Personally, I hate working out without music. I feel as if the music almost motivates me. I lift to the beat of the music, or run to it. I always, always, put upbeat music and make it loud. It makes me want to really work out!
Studies have shown that music has been seen to actually distract the body from the pain one feels when working out. Hense, making it easier to workout for longer periods of time. Studies also say that the faster the music, the faster your body wants to move. So if one, for example, were walking on a treadmill, if he/she was walking to a beat, if the beat was faster they would walk faster, burning more calories.
Listening to music can also focus someone. It can make them put all of their thoughts and effort into that one activity, making a more impressive workout. Going along with the song can also keep someone on track and on the same pace the whole time. If you follow the beat, it makes your workout sturdier. Doing this, can also put you in a better mood. If you are someone who absolutely HATES working out, then being distracted by the music can make you forget you are working out and make you 🙂 Especially if you are someone who love loves loves listening to music.
In a study done in July 2013, researchers looked at the study of music on making your brain excited. They concluded that listening to music actually makes the body want to move around, aka, exercise. In case we are forgetting, music also drowns out the other people loudly working out, making you focus on your own workout more!
Another study was done where scientists studied cyclists listening to music for the first half of their course, for the second half, or for none of it. They concluded that the cyclists that listened for the second half went 1-1.25km/h faster than the others. This concludes that music really does influence the brain when working out!
From everything I have researched, I have decided my hypothesis was correct: listening to music DOES affect your workout, and in a positive way! One other way to test my hypothesis could be putting together an experiment. 10 males & 10 females work out with music, and 10 males & 10 females work out without music, and check their workout success for 5 days and see what I come up with. Could be interesting. So next time you are running out the door to the gym, make sure to grab your headphones, you want to get the most out of your workout!
Works Cited:
1. http://www.popsugar.com
2. www.healthyrevelations.com
3. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/01/why-exercise-workout-music-playlist_n_4173931.html
4. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23660433
5. http://greatist.com/fitness/should-you-listen-music-when-working-out
6. http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/exercise/workouts/music-increase-exercise-endurance.htm
7. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/psychology-workout-music/
I physically can not workout with music. It allows me to get into a rhythm and groove while working out. My question is: Does the genre of music make a difference? It is my presumption that upbeat music would definitely make your workout better than listening to country music for example. With this said, I listen to a mixture at the gym and I do not really notice a difference. Whether I am listening to Florida Georgia Line or Drake, I feel as though simply listening to music I like makes my workout better. If I am into the music I get more into my workout.
I totally agree with you–music is essential to a workout. I get so bored without it. I liked your idea for testing your hypothesis and think that it could definitely provide some beneficial results! However, I think one important confounding variable is the type of music we listen to when we work out. Like you said, loud, upbeat songs are extremely motivating, which is why classical music would NEVER be successful in a work out. You showed a lot of personal credibility right from the beginning of your blog, which added confidence to your blog. Here’s a list of the 100 Top Workout Songs that I for one am going to start using and you should too! 🙂
I love this blog post, I can’t work out with music because then it actually feels like I’m working and straining my body. Thats why I love going to the gym, I get to focus on myself and listen to music that I love. The one thing I hate though is practice, during basketball practice and track practice we never listened to music by basketball coach always saw it as a distraction when we would do drills or scrimmage. I thought that was the worse because I could actually feel my body pushing as hard as it could go and I felt extremely tired. But when I go to the gym and listen to music I obviously push myself hard but it just doesn’t feel as hard as when I practice with no music. Its amazing how much our mind takes the music and actually makes use believe that the work out isn’t that strenuous.
I can’t workout without listening to music. I lift everyday and I couldn’t image my superset on the bench press or leg press workout or my running without my music. I can’t listen to every type of music though.I need my headphones in the gym here, especially IM, because they play “The hits” and not what I like to call “Workout music” (Rock, Metal, hardcore rap). An interesting direction I think you could take this post is whether the type of music you listen to affects you. Like if you listen to Adele in the gym will that make you less focused and motivated vs. for example Meek Mill? I sure wouldn’t be able to work as hard or be as focused. This POST is short and unverified, but it seems to go along with my opinion and has many comments that I find helpful