How do you get your heart pumping while working out? Music can be just the thing to motivate you, but sometimes the same old playlist gets stale. Imagine instead listening to brand new songs that beat with the rhythm of your heart or slow down when your feet do. A new wave of fitness apps now specialize in giving you the right kind of music for your workouts.

The best music apps for working out expose you to new music while also keeping you feeling pumped. Some offer music specifically designed for running, while others cater to more kinds of exercise, like yoga, Zumba, Spinning, salsa dancing, interval training, bicycling, and more. FIT Radio is one of the best options for people who do a lot of different kinds of workouts, offering an expansive array of genres for any kind of workout.

One of the most high tech features found in a few of these music streaming apps for working out is the ability for the music to match your tempo as you move. Spotify, for example, has a feature called Spotify Running for Premium members that finds the beat of your footfalls as you run and then matches the music to your cadence. With Spotify, once the app finds your tempo, it leaves the beats-per-minute setting alone, so your music becomes a metronome of sorts. RockMyRun has a similar feature, only the music it plays speeds up and slows down in real time as your cadence changes.

If you find that music just isn't enough to keep you interested anymore, another service that adds a novel twist is Runtastic with its Story Running. Story Running is a series of short stories in audio form set over music. Each story is written specifically to listen to while running. Some of the stories are mysteries, while others cover adventure and science-fiction. The stories and their background music, which are about 35 minutes long, even have built-in warmup and cool-down times.

When you need new motivation to stay fit, try any one of these great music apps for working out. And, of course once you've got your heart pounding, you'll want to track your heart rate and other metrics. Read our roundup of fitness trackers to find the very best self-quantification hardware for you, no matter what kind of workouts you do. And, if you need a great pair of headphones for running and other kinds of high-intensity workouts, we've got you covered there, too. 

Spotify Premium

Spotify Premium users looking for some new running music can take advantage of an option in the mobile app that matches the tempo of workout music to your steps. Running, as the feature is called, first finds your cadence as you run, then it sets its songs to the same rhythm. It's fairly simple compared to how some other workout streaming music services work, but the transitions between songs (or chapters, as they're called) are perfectly seamless. If you're already a Spotify Premium subscriber, it's worth checking out. But it's certainly not the selling point of Premium.

Available on Android, iOS, Windows Phone

Runtastic

Runtastic is a runner's app that tracks your workout, speed, pace, and so forth, but it has a special add-on feature for anyone bored of the same old running music: Running Story. Unlike some workout music apps, Runtastic's Running Story is music and an audio book in one. When you put on your headphones, you'll hear a story that's designed to get your heart pumping set to music that will get your feet moving. Each story is about 35 minutes long and downloads directly to your device, so you can listen without streaming, perfect for running on remote trails or treadmills in the basement.

Available on Android, iOS, Windows Phone

FIT Radio

FIT Radio is a music-streaming app that specializes in DJ-created mixes that maintain a consistent beat. You can browse mixes by genre, DJ, or type of workout, such as Spin, Zumba, or yoga. If you like exploring new music and never want to think about putting together a workout mix on your own, FIT Radio is a great fitness app to try. FIT Radio is free to use, but with the free level, you get only one genre of music (the "FIT Radio Free" genre) and only a few mixes. A premium membership gets you more than 25 genres and stations, access to more mixes, unlimited skips, track list information, the ability to save favorites, DJ profiles, and no ads. Premium membership costs $3.99 per month, $27.99 for the year, or $79.99 for a lifetime.

Available on Android, BlackBerry, iOS

Spring Moves

Spring Moves helps you discover new music during your workouts. This iPhone-only app supports a number of different activities, including running, walking, interval training, bicycling, and more. It has a huge collection of more than 40,000 songs, as well as some pre-made playlists for workouts. With Spring, you keep your pace to the beat, and you can change the music's tempo during your workout if you're looking to slow down or speed up. Subscriptions cost $2.99 per month, $24.99 per year, or $74.99 for a lifetime plan.

Available on iOS

RockMyRun

RockMyRun changes the tempo of your running music based on your footfalls or heart rate. It also lets you set the tempo of a playlist, if you'd rather try to make your feet keep up with the music. Not every playlist in the RockMyRun app has these advanced features, but many do. With a wide variety of genres, including classical, RockMyRun has plenty of music to explore. In action, the music sounded a little more frenetic than I had imagined it would, but it's a neat app nonetheless and great for those who like to explore new music while running. You can try RockMyRun for free for a week, no credit card required. After that, you'll have to pay $4.99 per month or $35.99 per year to keep using it.

Available on Android and iOS