Music Improves Your Workout

Because its fall there are tons of marathons throughout the country. For runners the three most important things are their broken-in shoes, heart rate monitor and their tunes. Trying to work out let alone run can be difficult if you don’t have music blaring in your ear.

The music provides runners with enthusiasm, disturbance, and even inspiration. Because of the link between the two factors researchers have been trying to unearth the close connection between our ears and feet. Sports psychologist Costas Karageorghis has been trying to comprehend the connection between moving and music for 20 years.

Through research he has found that there are four factors contributing to a songs motivation 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 which mirror how we understand the music.

Karageorghis explains that rhythm response is linked to beats per minute of the song and how well it correlates with the heartbeat of the runner. The song structure such as melody and harmony also contributes to the musicality of the song. The external factors include what kind of music we favor and what we’ve learned to associate with specific songs and artists.

Science has verified that by syncing beats per minute with your pace can increase your efficiency. A recent study found that individuals that cycled to music required 7 percent less oxygen that others who did the identical amount of work that just listened to music in the background. Music can also help you ignore the idea that its time to quit.

The current study shows that when our hearts perform between 30 and 70 percent of the maximum, we prefer an increase from 90 to 120 bpm. Yet when our anaerobic threshold is between 70 and 80 percent of maximum, we prefer a jump in rhythm from 120 to 150 bpm. But when it goes above 80 percent of maximum heart rate faster music isn’t preferred.

Researchers even found that if they increased or diminished the speed of a song by 10 percent the listener didn’t realize it, but it impacted performance. Speeding up the music led to an increase in the miles covered in the same amount of time. Then when they slowed down the music the distance also decreased. Researchers concluded that when exercising individuals match their exertion with the speed of the music.

Since choosing the right music can boost the workout that you’re getting in the same time; there are great tools that can help you match your bpm with music. You can create a custom playlist on your iTunes library which allows you to arrange songs in several different tempos that you can then cater to your warm-up and warm-downs along with the body of you workout.

Diane Johnson earned a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of Utah. She likes to write about the news, politics, online colleges, online education, continuing education, and the college experience.