Throughout my life, running has been a form of relieving my stress. Now even when I’m not stressed out, I run daily as a means of working out. I always notice that most people wear headphones while running- including myself. I find running can be boring, especially when running on the treadmill. By listening to music, I am able to have a jam session while being fit. This led me to question whether or not listening to music increases your work out performance. Does blasting Drake and Kanye West actually help me run faster and for longer?
Based on research, it seems like music can help athletic performance. Dr. Costas Karageorghis at Brunel University in his latest book Inside Sport Psychology claims that listening to music while running can boost performance by 15% (The Guardian 2012). Additionally, Karageorghis claims the quality of music may help with performance; however, quality is a subjective matter and therefore isn’t as accurate of a statement.
Karageorghis categorizes runners in two forms: associators and dissociators. Associators focus inwardly when they are running. Associators don’t benefit from listening to music since they don’t focus on the music, but are only focused on running. Dissociators, as he claims most runners are, “look for stimulus and distraction from what is going on around them” (The Guardian 2012). Dissociators witness the benefit of music and run based on the tempo of the music.
Although Karageorghis may have a point that dissociators are those who benefit from listening to music and its assuring that those who don’t benefit from music can simply be categorized as an associator, there aren’t many statistics to prove this and the names are completely made up by Karageorghis for his book.
In 2003 a paper by Atkinson Wilson and Eubank looked at how sixteen subjects reacted while listening to fast paced electronic dance music while working out to a 10km cycling trial on a stationary bicycle. There was then a trial with no music conducted which acted as the control group.
The outcome of Wilson’s paper revealed that when listening to fast paced music (142 beats per minute), the subjects overall cycled dramatically faster than those who didn’t listen to any music at all. However, it was found that from 5km to 9km both those who listened to music and did not were nearly identical.
Judy Edworthy and Hannah Waring at the University of Plymouth in 2006 performed a study on music tempo and loudness and its affects on runners. Edworthy and Waring tested 30 physically active participants for 10 minutes on a treadmill with five types of music: loud/fast, loud/slow, quiet/fast, quiet/slow and no music.
The results showed loudness and tempo boosted the participant’s speed and heart rates. By listening to faster and louder music the subjects initially selected a faster treadmill pace (Davis 2013).
It seems that the idea of listening to music while running increases your performance but for reasons of motivation and enhancing your mood as opposed to some biological reasoning. I will continue to always listen to music while working out especially when running because regardless of if listening to music is enhancing my performance and I’m getting a better work out, it makes the job of running less stressful and more enjoyable.
Works Cited:
Finn, A. (2012, April). Does Music Help You Run Faster?. In The Guardian . Retrieved from
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2012/apr/22/does-music-help-you-run-faster
Davis, J. (2013). Runners Connect. In Does Music Help You Run Faster?. Retrieved from
http://runnersconnect.net/running-training-articles/does-music-help-you-run-faster/
Pingback: Should I run with music? - The Mummy Toolbox
I definitely agree that running with music motivates me better than when I forget my headphones. I think this is for two reasons, the first reason being that the noise motivates me. Running to the beat of a song can force me to run faster. Furthermore, there have been times when I’ve wanted to give up but have pushed myself to stay on the treadmill until the song ended. Without the music, I would have gotten off much earlier. I have tested before listening to slower music when I run and the results showed that the slower the music, the slower I ran. Once I changed the song to a more upbeat tune, my pace immediately changed. The second reason I believe that listening to music helps you workout better is because without it I become so bored with my surroundings. When listening to music you can sing along in your head or think about the lyrics to distract yourself. Without music, there is nothing to think about other than how horrible working out is.
I am happy that the study supported your question and that is it beneficial to listen to music while running. I have experienced times where i am not allowed to listen to music while running, for example in grade-school each year they would time us running a mile and we were never able to listen to music while completing this task. After running the mile for school and running plenty of miles on my free time i realized that i was not nearly as fast running at school as i was when i was running alone.
I agree with you completely on this subject. I also think that running with music makes it more enjoyable and fun to do. I never knew about there being two different runners: associators and dissociators. I definitely believe I am a dissociator because I do not find running enjoyable and look for other thoughts in my head to focus on while running and the music helps that because my brain wonders that way. I also always had trouble with holding my phone in my hand while I run and the headphones falling out of my ears. I want to invest in headphones that go around your ear specific for running and an arm pocket to put my phone in while running. I really enjoyed reading your post, it was very helpful and informative.
In addition to listening to music, I sometimes watch Netflix while I’m at the gym. When on the treadmill, elliptical, or any other similar machine, I find myself focusing on the information on the screen, like how much time I have left, the calories I’ve burned, my heart rate, and so on. This starts to stress me out and make exercising (something I love to do), less enjoyable. Focusing on something else, like music or tv, while I run definitely enhances my performance and mood. Sometimes I’ll even take my notes with me and study while I work out!
I feel like I am the same with you. I enjoy running and working out when stressed but also when angry. I tend to listen to fast upbeat music and it really does make me run a good minute or two more! After reading this I could definitely relate to everything you were saying. I do sometime listen to here and there alright slower tempos but its never the really slow dull ones. It’s at a point I could do squats to a beat. I did enjoy reading this post. It was very helpful.
This article stood out to be because Spotify, a digital music service, created a new feature called “Spotify Running.” In this new feature, Spotify Running plays songs that syncs with your taste in music and your running tempo. As you begin to run, Spotify uses your smartphone’s sensors to determine how fast you’re running and picks a song to match your running tempo. Before reading this I believed that this could improve the workout experience while fitting people’s individual workout styles. But after reading your blog, it seems beneficial to always be a tempo speed higher to improve your workout.
Source: http://www.theverge.com/2015/9/15/9331221/spotify-running-mode-now-available-android