Music & Exercise « Kaarta Sports by Thierno Diallo

22 Sep 2010

Music & Exercise

What exactly is the relationship between music and exercise?

Gyms are full of sound. The grunts you hear from weight lifting, the clanking of weights, the sounds of people breathing heavily and of course the usually terrible “pop” music being played in attempt to please all the gym members.

Whether you are in a gym or exercising outdoors with mother nature, its hard not to notice the ear phones that are plugged into pretty much every participants ears. What’s up with all the sound? Why do we all seem to want music whilst we exercise? Is it a fashion statement? What is going on?!!!

MAGIC SYSTEM FEAT LES ELEPHANT

What the studies show…

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.

In addition to his lab research, Karageorghis has helped create a half marathon in London that tries to find the perfect music mix of live bands based on his research of human reaction to rhythm. The second annual “Run to the Beat” event was held a few weeks ago with 9,000 laboratory rats, er, runners either enjoying the live music or listening to their own mix of tunes on their MP3. Karageorghis even offered a scientific selection of songs based on his findings.

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. 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. A song’s structure such as its melody and harmony contribute to its musicality. The external factors consider our musical background and the preferences we have for a certain genre of music and what we have learned to associate with certain songs and artists.

Picking the right music can have several benefits

Syncing beats per minute with an exercise pace increases your efficiency. 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.

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In the current study, published in the Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 30 subjects synchronised their pace to the tempo of the music which was 125 bpm. Before the experiment, a pool of music was rated using a questionnaire tool (the Brunel Music Rating Inventory) which then selected the most motivational pieces for the treadmill test. The subjects were given a choice of either pop or rock music.

When compared to a no-music control, the motivational synchronised music led to a 15 percent improvement in endurance.

“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.

Matching the beats per minute of our music with our exercise heart rate also takes an interesting non-linear path, according to research.

Karageorghis found that when our hearts are performing at between 30 and 70 percent of maximum, we prefer a somewhat linear increase from 90 to 120 bpm. However, when we reach our anaerobic threshold between 70 and 80 percent of maximum, we prefer a jump in rhythm from 120 to 150 bpm. Above 80 percent of maximum heart rate, a plateau is reached where even faster music is not preferred.

(http://www.livescience.com/health/091021-sports-running-music.html)

Effects on Respiration and Heart Rate

The effects of music on respiration and cardiac activity have been of particular focus to researchers due to the value of these physiological parameters to health and disease prevention. The ability to control cardiac activity may be desirable in the treatment of various heart conditions. However, much of the early research on the physiological response to music has been rejected by researchers because of poor research designs, inadequate procedures, and limits of the equipment (Dainow, 1977) . In a well-designed study, Ellis and Brighouse (1952) noted that respiration rate increased significantly with the onset of jazz music and tends to return to pre-music levels with the cessation of music. Heart rate was only moderately effected by the introduction of the music. The average heart rate is between 72-80 beats per minute while music tempos may range from 70 to 170 beats per minute. A review of studies indicates that heart rate tends to only moderately follow the music; increasing in response to fast music and decreasing in response to slow music (Dainow, 1977) . Dainow cites several investigations that actually show any type of music (sedative or stimulative) will show a moderate increase in heart rate. Much of this increase in heart rate by all types of music can be explained due to the fact that music does produce some kind of emotional effect, thus increasing the heart rate.

FALLY

The Influence of Music Elements on Aerobic Fitness

Information obtained from 70 college students (35 males and 35 females) enrolled in an aerobic dance class indicated that 97% of the students felt (perceived influence) that the music affected their performance during aerobic activity (Gfeller, 1988) . Respondents identified the following factors which influenced their aerobic performance: music style (97%), rhythm [beat] (94%), tempo (96%), lyrics (77%), volume (66%), mood (37%), and melody (17%). A strong correlation between male and female responses indicated that gender is not a particularly important factor to consider when selecting music for an aerobic activity.

Although performance may or may not be enhanced by the addition of music to the workbout, subjects regularly report that they felt their performance was better with the music accompaniment. Therefore, music may directly improve a person’s enjoyment and fulfillment of the physical activity, leading to greater exercise compliance; a worthwhile objective for any fitness educator.

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Music may evoke pleasant associations, while masking unpleasant stimuli (such as rapid breathing associated with exertion). It may also serve as a distraction to some internal feelings, possibly associated with discomfort. Accordingly, students may be able to endure the challenges of progressive overload of exercise with the music providing a pleasurable environmental stimuli.

(Len Kravitz, Ph.D)

113 & MAGIC SYSTEM

Cool toys

TANGERINE – http://www.potionfactory.com/tangerine/

Tangerine! lets you easily create playlists of upbeat music. It works by analyzing the BPM and the beat intensity of your music

ADIDAS MI COACH – http://www.adidas.com/us/micoach/#Start/sdf/mdf

NIKE + http://nikerunning.nike.com/nikeos/p/nikeplus/en_US/what_is_nike_plus

EXTRA MUSICA

My Riddimz

In my experience, music has pushed me across boundaries which I never thought I could cross. Music has given me a “second wind” while exercising numerous times! I always found it interesting when I would be running, all of a sudden one of my favorite songs would come on, and my body would be jolted with a sudden burst of energy!

Below are the sounds that keep me going… The sounds that keep my legs moving even when I feel like I want to give up… The sounds that have a way of blocking out the lactic acid…
Enjoy!

WERRASON