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You are here: Home / Exercise / Choosing The Right Music For Your Workout Can Increase Your Efficiency, Endurance And Lessen Fatigue

Choosing The Right Music For Your Workout Can Increase Your Efficiency, Endurance And Lessen Fatigue

By Peter 11 Comments

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When I go running, or workout with weights, I’ve always found that a powerful motivating factor can be the music that I listen to. If I listen to upbeat music that sets a good pace, I’ll often have an extremely good workout. If I don’t listen to music or the music just isn’t as upbeat – the workout isn’t always as good.

Now new research is showing why music helps to motivate us when we workout, and looks at the key elements in music that can get us pumped up for our workout.

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For the last 20 years, Costas Karageorghis, a sports psychologist at Britain’s Brunel University, has been setting the research pace for understanding our need to groove and move… According to Kargeorghis, there are four factors that contribute to a song’s motivational qualities: rhythm response, musicality, cultural impact and association. The first two are known as “internal” factors as they relate to the music’s structure while the second two are “external” factors that reflect how we interpret the music.

  • Rythm Response: Rhythm response is tied to the beats per minute (bpm) of the song and how well it matches either the cadence or the heartbeat of the runner
  • Musicality: A song’s structure such as its melody and harmony contribute to its musicality.
  • Cultural Impact: The external factors consider our musical background and the preferences we have for a certain genre of music.
  • Association: We associate good things with certain songs and artists, and that music can help to motivate us.

Choosing The Right Music  Can Increase Your Efficiency, Endurance

Another thing the researchers found in their studies was that syncing beats per minute with an exercise pace could increase the efficiency for their subjects:

In a recent study, subjects who cycled in time to music found that they required 7 percent less oxygen to do the same work when compared to music playing in the background. Music can also help block out the little voice in your brain telling you its time to quit. Research shows that this dissociation effect results in a 10 percent reduction in perceived effort during treadmill running at a moderate intensity.

Not only did they find that their efficiency could increase, but they found that the right music choice could increase endurance and lessen the impact of fatigue.

“The synchronous application of music resulted in much higher endurance while the motivational qualities of the music impacted significantly on the interpretation of fatigue symptoms right up to the point of voluntary exhaustion,” Karageorghis reported.

What Is The Conclusion?

So what is the conclusion that we can reach from these studies?  To me it means that I should be making my workouts better by being careful about the music choices I make.  If I choose the right music that has an upbeat tempo (high BPM), has a good association for me, and that can be in sync with my workout, I can expect to have more effective and even longer workouts because of the motivational effect of the music.

So, how do you go about finding the right music for the workout?  There are a variety of softwares out there that will analyze your music library and categorize songs into different playlists according to beats per minute – and some even will create playlists so that you have a warmup, exercise and warm-down.  One example of that is the Tangerine plugin for Itunes.   Use one of those softwares to create your optimal playlist for your workout!

Have you found that music helps you to have a better workout?  Do you have playlists for certain types of exercise, or for certain goals?

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Last Edited: 30th October 2009


This article is about: Exercise, News

About Peter

Peter is a 38 year old blogger, sports enthusiast, and twitter addict. When not blogging on this site he also blogs about personal finance at BibleMoneyMatters.com

Comments

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  1. staen says

    October 30, 2009 at 2:38 pm

    You should try Cadence app for iphone or touch. It organizes music by BPM and allows you to find the speed your exercising at and then play all the songs that match that BPM.

    looks cool. http://www.cadenceapp.com

    Reply
    • Peter says

      October 30, 2009 at 2:47 pm

      Thanks for the link, i’ll check that out!

      Reply
  2. Tammie @ The Posture Correctice Brace says

    November 5, 2009 at 12:29 am

    Having music when working out is so vital! I always have to have my MP3 player around when working out. Not only does it keep me motivated to continue the workout, but it also helps me to have a positive attitude during my workouts. Listening to music that is upbeat helps me to enjoy the workout even more.
    Tammie @ The Posture Correctice Brace´s last blog ..Posture Control Shoulder Brace

    Reply
  3. Andrea@newbalance790.com says

    November 13, 2009 at 7:41 pm

    The music definetly makes a difference. When I am ready to work out, I grab my ipod packed with music that has a fast tempo and kick butt attitude in the lyrics.
    We have even recently started playing music during our Karate workouts. Everyone loves it!
    Andrea@newbalance790.com´s last blog ..Why do you need to stay hydrated during your workout?

    Reply
  4. GM Weight Diet says

    November 14, 2009 at 1:10 pm

    Music help in bringing rhythem and a flow in workout and indirectly help our concentration level. Good post and wonderful blog.
    GM Weight Diet ´s last blog ..GM weight loss Diet Side-Effects

    Reply
  5. Viv says

    November 18, 2009 at 2:50 pm

    Listening to music energizes me while I am exercising so I work harder. It also makes my workout session go by faster. When working out without music after awhile it gets to be boring and can seem like the session goes on forever. Music is definitely a motivating factor for me.
    ~Viv
    Viv @ Wrist Heart Rate Monitor´s last blog ..Privacy Policy

    Reply
  6. Ted says

    November 18, 2009 at 3:36 pm

    I am a huge fan of Smashing Pumpkins, Alice in Chains and Foo Fighters. They are the kind of music that I listen to and they sure do keep me pumping up for more miles.

    Reply
    • Peter says

      November 18, 2009 at 3:53 pm

      Hey, you hit my music choices right on the head – same stuff, especially Foo Fighters!

      Reply
  7. Susan says

    November 20, 2009 at 9:41 am

    This is oh so true and I first noticed the impact music had on my workouts when I started taking Spin classes! I’ve had spin instructors who do a fabulous job in putting together play-lists based on the cadence. Others, not so much. It makes all the difference in the world and I’m starting to play around with my own play-lists for both spinning and HIIT.
    Susan´s last blog ..They Like Me! They Really Like Me!!

    Reply
  8. Beth says

    December 29, 2009 at 8:15 pm

    I am such a believer – here’s my personal ode to my iPod and gym playlist:
    http://greatskirthike.com/?p=515

    And a podcast I found recently that does a great job mixing uptempo indie rock for runners:

    http://www.indiesouprunner.com/

    Love the science, great post!

    Reply
  9. Jane says

    February 10, 2010 at 3:54 pm

    I loved this article. I’ve actually been reading up about the research as well. You should try out http://www.workoutmusic.com. All their music is specifically remixed into certain bpm, according to what workout you want to be doing. It’s a pretty good source.

    Reply
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