Fantasia Barrino Finds 'Cardio Motivation' in Tasha Cobbs' Gospel Songs
Fantasia Barrino is proving that gospel music isn't just for praise and worship. It's also a great source of motivation for exercise.
Barrino, the 31-year-old singer, recently revealed that gospel singer Tasha Cobbs' music motivates her to workout.
"Thanks Tasha Cobbs for the Good Late Night Cardio Motivation ...." Barrino posted Friday in an Instagram video of herself running on a machine to Cobbs' song, "This Is the Freedom."
Barrino isn't the only singer who believes working out and worship go hand-in-hand. Kierra Sheard, the 28-year-old gospel singer, previously took to Instagram to speak about how she believes fitness and faith should be intertwined.
"How you treat your body is even an act of worship! Let's go! #motivation #workoutMusic," Kierra wrote to over 250,000 followers on Instagram. "Get your heart where it should be! Cancel out diseases and health issues!"
Michelle Spadafora, the president and founder of Faithful Workouts, previously told The Christian Post that she believes exercising is a great time to listen to music, or God's Word.
"Not only does it motivate me to push harder, it also keeps my focus on God. When we exercise, chemical changes happen in our brain which allows us to retain more information," she explained. "So when I listen to Christian music while exercising, the lyrics of the song are getting into my mind and I end up singing God's praises throughout my day."
Eric Nordhoff, the founder of SpiritFit Music, uses his company to provide a variety of workout music mixes for personal workouts and fitness classes. The clean lyrics and various styles of fitness music are produced from a Christian worldview.
After working for Christian music record labels for 10 years, Nordhoff decided to start his business in 2010 in order to encourage believers in their personal workouts.
"While working out, try listening to uplifting and encouraging music ... music that feeds your soul, music you can worship to, " he told CP. "Try to focus on your relationship with Christ and how good He is to you while you're working out. If you're alone, you could even try singing to Him or think of Him as your workout buddy."
Cobbs, the Grammy Award-winning One Place Live singer, whose music motivates Barrino to workout, also recognizes the importance of exercising and staying healthy.
"It's something you have to work toward daily. You have good days and bad days, but you never give up," Cobbs told Vibe. "I want to tell whoever's reading this, you may fail today or even all week, but always pick it back up."