• Make sure earbuds fit firmly in your ear.headphones image by Eldin Muratovic from Fotolia.com
  
  Listening to music while you are working out helps keep you pumped and upbeat while you are running, swimming or lifting weights. Many headphones are out there and all of them have pros and cons. If you choose the wrong ones, it can be the difference between a great workout, and fighting with your cords.
  
  

Outdoors

• If you do a lot of outdoor sports, like jogging or biking, you can use many different kinds of headphones, but some are safer than others. For example, do not use noise-canceling headphones because you can not hear what is going on around you. If a car is coming behind you, and you go to cross a road, you may not hear it and risk injury. Instead, use lightweight headphones that go around the back of the head with the cord hanging straight down your back. Then the cord will not get in your way either.
  
  

Gym

• At the gym, noise-canceling headphones are good because they block out the noise around you. In the gym there is the potential for many distractions from the guy talking on the phone next to you to the lady running on the treadmill in front of you. Noise-canceling ear buds help you get in your own zone so you can concentrate on what you are doing.
  
  

Swimming

• If you are a swimmer, get waterproof headphones. You will, of course, need a waterproof music player as well. Get the headphones that wrap around the back of your head so the cord stays on the top of the water. Then when you are swimming, your arms will not get in the way.
  
  

Cordless

• If you lift weights and do routines that require a lot of motion, or if you are on a team and like to share your music with teammates, get cordless headphones. These clip onto your ear or fit inside depending on what is most comfortable for you.