkson: Underneath the Tree
5 – Brenda Lee: Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree
6 – Michael Bublé: It’s Beginning to Look a Lot like Christmas
7 – Michael Bublé: Holly Jolly Christmas
8 – Andy Williams: It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year
9 – Justin Bieber: Mistletoe
10 – Bobby Helms: Jingle Bell Rock
However, the experts at Mirafit also analysed the BPM (beats per minute) of each of these tracks, and it turns out these festive favourites aren’t the best for achieving your winter fitness goals.
According to the experts, the BPM of music we listen to when working out can have an impact on our productivity, as they say: “Music is a great tool to use to enhance our workouts as it can keep us motivated to push through to the end of our sessions.
“Christmas tunes are especially great for this due to their typically cheery, upbeat sound, which can give the energy boost needed for our winter workouts.
“However, the pace of the music we listen to can affect the pace at which we exercise. The tempo of the songs can influence our rhythm and motivation, so it is key to curate the right playlists for how you choose to work out.”