Top Spotify songs get Kiwis sweating

Spotify has revealed the tracks topping gym-goers' playlists in New Zealand, unveiling ultimate workout playlist that are proven to make you sweat harder.

Of the millions of workout playlists analysed on the music streaming service, Kiwis are currently favouring The Monster by Eminem when working out.

The Monster track is followed by Timber by Pitbull, Dark Horse by Katy Perry and Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke.

Spotify's data also reveals that men are working out most frequently at lunch-times and later on during the week and feeling the burn to a range of music from classic tracks such as Eye of the Tiger by Survivor, with Eminem's aptly named 'Till I Collapse topping men's playlists.

Women are choosing to sweat it out with pre-breakfast workouts at the beginning of the week, with modern classics such as Macklemore's Can't Hold Us and Rihanna's We Found Love as their chosen tracks.

Spotify's data supports research that shows women have a greater tendency than men to use music synchronously (i.e. to exercise in time to the beat).Pop and dance tracks from artists like Rihanna have regular rhythmic patterns that make them ideal for repetitive-type exercise tasks and supports why they feature so heavily in women's workout playlists.

The most popular workout songs in New Zealand currently are:

• The Monster - Eminem

• Timber - Pitbull

• Dark Horse - Katy Perry

• Blurred Lines - Robin Thicke

• Runnin - David Dallas

• Work B**ch - Britney Spears

• Roar - Katy Perry

• Can't Hold Us - Macklemore - Ryan Lewis

• Elastic Heart - Sia

• Do It - Pitbull

To help gym-goers perform even better this January, Spotify has teamed up with the Music in Exercise and Sport Group at Brunel University in London to create the ultimate workout playlist.

The playlist is based on the global popularity of tracks together with tracks that are proven to make you work harder based on their tempo (bpm), style and lyrical content.

"When synching your movements to the beat of the music, increase the intensity of your workout by raising the music tempo by one or two BPMs beyond your comfort zone – this will increase your workrate with the added benefit that the difference in effort will be almost imperceptible," says Dr Costas Karageorghis, Deputy Head (Research) of the School of Sport and Education, Brunel University, London.

The bespoke Spotify playlist has been developed to match your workout with popular tracks, kicking off with a warm up, leading into high intensity and strength training and ending with a warm down. It is also designed to keep you motivated to stay at the gym post the first week of January.

The top ten Ultimate Workout playlist tracks are:

1. Roar – Katy Perry

2. Talk Dirty – Jason Derulo ft 2 Chainz

3. Skip To The Good Bit – Rizzle Kicks

4. Get Lucky – Daft Punk ft Pharrel Williams

5. Move – Little Mix

6. Need U 100% - Duke Dumont ft A*M*E

7. You Make Me – Avicii

8. Feel My Rhythm – Viralites

9. Timber – Pitbull ft Ke$ha

10. Applause – Lady Gaga

"A suitably motivational playlist can help to 'colour' the symptoms of exercise-related fatigue, like breathlessness and a beating heart, in such a way that they are interpreted in a more positive manner," Karageorghis adds.

"This means that at the point when your body is shouting 'STOP', the music has the power to lift your mood and beckon you on.

"This is why your choice of music for exercise has important implications for how likely you are to stick to a New Year exercise regime.