Jam of the Week: "Move On Up" by Lion Babe

For the past few weeks, I've been training for my first ever mud run. It's been pretty intimidating because upper body strength has always been my greatest physical weakness and I know it's going to be a lot of pulling myself up stuff, especially because I'm only 5'3". Basically, I've been having stress dreams about getting stuck in a mud pit, scrabbling at the sides like a Jack Russell at a glass door. The best way to power through this has been a lot of great, motivational work out jams.

Last week's Jam of the Week was actually a sneaky work out jam, but now that I'm into the final stretch (my run is SATURDAY!!), I want to give a shout out to this truly excellent finish-line's-in-sight work out jam: Lion Babe's cover of "Move On Up" by Curtis Mayfield.




First of all, one of my most immediate associations with this song is the training montage in one of the greatest movies of our time, Bend It Like Beckham. There's not much on this earth that can make you feel better about waking up early to run 5k than imagining yourself playing right back on the same team as Jess and Jules. Another great thing about this is that it's a little more chill than the original, a little subdued, which is great for weight lifting reps. High energy, quick tempo songs are great for cardio, but sometimes I like something slower that I can use to time my lifts and make sure I pay attention to my form and pace. This has that perfect steady, strong beat without being a downer. Plus, "Move On Up" has the most uplifting, believe-you-can-do-it lyrics of any song that wasn't a theme song for a kids' show in the 90s (looking at you, theme songs for Arthur and The Reading Rainbow).

This isn't just a personal training montage jam for me, though. I know a lot of people have finals right now or coming up soon. Even if you don't have finals, you've probably got something boring and terrible you need to do for work when you'd rather be outside in the sunshine now that it's finally starting to feel like spring/summer. This is your training montage too, buddies. Move on up. Kick ass. Jess Bhamra would want you to.

Check out Lion Babe's website for more of their work, or get their EP on iTunes.