Picture this scenario: You’re in the middle of running across town and you have about 5km to go to finish your workout. You feel good, you were able to stretch yourself out properly and your favorite artist just dropped a new song that you are now listening to. Suddenly, your headphones die out because you forgot to charge them last night. Now, you have to go the remainder of your run without any music whatsoever. Sounds like a nightmare, doesn’t it?
Well, believe it or not, music can affect your workout sessions and science proves it. And it’s not just a way for people to hype themselves up before the actual workout itself. It actually goes much deeper than that, which is what you’ll find out in this article along with a very surprising music genre that will improve your training!
Music as Distractors.
Music affects us on so many levels. From our mood to our motivation level, we all know how music can change our moods from happy to sad. But did you know that music can even affect your workout routine? Yes, it really does. And science has evidence to prove it.
For a lot of people, music can act as a way to hype ourselves up during our workout, but it actually plays a deeper role than just that. Music acts as a distractor whenever we work out.
Distractors can help us tolerate the pain because they can, in a way, fight the feeling of pain while you are working out according to the authors North and Hargreaves of The Social and Applied Psychology of Music. It’s tough for the brain to conceive your body is stressing itself when you have music constantly in your ear.
But there’s more to music than just acting as a distraction!
Boosting Your Performance with Music.
Performance during training is important for any athlete. How you train is how you will perform on the big stages. And music can help boost your training performance to help get you at the top of that pedestal.
In a recent study published in Frontiers of Psychology, researchers found brought on 19 women aged between 24 to 31 years old. who regularly exercise three to five times per week can improve their legibility. Participants engaged in a 10-minute endurance training session and then followed it up with an additional high-intensity workout on the gym’s leg press machine.
The participants listened to four different tempos of music while their heart rates were recorded and they noted how difficult it was for them. After the exercise, the researchers discovered that endurance athletes saw their performance boosted while listening to music, because of the increased mental fatigue and perception of effort in workouts. So if you’re looking to run a little farther or lift a little heavier try putting on some music that will match the tempo you are looking for.
Does any type of music work with increasing effectiveness with training?
There are plenty of different genres of music out there to listen to while working out. Rap and Hip-hop can really make someone feel more confident about themselves while training. While something like Rock can really help boost yourself for a heavy set or to run farther. And even Pop and R&B can help in getting you more focused.
Different genres of music can affect your training, but one, in particular, stands out as quite shocking. In the first episode of the Hapori Podcast with Rob Sully, he talks to Producer Mike about how music has impacted his workouts and training and how it helped him push through the barriers.
In one instance Rob mentions that “In the studies by Olympic Cyclists like David Brailsford, they stated that listening to Classical music actually brought your heart rate down which makes sense because when you’re in an intense environment and you match that with intense music you’ll forget to breathe and your heart rate will go up, up, up, when you want it to go down, down, down for high performance.”
Classical music is the genre that nobody would have expected to help you in your training. And according to Dr. Jack Lewis, a neuroscientist who studied “How Music Can Help Keep those New Years Fitness Solutions“, he even suggested that you listen to Beethoven’s Symphony No 4, 4th Movement, as once the song starts it is set to roughly 140-144 bpm, which can match the midpoint of your workout heart rate just right.
So, you may want to put on songs that will match the intensity of your training to get the most out of it, whether it be cycling to classical music or head nodding to Rock, you can choose whichever’s your cup of tea to listen to.
Music While Training.
In training, there are a lot of things we always want to consider. The environment in which we trained, how we woke up that morning, what we ate, what it was like going to the gym, and of course what type of music we listened to.
The type of music you listen to can impact your performance during exercise and training. It allows you to focus and can act as a distractor to help you feel less pain which then gets you to push even harder. And if you want to boost your overall performance while training, music can help give you that extra push. But different genres of music have different effects, so make sure you partner the intensity of your training to whatever it is you’re listening to. Or maybe even give classical music a try to help slow your heart rate down.
Music has become essential in training these days. So, what are you listening to when you’re hitting the gym or when you’re out on the field? Let us know!
