The stadium/gym playlist

The biggest adrenaline rush any athlete can have before a game is what he/she has flowing through their ears.

No, it is not just coaching motivation or crowd noise. It’s actually music meant to get their head bobbing and feel energized before they run out of the tunnel and compete in a game, or celebrate a huge win with music being accompanied in the background.

What are some of the best songs to get down to before a game, to get the crowd going or to celebrate a monumental win? This musical collection isn’t just my personal picks, but what is often blared through the speakers at different games. Here’s an ideal stadium/gym playlist:

AC/DC: Thunderstruck

The first minute of that song alone gets the crowd and even players chanting “THUNDER!” before the opening kickoff or opening set in a volleyball game.

Metallica: For Whom The Bell Tolls

Hearing this song from beginning to end makes me feel like I’m getting ready to scrap inside the Octagon or hit the stage at WWE Wrestlemania. It’s the ultimate “You’re Going Down” song for athletes looking to prove they’re better than the person they’re going toe-to-toe with.

Metallica: Enter Sandman

See what was said about the aforementioned song from Metallica.

Guns N Roses: Welcome To The Jungle

If a team nickname is the Lions, Wildcats, Tigers, or whatever wild animal, this is the definite theme song before a game.

The White Stripes: Seven Nation Army

Perfect to play when the home defense is facing a third down scenario or before the opening kickoff.

Queen: We Will Rock You

Still a crowd-pleasing favorite played across football stadiums and gyms everywhere, especially in the final quarter or minutes of the game.

Nirvana: Smells Like Teen Spirit

One of the ultimate head bangers before banging people with your pads under the lights.

Blur: Song 2

I’ve actually heard crowds remix this song by replacing “WOO HOO” with a star player who has a two syllable last name.

Korn: Twisted Transistor

This song will blow out speakers…and can get safeties or linebackers wanting to crash down on the line of scrimmage and blow plays up.

Kongos: Come With Me Now

This song can either be the anthem of an action flick or the entrance song for the home team.

Rage Against The Machine: Calm Like A Bomb

There’s something about the way this Rage song starts out that makes it perfect to listen to before games. It starts slow, helping keep the nerves calm, but then at the 13 second mark, you hear “FEEL THE FUNK BLAST” then the guitar kicks in; getting you energized to hit the field or gym.

Kenny Chesney: Boys Of Fall

Kenny is an avid football fan, and this one is a motivational track that can preach unity on a team and even get the tears streaming from the parents of athletes.

Dierks Bentley: 5-1-5-0

If your team wins by the score of 51-50 – especially if it’s against your rival – this would be the perfect song to rub it in.

Toby Keith: How Do You Like Me Now?

The fact Toby did this video at a football stadium makes this song deserving to get air play on Friday/Saturday nights.

Jason Aldean: Dirt Road Anthem

Popular in football cities with an agricultural background. That rap flow from Aldean though!

DJ Khaled/Ludacris/T-Pain/Snoop Dogg: All I Do Is Win

Disclaimer: This song should only be played after the home team wins.

T.I./Jay-Z/Swizz Beatz: Bring ‘Em Out

Another disclaimer: This song should only be played before introducing the home team.

House Of Pain: Jump Around

One of the few hits from House Of Pain, but this song is popular with helping see who is still awake at the game.

Method Man/Redman: Da Rockwilder

The first 15 seconds of this song sets the tone for this speaker bumper.

Busta Rhymes: Fire

The beat on this 2000 Busta track has the capability of psyching up a kickoff team unit before they run down the field and cause chaos.

Pharoahe Monch: Simon Says

Either a stadium DJ can get away with the instrumental version of this song or the real version because of the monster beat alone. This song is also perfect for any team that embraces the “Evil Empire” moniker.

Lil’ Jon: Get Low

Not just a club cut, but defensive coaches who have a hard time teaching their players proper tackling technique should use this song to inspire their defenders.

Yogi featuring Pusha T: Burial

A deadly combo of dubstep and King Push’s lyrics qualifies this as another psych up anthem.

Fort Minor: Remember The Name

Getting air play in stadiums since 2005, with athletes trotting out the field and wanting the crowd to “Remember The Name.”

Drake/Future: Jumpman

Sure, this song is more common before basketball games or when Taylor Swift falls off of a treadmill. But this Drizzy/Future collabo gets the tall 6-foot-2 and above wide receiver jacked up about wanting to catch the ball in the end zone.

Drake: 0 to 100

Drizzy has many anthems, but this one works both ways as a football motivator and basketball energizer.

Meek Mill: Monster

Meek Milly has had a rough year in a half with getting his morale card snatched by Drake, but the Philadelphia MC still has young kids bobbing to this jam before they hit someone.

Wale/Meek Mill/Rick Ross: Ambition

Only fitting that a former college football player like Wale (he played at Robert Morris and then Virginia State) can produce a stadium anthem like this one with his Maybach Music crew in tow. An underrated cut from the former running back/wide receiver is “Barry Sanders” off of his Eleven One Eleven Theory album.

J. Cole: Blow Up

An ideal track for that high school prospect who is ready to burst on the recruiting trail and land some scholarships.

E-40: Tell Me When To Go

Get used to hearing this song before any prep game in the Bay Area, as Vallejo’s own E-40 gets players and fans to “Shake Them Dreads.”

Westside Connection: Let It Reign

The trio’s most popular cut is “Bow Down,” but this one gets special team units and defenses wanting to go out, dominate and “Let It Reign, Make It Bang.”

Eminem: Not Afraid

The perfect pump-up song for any team thinking upset against a highly-ranked foe.

Eminem: Lose Yourself

The perfect anthem before a title game.

Eminem: Cinderella Man

An underrated anthem, especially for underdog teams on the cusp of surprising an entire city or section.

Missy Elliot/Ciara/Fat Man Scoob: Lose Control

Missy’s “Pep Rally” will likely get some play through the speakers at different stadiums this fall, but “Lose Control” was her first real stadium cut…and it still is.

Beyonce: Who Run The World? (Girls)

Queen Be makes the list because this one is revered by girls who put on a volleyball, basketball or soccer uniform.

Jay-Z: Dirt Off Your Shoulder

Queen Be’s hubby had football and basketball players brushing their shoulders off after stopping the run or slamming the basketball.

Jay-Z/Rihanna/Kanye West: Run This Town

This is sprint through the banner music right here.

N.E.R.D: Spazz

Look past the fact that Pharrell calls himself “a little teapot” in this song. The guitar and drums in this track gets the blood vessels going.

DJ Drama/2 Chainz/Meek Mill/Jeremih: My Moment

Popular among the athlete playlist since 2013.

2Pac/Outlawz: Hit 'Em Up

The ultimate diss track in the hip-hop world. And those three words are commonly said by secondaries before they trot out on the field.

Katy Perry: Roar

Much like “Welcome To The Jungle” from Axl Rose’s crew, Katy Perry’s “Roar” is not only popular for women’s teams, but even football teams with a jungle cat as the mascot.

Kanye West: Black Skinhead

Forget the lyrics, that beat ‘Ye has on this song is catchy as hell. A stadium DJ can get away with playing the instrumental version of this song…and a high school band can play this through the trumpets and trombone.

Bone Crusher/Killer Mike/T.I: Never Scared

Like Wale, Bone Crusher (real name Wayne Hardnett Jr.) is another former football player who is best known for producing this banger designed to bob heads and smash heads on the football field.

Chris Brown: Run It

Long before Breezy grew up, got tatted out, and told his fans “These h*** aint loyal,” this was his first jam; plus a song that’s still prominent inside stadiums and gyms.

50 Cent: Get Up

Yes, “In Da Club” was 50’s first club banger that placed him back on the hip-hop map, but “Get Up” has stadium anthem written all over it.

Archie Eversole: We Ready

This was the only mega hit from the Atlanta rapper, but there were lots of teams huddling up and chanting "WE READY...FOR ALL Y'ALL" right after the coin toss.

Lil’ Wayne/Eminem: Drop The World

An ideal song for any defender who wants to drop a ball carrier to the ground.

Kendrick Lamar: King Kunta

K Dot/Corn Row Kenny had 7-on-7 tournaments and AAU events jumping with this one. He’ll likely get the Friday night crowds going with this track.

YG/Jeezy/Rich Homie Quan: My Hitta

When a 7-on-7 team goes by the name “My Hittaz” and when Edison High in Fresno has rappers doing their spin on this track by calling it “E City,” you know this song is a big deal before games.

Jeezy: Me OK

The King of “Trap” music is perhaps best known for having this track flowing through Dez Bryant’s ears during a Beats By Dre commercial. If Dez can get down to this track before he catches footballs, so can many other football players.

Future: Tony Montana

I’m sure San Francisco 49er fans have had this song stuck in their head, because it gets played before kickoffs.

Wiz Khalifa: Work Hard Play Hard

Wiz’s “Black And Yellow” is effective for teams wearing the two colors, but “Work Hard Play Hard” is a blue collar town’s anthem.

DeeJay (Terrance Howard): Whoop That Trick

Go to a Memphis Grizzlies home game and this “Hustle And Flow” banger gets played after the contest. This song is capable of energizing a defender or offensive lineman who wants to whoop someone.

My underrated pick? The Game: Stadium Music

The Game’s flow and wicked background beat makes you want to run out the tunnel and get ready to ball out.

Get ready for…Snoop Dogg’s “Super Crip”

That beat and lyrical flow from Snoop makes it sound like it came from the Deathrow days for the West Coast legend. Count on some teams in Southern California, or across Cali, to bump this through the speakers before games.

And…Schoolboy Q/Vince Staples: Ride Out

It’s an unreleased track, but this South Central L.A./Long Beach collaboration has a beat that can pass for a stadium anthem and a hook that can be used by home crowds.