Weightlifting Puns: Song Names from Heavy Metal Workout

By Jason Stallworth

September 19, 2017


These aren’t just gym puns…they’re heavy metal weightlifting puns

I’ll admit, this is sort of an odd post, but I think you’ll like it…maybe!

These witticisms spawn from my instrumental metal series of albums called Heavy Metal Workout. Each song’s name is basically a weightlifting pun! 

Not only will you get the puns (well, I hope you ‘get them’), I’m also going to share the story behind each song from both albums. And you’ll see how listening to these metal songs will boost your gains in the gym! 

Oh, and you’ll find a few hidden workouts in this post too!

What is Heavy Metal Workout?

Jason Stallworth deadlifts 405

Heavy Metal Workout is an album series I created for metal workout music. And it’s all instrumental metal.

The idea came to me knowing that many (myself included) listen to metal while working out. At least cool people listen to metal…I don’t know about everyone else.

As you know, there are tons of metal playlists on Spotify, iTunes, Amazon, etc. But there’s never been an album created specifically for the gym.

Well, I changed that with Heavy Metal Workout and Heavy Metal Workout II – the world’s first instrumental metal workout music!

The original Heavy Metal Workout album was released in 2016. It’s is a chunky, classic metal style – it’s driving, and motivating to listen to while you’re pushing those weight around.

Even more interesting, there are no vocals or any parts that slow down. I just wanted to give people pure metal workout music with no distractions

In 2017, I released Heavy Metal Workout II. Same concept, but HMW II is a more aggressive, along the lines of melodic death metal without vocals

Let’s get to the song name puns…

Heavy Metal Workout

heavy metal workout music

Here’s the tracklist for Heavy Metal Workout

  1. Jacked
  2. Maxed Out
  3. Train Insane
  4. Mass Season
  5. Skull Crusher
  6. High Intensity
  7. Shut Up and Lift
  8. Weight of the World
  9. Hour of Power
  10. Grow Time
  11. Pushing and Pulling
  12. Shredded

LISTEN TO HMW

Click here to listen on more sources

Jacked

This dude walks into a restaurant with his wife or girlfriend. Some big bodybuilder walks by and the dude can’t take his eyes off him. He leans over and tells his woman…

‘I wanna get jacked like that guy!’

That’s actually a true story! The song Jacked had to be the first track because it’s the theme of why we go to the gym. We want size, we want strength, we wanna see those striations…and we wanna be jacked! 

Maxed Out

How many times have you heard this?

‘Hey bro, what’s your max?’

And they just assume you know they mean how much do you bench. 

Well, that was the inspiration behind the song Maxed Out. It’s kind of two-fold. I think we’re all ‘maxed-out’ of people asking how much our max is. And it’s cool to max out now and then! 

Train Insane

This song is for those people you see in the gym that are just taking it to the next level, but not in a good way!

You’ve seen those nut-jobs making up crazy exercises like swinging of the lat pulldown machine. Train Insane is dedicated to those people! 

Mass Season

When your gym buddy tells you that you’re looking a little soft, you just say ‘It’s ok, it’s mass season! I’m training for size!’ 

Mass Season is the excuse we give ourselves to overindulge (uh, I’m in ‘mass season’ now!)

Skull Crusher

This is just a killer (no pun intended) name for an exercise, so I had to make it a song!

Obviously you’ll want to listen to Skull Crusher on the day you’re training triceps.

In fact, here’s a workout you can do for tris:

  • Skull Crushers: 3 x 8
  • Rope Pressdowns: 3 x 10
  • Single-Cable Pressdowns: 3 x 12

High Intensity

You see your buddy walking out of the gym but it seems like they just got there 10 minutes ago.

So you text him asking if he’s ok and he texts back ‘Bro, I’m going high intensity workouts!’

Look, every workout should be intense. And being in the gym for 3 hours will do more harm than good. But way too many people use ‘high intensity’ as an excuse to not put the time into the gym that’s necessary to grow.

So this song High Intensity is for those people (and for those of us who have to put up with them!) 

Shut Up and Lift

I’ve seen this slogan on many supplement advertisements and bodybuilding t-shirts. And I love it!

Shut Up and Lift is for us serious lifters that get tired of hearing those non-serious lifters just show up to the gym to hang out and chit chat or stare at their phones as if something important is about to happen.

Seriously…shut up, and lift!

Weight of the World

Does it ever feel like the Weight of the World is on your shoulders?

The answer should be ‘Yes, especially when I’m in the squat rack!’ 

Hour of Power

The absolute perfect tune for deadlift and squat days! Or if you’re doing a strength training or powerlifting routine.

Hour of Power is dedicated to those that lift heavy. 

Grow Time

What time it is? It’s Grow Time!

Grow Time aligns with Mass Season. Make sure these are in your metal workout playlist on heavy days. 

Pushing and Pulling

Ever have those days when you don’t know what to train? Is it chest, or back? A push day, or pull day?

Well, why not do both…Pushing and Pulling! The cool thing is there are parts in this song that have that contrasting effect and will motivate you to train longer. 

By the way, here’s a good chest and back workout you can do:

  • Barbell Rows: 4 x 6
  • Bench Press: 4 x 6
  • Dumbbell Rows: 3 x 8
  • Incline Dumbbell Press: 3 x 8
  • Lat Pulldowns: 3 x 12 (drop set on final)
  • Cable Flyes: 3 x 12 (drop set on final)

*For most of these workouts, read this post on my other site TheMuscleProgram: Can You Train Chest and Back Together?

Shredded

No, I’m not talking about shredded cheese. It’s time to get ripped and shredded!

Shredded is the opposite of the song Mass Season. This song will give you that kick in the rear to train hard and burn off that fat.

Heavy Metal Workout II

heavy metal workout II instrumental death metal workout music

Here are the song names for Heavy Metal Workout II

  1. Death Lift
  2. Anabolica
  3. One More Round
  4. No Pain
  5. F’n’ Brutal
  6. Beast Mode
  7. Last Rep
  8. Go Heavy or Go Home
  9. Lean Machine
  10. Attack of Quadzilla
  11. I Must Break You
  12. Start Something
  13. Back Off

LISTEN TO HMW II

Click here to listen on more sources

Death Lift

This is the first track on Heavy Metal Workout II, and it’s the core of what this album stands for. You’ve probably already figured out the blatant weightlifting pun behind Death Lift.

Yes…Deadlift!

Doing deadlifts will add slabs of muscle mass and increases your overall strength. To me, deadlifts are the king of all exercises (tying with squats).

The song Death Lift is powerful like the exercise, and it’s also a death metal style song. 

**Death Lift is actually my favorite song on the album. It combines multiple styles of metal music together into one song: death metal, melodic metal, and there’s a hint of classic metal in there with dueling lead guitars.

It’s a mover and shaker and will trigger focus and motivation in the gym.

Anabolica

Here’s an obvious borrowed concept from Metallica. And this is probably the cheesiest weightlifting pun of them all! 

Think of it as weightlifting meets Metallica!

I figured since Metallica is the reason I picked up the guitar I the first place (several eons ago, like 1990), I owed some sort of tribute song to them. Anabolica is just that!

One More Round

One More Round was one of the later songs I wrote for the album. It has a more classic metal feel with a hint of melodic death metal riffage.

I created this for those who are into boxing, martial arts, MMA, or any type of sport where there’s One More Round

Of course, there’s some Rocky adage as well…

Remember towards the end of Rocky V when Rocky is getting pounded by Tommy Gun…as Tommy is walking away, Rocky gets up and says ‘One more round!’

No Pain

No Pain is a song to help you break past the pain of that grueling set. When you think you can’t do anymore, you pump out two more reps! And being a Rocky fan, I was recalling the training scene in Rocky IV where Duke is telling Rocky ‘No Pain!‘

This is one of the faster metal songs on Heavy Metal Workout II. The rhythm guitar parts in what I consider the verses are pretty extreme (for you guitar players, it’s some speed-of-light alternate picking while palm muting the riffs).

One of my favorite gym techniques to add more pain is rest-pause sets. You basically do multiple sets using the same weight with a very short rest between those sets.

Try this with barbell curls: 

  • Set 1: 1 x 10
  • Rest 10 seconds
  • Set 2: 1 x 7 or as many as you can do
  • Rest 10 seconds
  • Set 3: 1 x 5 or as many as you can do

Go cry and drink your amino acids!

*You can learn more about this technique and more from my post on my other website The Muscle Program: 7 Weight Training Techniques to Increase Intensity

F’n’ Brutal

The name says it all, in regards to defining the song. The riffs are heavy, fast, and F’n’ Brutal…as your workouts should be! 

F’n Brutal is perfect for leg day. Because that’s the one workout that should be brutal (and it’s the one many guys neglect…never skip leg day!).  

Beast Mode

Beast Mode is the mindset that you have to get yourself in before your workouts. And the metal guitar riffs in this song do just that – they put your in that state of mind so you’re ready to take on the world, or at least take on the gym!

And you’ve probably seen this slogan on t-shirts and other gym apparel. It’s cool, and it resonates.

Special Note: This track also had some killer guitar solos. And there’s a slight breakdown at about 1:38 where it goes from fast to super heavy.

Last Rep

This is when your muscles work the hardest – on that Last Rep!

This song has a lot of chunky riffs and I envision lifting heavy weights with low reps for power during Last Rep. It also has a very melodic feel to it that keeps you motivated and inspired.

I seriously want you to push that last rep out! Don’t stop…you’ve always got 1 more. And that 1 more is your true last rep!

Go Heavy or Go Home

I’ve seen this slogan on several t-shirts and advertisements for bodybuilding supplements and other related products. Kinda funny, but at the same time, it’s true! 

Go Heavy or Go Home starts out in your face with fast guitar riffs and double bass drumming. There’s also song cool guitar solos in this track.

Lean Machine

The puns keep coming! Lean Machine is another widely used term you’ll hear in the gym. Now, don’t mistake lean for skinny!

And seriously, never tell a guy he’s looking skinny, or he’ll go slam down two protein shakes with a triple dose of ‘get big‘ supplements!

This track sort of has that lean feel to it if that makes sense. That’s what hit me when I was writing the song. It was fast, tight, and sort of separate from the other tracks in its own strange way.

*Special note: Lean Machine almost got cut (no pun intended) from this album, Heavy Metal Workout II. I didn’t like a few parts in the song and almost trashed the whole thing. However, I ended up changing those parts last-minute and here it is, track nine.

Attack of Quadzilla

Probably the second-biggest pun on the whole album. Attack of Quadzilla! I still think Anabolica wins as far as best puns go.

Attack of Quadzilla is dedicated to all of the lifters who train legs hard, and who never miss leg day. 

With that, I’ll give you one of my awesome leg workouts:

  • Squats: 4 x 6-8
  • Leg Press: 4 x 20
  • Leg Extensions: 4 x 15 (drop set on final)
  • Leg Curls: 4 x 12 (drop set on final)
  • Calve Raises: 7 x 15

Learn why I train legs twice a week in this post on my workout blog The Muscle Program: Training Legs Twice a Week: How to Build Bigger Legs

I Must Break You

Here’s another line from the Rocky IV movie. As you may have guessed, I’m a ‘huge’ (no pun intended) Rocky fan! 

I Must Break You is the line from Ivan Drago when he’s getting ready to fight Rocky. That was a pretty intense moment.

This track is heavy and driving, and there are some chunky guitar parts. It’s a song with a lot of power behind it. So use it to lift more! 

Start Something

I got this phrase from some supplement advertisement many years ago. I can’t remember what it was for, but if I had to guess it was from the Animal line of supplements from Universal Nutrition. They have some cool advertisements that hook me every time! 

Start Something definitely fits the melodic death metal genre. There are also some cool solo guitar parts, both dueling and fast leads. The track keeps you moving.

Back Off

This is the 13th and final track of Heavy Metal Workout II. It’s got a chunky feel to it but also carries some of those fast alternate-picked rhythms you here speed metal and death metal.

Back Off is for all of us who are trying to work out and someone’s trying to talk to us! Seriously dude, back off!

The Book: Heavy Metal & Weights

Heavy Metal & Weights is a book I wrote in conjunction with my Heavy Metal Workout album series (I and II).

I bring you through an intriguing journey of how and why I got into playing guitar, listening to heavy metal, and lifting weights all around the same time. 

I also take you behind the scenes of the recording process for my Heavy Metal Workout album series. And I give you two workout programs in the book that you can start. 

Weightlifting, Metal, and Puns

The wraps it for my weightlifting puns turned into metal songs. I hope you got a kick out of this.

Be sure to add my 2 Heavy Metal Workout albums to your playlist!

Now it’s gym time. So go make your protein shake, take your creatine and attack the weight! 

Keep it Metal,

Jason

Jason Stallworth

About the author

Jason is a melodic metal solo artist, songwriter, acoustic performer, and co-founder of Metal Mastermind.

Related Posts

Jason Stallworth Newsletter

- Get exclusive updates and behind-the-scenes content

- Motivation and encouragement

- Oh, and I'll send you a free song from my latest album!