Deploy The Beat: A Basic Training Workout Mix

Published May 7, 2012 at 9:01 PM PDT

In the Army, you need good music to keep in shape, because exercise is part of the job.

Since January, the Ultimate NPR Workout Mix has been highlighting music that makes listeners move.

Currently stationed at Fort Irwin in the Mojave Desert, Lt. Col. Sheryl Dacy is preparing to make her first deployment to Afghanistan as an Army nurse.

"I think music is vitally important for training," Dacy says. "It allows me to put my mind somewhere else off the physical pain, or just boredom."

Exercising isn't optional for Dacy. Even though she won't be in combat, like everyone in the Army, she has to pass an annual physical fitness test or face discharge.

"It's a job requirement. It's a condition of employment," Dacy says. "You can't say, 'I'm tired. I don't feel like going to the gym.' You realize you have to go and maintain that physical readiness."

Dacy says she prefers training mostly inside — doing sit-ups, lifting weights, pedaling on the stationary bike and jogging on the treadmill.

What are the songs that get her moving? She names "Moves Like Jagger" by Maroon 5, "Callin' Baton Rouge" by Garth Brooks and "Oh What a Night" by Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons. Dacy is scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan next month.