Grunge

Angst at 140 BPM—finally, a productive use for it

By Rob Gordon

Look, I'm not saying grunge is the *only* thing you should run to. I'm just saying that if you've never cranked Nirvana on a Tuesday morning tempo run when everything feels like garbage, you're missing the entire point of both running and grunge.

Here's the thing nobody tells you about grunge: it's exercise music that was never trying to be exercise music. There's no fake motivation, no "you got this!" corporate wellness energy. It's just raw, pissed-off momentum, which—and I cannot stress this enough—is exactly what you need when you're three miles into a run you didn't want to do in the first place.

I had this argument with Dick last week. He's all about his classic rock for running, his Stones, his Zeppelin. Fine. Great. But grunge has something those bands were too polished to deliver: it sounds like effort. That guitar tone from Local H—just one guy, one guitar, maximum intensity—that's not stadium rock. That's the sound of grinding it out when nobody's watching. Which is literally what running is.

The BPM sits right in that sweet spot—mostly 140-160 range—where you're not sprinting, but you're not floating either. You're working. And the dynamics of grunge match the reality of running better than any genre I can think of. Those quiet verses that build into screaming choruses? That's exactly what it feels like to hold pace, hold pace, hold pace, then surge up a hill like you've got something to prove to the universe.

Nirvana's obvious—everyone starts there. But if you're sleeping on Local H in this category, you're making a mistake. "Bound for the Floor" has powered more of my bad-day runs than I care to admit. That's the thing about grunge for running: it meets you where you are. Tired? Angry? Questioning why you're even doing this? Perfect. Lace up and let it rip.

5 playlists

Top 10 Grunge Running Songs

These tracks appear across multiple curated grunge running playlists.

  1. 1. 'Bout To Lose It — Dinosaur Pile-Up
  2. 2. About A Girl — Nirvana
  3. 3. Bombshell — Death Lens
  4. 4. Buddy — The Orwells
  5. 5. California Songs - 2024 Remaster — Local H
  6. 6. Communication Breakdown - Remaster — Led Zeppelin
  7. 7. Cornflake — Psychedelic Porn Crumpets
  8. 8. Demon Cleaner — Kyuss
  9. 9. Disorder — Meatbodies
  10. 10. Doctor — Teen Mortgage

Frequently Asked Questions

What pace should I run to grunge?

Tempo runs and threshold efforts—that's where grunge lives. We're talking 140-160 BPM for most of it, which lands you right in that uncomfortable zone where you're pushing but not dying. This isn't recovery jog music. If you're trying to run easy to Nirvana's 'Breed,' you're either going to speed up or lose your mind. Save the grunge for when you want to channel some aggression into your stride. Marathon pace on tired legs? Tempo Tuesday when work was hell? That's the moment.

Is grunge too slow for intervals?

Depends on the track and the interval. Local H can absolutely carry 400m repeats—that driving, relentless energy works. But yeah, a lot of grunge sits in a mid-tempo pocket that's better for sustained efforts than explosive sprints. If you're doing short, fast intervals, you might need something quicker. But for 800s or mile repeats where you're suffering for 3-5 minutes straight? Grunge gets it. The genre was basically invented for sustained discomfort, which is exactly what a good interval session feels like.

Where do I start if I'm new to running with grunge?

Start with Nirvana—'In Bloom,' 'Lithium,' the stuff with momentum and hooks you already know. Then move to Local H, especially 'Bound for the Floor.' Don't overthink it. The beauty of grunge for running is that it's not precious. It's not art-school experimental nonsense. It's three or four people playing loud, and you're one person running. The math works. Avoid the super slow, sludgy stuff at first—save the doom-tempo deep cuts for when you really know what you're doing.

Can I run a whole long run to grunge?

You *can*, but should you? Long runs need variety, and grunge is pretty monochromatic—that's part of its power, but also its limitation. I'd say use grunge for a specific section: miles 8-12 when the long run stops being fun and starts being work. Or the final 5K when you need to dig deep. A full two-hour grunge playlist might get monotonous, even for someone like me who once listened to *In Utero* on repeat for an entire summer. Mix it with post-grunge or some funk-rock to keep things dynamic.

Why does grunge sound better running than it does in my living room?

Because grunge was never meant to be background music. It's too tense, too wound-up just sitting there. But running? Running gives all that compressed energy somewhere to go. The frustration in those guitars, the way the vocals sound like someone barely holding it together—that translates directly into physical effort. Your living room doesn't need that intensity. Mile 6 of a hard run absolutely does. It's the same reason certain albums only make sense on road trips or after breakups. Context matters, and grunge's context is struggle.