Does music help you workout?

Screen Shot 2014-11-04 at 12.27.15 PMFor me, listening to music when i go to the gym improves my workout. Music can be essential for satisfying a strong workout.  It helped to understand how your favorite music enhances your exercise.  Research has consistently found that listen to music distracts runners and athletes from their bodily awareness.  Huffington post has listed seven good reasons to rock out to music your next time at the gym.  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/01/why-exercise-workout-music-playlist_n_4173931.html.

Music can motivate you to workout longer and harder. I know for me, when i have good music I am excited to listen to it so it makes me want to go to the gym more. Science has shown that when you have incentives, you will want to do it more. Music distracts us from fatigue.  Working out with music at a faster tempo makes it easier to work out.  In 2008, a study was done on cyclists that found it was easier for the cyclists to pedal when they were listening to the tempo, and beat of the music.

Music is a distraction from pain and fatigue. It can elevate moods, increase endurance, reduce perceived effort .  Music can help people run father, bike longer, and swim faster.

 

 

 

 

 

6 thoughts on “Does music help you workout?

  1. gel5088

    I completely agree with you when you said that when you have good music to listen to it makes you more excited to workout. This is somewhat of a difficult question for scientists to research due to the fact that it would be hard to create an experiment to test it out. It would have to be an observational study which also makes it difficult because of confounding variables. For example one thing that we would have to consider would be how frequently one exercises. If a person is used to going to the gym every day and worked out while listening to music compared to someone that does not work out often, would music have a large effect on the individual that works out less? Also how do you measure one’s workout? Although there might be a correlation between listening to music and working out but it is not causation that music makes for a better workout.

  2. Gregory Joseph Macqueen

    I definitely agree that music can help to improve a workout. Being a very outgoing person, I love to lift, jog, and bike and I have always felt like listing to some of my favorite tunes helps me to stay motivated and go that “extra mile.” Research conducted at Brunel University concluded that music could increase your workout endurance by 15% so there is some evidence that this theory could be true. In my opinion, this would be a very hard study to 100% conclude either side is right but there seems to be some parallel to music and a better workout. This could just simply be due to chance but I believe that music does help people work out.

    http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/exercise/workouts/music-increase-exercise-endurance.htm

  3. Gregory Joseph Macqueen

    I definitely agree that music can help to improve a workout. Being a very outgoing person, I love to lift, jog, and bike and I have always felt like listing to some of my favorite tunes helps me to stay motivated and go that “extra mile.” Research conducted at Brunel University concluded that music could increase your workout endurance by 15% so there is some evidence that this theory could be true. In my opinion, this would be a very hard study to 100% conclude either side is right but there seems to be some parallel to music and a better workout. This could just simply be due to chance but I believe that music does help people work out.

  4. Rebecca Sorensen

    This is definitely an interesting topic. Personally, I can’t work out at the gym at all without music. I usually don’t enjoy working out, and music distracts me from the activity I’m doing and focusing more on the music than the workout itself makes it much more bearable. Whenever a fast or upbeat song comes on, I am so much more excited to run and it really does push me to work harder. I think it is great that someone posted about this topic, because it is so relevant in our culture today and in our age group. And we all know the feeling of getting to the gym and realizing you forgot your headphones; a workout without music is always a negative experience. This article (http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2013/10/15/why-does-music-help-us-exercise/) also confirms that music helps us with physical activity, and offers some really interesting studies on the subject. Definitely worth the read!

  5. Ann

    Very interesting topic! I found an article that agrees with you in that music does help people exercise with better endurance. What’s interesting is that it is actually only helpful to listen to music with a 120-140 beats per minute. The faster the pace, the faster the person exercising will go. If someone listens to a slower tempo they are less likely to push themselves. Just something to keep in mind.

    http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/exercise/workouts/music-increase-exercise-endurance.htm

  6. Valerie Ortense

    Drawn from my own observations, this is in fact very true. i have noticed that when a faster paced beat comes on, i tend to run faster and have a burst of energy that lasts only as long as the song does. My adrenaline amplifies tremendously when a good rock song comes on. I feel like I am Rocky after he climbed those stairs! But, then i bring it back down to a regular pase so i do not pass out from exhaustion.Not you have me wondering. Why does music have that effect on us? Does music enhance brain activity? I’m going to look more into this and write a blog about it.

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