50 Great Exercising Songs From ’80s Movies

Let’s Get Physical, Folks!

I’m a music junkie. It’s very rare for a day to go by without me listening to at least a little bit of music.

Another almost daily routine of mine is exercising. I’m not a hardcore exerciser, but I try to keep active. Almost every day, I go for either a walk, a run, or a ride on my Pelton bike.

Regardless of which of those things I’m doing, I almost always have music on while doing them.

Since I’m a big fan of music and movies from the 1980s, I thought it would be fun to create an exercising playlist filled with songs that were featured in movies made during the ‘80s.

My initial thought was that it would probably contain between 10–20 songs. However, once I started compiling songs, I quickly realized I needed to include more than 20 of them.

Maybe 30 instead? No, that still wasn’t enough.

40? Close, but I still had other songs I wanted to include.

50?

Perfect.

The full list of 50 Great Exercising Songs From ’80s Movies, including what movies they were featured in, is at the bottom of this article. Also included is my Spotify playlist of the songs.

But before we get to them, I want to spotlight 5 random favorites of mine from my playlist.

I always love walking, running, and riding to these awesome songs:

Far From Over — Frank Stallone (Written by Frank Stallone and Vince DiCola)

“Far From Over” is from the 1983 movie Staying Alive, which was the sequel to Saturday Night Fever from 1977.

This was the only hit song (at least so far) from Frank Stallone, who is the younger brother of Sylvester Stallone, who directed and co-wrote Staying Alive.

“Far From Over” is a fun song that I’ve always found to be very motivating. The music has a fantastic beat and the lyrics are very inspiring.

Holiday Road — Lindsey Buckingham (Written by Lindsey Buckingham)

“Holiday Road” is from National Lampoon’s Vacation from 1983.

I’m a big fan of Lindsey Buckingham’s work in Fleetwood Mac and this is one of my favorites of his solo songs.

I love the Vacation movies and it’s nearly impossible for me to not think of Clark Griswold and his family while listening to this fun tune. It all puts me in a great mood — which, of course, makes the workouts even more enjoyable.

The Secret Of My Success by Night Ranger (Written by Jack Blades, David Foster, Tom Keane, and Michael Landau)

This is from Michael J. Fox’s 1987 movie The Secret Of My Success. Michael was a fan of Night Ranger and he asked them to write and record this song for the movie.

I remember seeing The Secret Of My Success a couple of times in the late ’80s. I like Michael J. Fox, but I can’t say I loved the movie.

The song, on the other hand, is pretty awesome. I like Night Ranger a lot and this is one of my favorites by them.

St. Elmo’s Fire (Man in Motion) by John Paar (Written by John Parr and David Foster)

Although this song was written specifically for the 1985 movie St. Elmo’s Fire, most of the lyrics in it by John Parr were inspired by a paraplegic Canadian athlete named Rick Hansen. Hansen became a paraplegic at 15 years old as the result of an automobile accident.

At the time that this song was being written, Hansen was touring around the world in his wheelchair trying to raise awareness of spinal cord injuries. This tour of Hansen’s was called The Man In Motion Tour. It inspired John Parr and he included several references to Rick Hansen in the song.

I’ve loved “St. Elmo’s Fire (Man In Motion)” ever since it was released in 1983, but my love for it grew even stronger when I took up running a few years ago.

The great music in it has a nice steady beat which is fantastic for exercising to. Plus, the lyrics are very inspiring — especially during the extra-challenging parts of workouts.

There are several great motivating lines throughout it. This is just a small sampling of them:

I can climb the highest mountain Cross the wildest sea I can feel St. Elmo’s fire burnin’ in me, burnin’ in me Just once in his life a man has his time And my time is now I’m coming alive

That verse always lifts me up and gives me extra energy.

Twist Of Fate by Olivia Newton-John (Written by Peter Beckett and Steve Kippner)

“Twist Of Fate” is from the 1983 movie Two Of A Kind, which co-starred Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta.

The movie wasn’t a big hit, but the song was. It reached Top 10 charts all over the world.

It’s a fantastic song to exercise to. I especially love riding and running to it. It has a great steady beat throughout, which makes it perfect for running and riding to.

Here’s some fun trivia about the song’s co-writer Peter Beckett: Peter was the lead singer of the band Player, who had a big hit with the song “Baby Come Back” in 1977. Peter still records and tours and occasionally does “Twist Of Fate” during his concerts.

By the way, “Twist Of Fate” is the second song from Olivia Newton-John on my list. The other is “Xanadu,” which she performed with Electric Light Orchestra.

“Xanadu” is another situation, at least in my opinion, where the music out-shined the movie it came from.

Neutron Dance by The Pointer Sisters (Written by Allee Willis and Danny Sembello)

I love a lot of songs by The Pointer Sisters. This is one of two songs by them on my list. You’ll have to look at the list itself to see what the other one is.

(I’m sneaky like that.)

“Neutron Dance” was featured in the 1984 smash hit movie Beverly Hills Cop, though it was originally released in 1983 of The Pointer Sisters’ album Break Out.

To this day, I still don’t know exactly what a “Neutron Dance” is, but I don’t care. I still love the song. I’m going to continue to dance, exercise, and get my groove on to “Neutron Dance” just like I always have.

Look out, neutrons!

Here’s my complete list of 50 Great Exercising Songs From 80’s Movies. The titles of the movies they appeared in are in italics.

1. Lets Go Crazy — Prince Purple Rain
2. Far From Over — Frank Stallone Staying Alive
3. Xanadu — Olivia Newton-John & Electric Light Orchestra Xanadu
4. Any Way You Want It — Journey Caddyshack
5. Holiday Road — Lindsey Buckingham National Lampoon’s Vacation
6. I’m Alright — Kenny Loggins Caddyshack
7. When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Going — Billy Ocean The Jewel Of The Nile
8. Flashdance…What A Feeling — Irene Cara Flashdance
9. Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now — Starship Mannequin
10. The Secret Of My Success — Night Ranger The Secret Of My Success
11. Footloose — Kenny Loggins Footloose
12. St. Elmo’s Fire (Man In Motion) — John Parr St. Elmo’s Fire
13. Twist Of Fate — Olivia Newton-John Two Of A Kind
14. Holding Out For A Hero — Bonnie Tyler Footloose
15. Fame — Irene Cara Fame
16. Let’s Hear It For The Boy — Deniece Williams Footloose
17. All Over The World — Electric Light Orchestra Xanadu
18. Together In Electric Dream — Phil Oakey and Giorgio Moroder Electric Dreams
19. Ghostbusters — Ray Parker, Jr. Ghostbusters
20. On The Dark Side — John Cafferty & The Beaver Brown Band Eddie And The Cruisers
21. The Power Of Love — Huey Lewis & The News Back To The Future
22. I’m Free (Heaven Helps The Man) — Kenny Loggins Footloose
23. Somebody’s Baby — Jackson Browne Fast Times At Ridgemont High
24. Eye Of The Tiger — Survivor Rocky III
25. The Heat Is On — Glenn Frey Beverly Hills Cop
26. Neutron Dance — The Pointer Sisters Beverly Hills Cop
27. Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car — Billy Ocean License To Drive
28. Shakedown — Bob Seger Beverly Hills Cop II
29. Jungle Love — The Time Purple Rain
30. A Million Miles Away — The Plimsouls Valley Girl
31. Change — John Waite Vision Quest
32. Call Me — Blondie American Gigolo
33. Love Somebody — Rick Springfield Hard To Hold
34. Into The Groove — Madonna Desperately Seeking Susan
35. Iron Eagle (Never Say Die) — King Kobra Iron Eagle
36. Dream Warriors — Dokken A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors
37. Who Made Who — AC/DC Maximum Overdrive
38. I Still Believe — Tim Capello The Lost Boys
39. Hazy Shade Of Winter — The Bangles Less Than Zero
40. Maniac — Michael Sembello Flashdance
41. Deeper And Deeper — The Fixx Streets Of Fire
42. Good Times — INXS & Jimmy Barnes The Lost Boys
43. Heat Of The Night — John Cafferty & The Beaver Brown Band Eddie And The Cruisers II: Eddie Lives!
44. Who’s Johnny — El Debarge Short Circuit
45. New Attitude — Patti Labelle Beverly Hills Cop
46. I’m So Excited — The Pointer Sisters Summer Lovers
47. I Can Dream About You — Dan Hartman Streets Of Fire
48. The Moment Of Truth — Survivor The Karate Kid
49. Training Montage — Vince DiCola Rocky IV
50. Hearts On Fire — John Cafferty Rocky IV

So, what do YOU think? Did I leave out any of your personal favorite exercising songs from ’80s movies? If so, let me know what your favorites are in the comments below.

Even if you hate exercising…let me know your favorite songs from ’80s movies.

I’m curious and I care!

For those of you who use Spotify and are interested in listening to and/or following my playlist, here you go. Enjoy.

Thank you for reading the above! If you liked it, you may also enjoy these other music-related stories from me:

P.S. to these music-loving friends of mine: Chris Zappa, Paul Combs, Brandy Niremburk, Terry Barr, L Burton, Bonnie Barton, Keith R. Higgons, Kathy Copeland Padden, Will Hull, Christopher Robin: I’d love to hear YOUR thoughts too. What are some of your favorites from ’80s movies?

Thanks again. Have a great day!