Adding music to any routine can not only keep you motivated, it can lift your spirits and help keep you focused on the activity at hand. But can it really improve your workout?
Fast music, especially, provides us more information to process, which may distract someone from the physical sensations of fatigue and block signals to stop exercising.
But not all fast songs do that.
If the music is too fast, it isn’t likely to enhance performance or endurance, says Costas Karageorghis, PhD, deputy head of sports psychology at Brunel University. He has studied the effects of music on exercise for more than 20 years.
Studies show there is a sweet spot, in terms of tempo, between 120 and 140 beats per minute. Beyond that, it doesn’t improve enjoyment or any other psychological variable while exercising.
That’s also true if you’re working out at a very intense level, or about 70%-80% of your aerobic capacity. In fact, for most elite athletes, music only has a small effect on performance. That’s because most athletes already have excellent focus when it comes to regulating their movements and reaching a particular goal. Music may be too distracting and even hinder performance for some professional athletes.
But for the average person who exercises at a moderate level a few days a week, music can and does enhance working out. Unlike athletes who train for a living, most people actively seek distractions while working out. Listening to music may ease the boredom they associate with exercising.
Music can help you to tolerate exercise, and may even motivate you to work out more often.
Whatever musical style you favor, you might want to check the beats per minute (bpm). You can look for apps that can help you determine the bpm. Choose songs that mirror your heart rate, depending on the level of exercise.
As you pick up the pace to a moderately intense level, songs within the 120-140 bpm range are ideal. Songs over 140 bpm are unlikely to improve workouts.
Here’s an example playlist:
A particularly strong 30-minute workout sequence would be:
“Yeah!” → “Level Up” → “HUMBLE.” → “Win” → “Stronger” → “Grinding All My Life” → “Dreams and Nightmares” → “Till I Collapse” → “Victory”. It starts with groove, builds intensity, and finishes with high-energy tracks that are ideal for pushing through the final reps.
For those of you who are old school, you can download this old school mix, here.
You run the risk of being too dependent on using music as fuel for motivation. From a psychological point of view it’s all about conditioning — you are conditioning yourself to exercise with music and expect it to be present, so when it is suddenly removed you can expect a poor performance.
That’s why you should cast MP3s aside once in a while to get used to performing without music. For every two workouts with music, do one workout without music.
Crank up the volume on a hard workout, and your hearing may suffer.
High-intensity music coupled with high-intensity exercise can cause temporary hearing loss. During exercise, blood from the inner ear rushes toward the working muscles, making you more susceptible to hearing damage.
Because hearing loss is gradual and may take several years to appear, it’s important to take proper precautions before it’s too late. If you use headphones, follow the “80 for 90 rule.” This means that it is safe to listen to music on a portable device, such as an iPod, at 80% of the maximum level for no more than 90 minutes a day. Any more than that and you risk overworking the ear.
Remember, a 45-minute workout doesn’t have to be 45-minutes straight. You can break it up and using songs or portions of songs to do that can be a great help.
For example, if you have a 4-minute song with 45-second to 1-minute verses, you can do one particular exercise for that portion of time and then switch up or use a 4-count bar measure (roughly 16 seconds) to rest. The music can fuel your exercise and your break. By the time the bridge comes and goes, you’ve got a whole workout in! Keep it up!
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