Moving To The Beat!

Have your workout buddies ever badgered you over the time you spent specifically curating a playlist for your workout and between sets? Have you ever been plagued by a bad song and felt like the whole exercise was "ruined"? I am here to assure you that you are not "being a drama queen" nor are you wasting time! Music can optimize your exercise giving you a small boost in energy or ability, pushing you to cover more distance when running or give more when lifting weights.

Running to The Beat!

While others find joy in chasing that runner's high some can be bored by the mundane task of running! If you suffer from boredom while running or possibly want to spice up your already fun running route, I would suggest creating a playlist of your favorite hype music to run to, Hype is defined as something that can stimulate, excite, or agitate you. Stimulating music specifically curated for yourself can not only keep you engaged but can improve your performance while running. When playing your own preferred music you may see a more sustained speed than if you weren't listening to music! (Jebabli, 2020) While it may not be a deal breaker to possibly increase your sustained speed we must understand that there are little to no negative effects of listening to music! If you're cautious of your pacing you don't have to worry about the rhythm of your music "throwing off" your running, as studies show that preferred music doesn't affect the pacing of your running. (Jebabli, 2020). So create that playlist and get on the track, you may even cover more ground!

Lifting to The Beat!

While a variety of exercises are needed to maintain a fit and healthy body, a very well-known form of exercise is strength and resistance training! Studies have shown that strength and resistance training can increase your bone and muscle strength, increase muscle mass, and lower the risk of injury.
All of these things can create a better quality of life, but it shouldn't be ignored how hard or even boring exercising can be. This is why we recommend music to not only spice up or liven your workout but also to help you optimize your workout! With the right music selection, you can increase your endurance and be able to do more reps than when not listening to music, specifically when bench pressing. (Greco, 2023) When we’re performing these high-intensity strength and resistance workouts we also need to focus on our recovery. We want to give our bodies all the time we can to rest so we’re able to wake up and do it again! With this we want to make sure we’re taking care of ourselves when we’re in recovery from a workout it can make us feel better to listen to fast-tempo music and as I said “keep the hype up” as you recover. (Greco, 2022) Slow-tempo music can help when in the recovery period to enhance the positive effects of recovery.

I Challenge You

If you don’t currently listen to music to work out or don’t take a substantial amount of time to create a specific “Workout playlist” filled with songs to fuel your gains and get you through your workout try it out!

Prep Work for the Workout

15 minutes before you go to workout or even the night before, take the time to curate a playlist specifically for yourself!

Keep the Hype Up!

I recommend creating a fun or workout-themed name for the playlist! We want to hype ourselves up as much to work out!

Song Selection

Choose songs that make you smile or make you happy! When we listen to happy or motivational music we can self-consciously associate happy music and the feeling we get with listening to happy music with working out which can motivate us to work out even more! As well as having hype music for your workout, it’s important for us to also have slow-tempo music for our cool down as it can enhance the positive effects of recovery! (Greco, 2022)

Optimize It All

Use the resources provided by this website to optimize your workout in different ways, not just your music choice! Optimize your exercise through your eating habits or even through sleep.

Get Out There!

Make that playlist and get ready for a workout with your preferred music to keep your spirits up while also optimizing your results!

References

Ballmann, C. G., Cook, G. D., Hester, Z. T., Kopec, T. J., Williams, T. D., & Rogers, R. R. (2020). Effects of Preferred and Non-Preferred Warm-Up Music on Resistance Exercise Performance. Journal of Functional Morphology and Kinesiology, 6(1), 3-0. 10.3390/jfmk6010003

Greco, F., Grazioli, E., Cosco, L. F., Parisi, A., Bertollo, M., & Emerenziani, G. P. (2022). The effects of music on cardiorespiratory endurance and muscular fitness in recreationally active individuals: a narrative review. PeerJ (San Francisco, CA), 10, e13332. 10.7717/peerj.13332

Jebabli, N., Granacher, U., Selmi, M. A., Al-Haddabi, B., Behm, D. G., Chaouachi, A., & Sassi, R. H. (2020). Listening to Preferred Music Improved Running Performance without Changing the Pacing Pattern during a 6 Minute Run Test with Young Male Adults. Sports (Basel), 8(5), 61. 10.3390/sports8050061