What kind of music do you listen to while you workout?
A new study says the type of tunes that play on your iPod as you run (or participate in other cardio exercise) influences your physical endurance.
The new research, which is set to appear in the Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, is part of a 20-year study highlighting motivational qualities of music in sport and exercise. The findings illustrate the benefits associated with exercising in time to music.
In one part of the study 30 participants exercised on a treadmill while listening to songs by pop stars such as Queen, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Madonna. Each participant was asked to keep in strict time with the beat. The findings show that certain types of music can enhance endurance by 15% and improve the mood of exercisers to the point where they actually reported feeling good even when they were running close to physical exhaustion.
Researchers concluded that music “has the power to make a considerable impact in the fight against public inactivity.” On a smaller scale the study proves that music can motivate people to achieve their long-term fitness goals or at the very least increase a person’s endurance level during an individual workout session.
It should be noted that scientists used upbeat song selections during their study as opposed to slower classical musical type tunes as they were trying to get participants to run to the beat of the selections. The ultimate litmus test using the scientific principles, which guided this particular research took place in London earlier this month during the Sony Ericsson Run To The Beat half-marathon. The race featured scientifically selected live musical accompaniment along the entire length of the course. Seventeen live bands were set up along the race route to accompany 12,500 runners. The results will be revealed in the coming weeks and we will get to see if the live music did indeed improve race times.
I rarely exercise without music and do notice that I tend to run faster when a song with a faster beat is playing on my headphones.
What about you? What type of music do you listen to during a long run?
Michele Cheplic writes about red-hot celebrities in POP CULTURE, fiery topics in PARENTS, sizzling recipes in FOOD, calorie burning exercises in FITNESS, and hot new kid-friendly crafts in FUN. Check out all of her articles here.
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