By Dayne Hudson
Everyone has those days.
You smash down your pre-workout cocktail and head into the gym, lifting your worries/stresses away whilst pushing to build strength/muscle.
Or maybe you're more keen on torching your body fat, and you head over to the treadmill to give it everything you've got.
Whichever you're doing - there's always one thing in common on these days.
Music.
It's blaring, and you're loving it.
You swear that with each note, more motivation is being pumped through your body at the same rate as your pre-workout.
This your perception....but what does the science say?
Well depending on what it is you're doing, you're guess that your music is improving your performance mightn't be that far from the truth!
THE RESEARCH: CAN I TRAIN HARDER WITH MUSIC?
Recent research examined 20 resistance trained college men and had them do bench press and squat jumps (1).
In one of the rounds they listened to their own self selected music, in another round they listened to none.
The subjects gave a report on their profile of mood states, and the rate of their perceived exertion before and after the following:
- 3 sets of bench press to failure at 75% of their 1 rep max
- 3 sets of a squat jump at 30% of their 1 rep max.
And what did they find?
In the squat jump: no differences in jump height or relative ground reaction force.
And with bench press? Reps to failure and the rating of perceived exertion were no different between both settings.
So all doom and gloom?
Well, not so fast.
The positives in the squat jumps were that take off velocity (speed), rate of velocity development and the rate of force devlopment were all greater in the self selected music group.
This is nothing to be sneezed at.
Also, the rate of perceived exertion was greater with no music.
So essentially - when they were listening to music whilst squat jumping - it all seemed a hell of a lot easier, which makes sense.
They also reported a better mood when listening to music.
It led the authors to conclude:
"This study demonstrated increased performance during an explosive exercise and an altered mood state when listening to self selected music. Therefore, listening to self selected music might be beneficial for acute power performance."
So while it didn't help with pushing out as many reps as possible, at least as far as explosive energy is concerned - music is a goer!
Further research involving 20 college students has examined the aerobic benefits of listening to music (2).
This study was a little different as it examined music and video, music alone, video alone along with a control, on physical performance and perceived exertion.
It was divided into 2 parts:
PART 1: Looked at the effects of different combinations of audio and video on performance and rating of perceived effort.
The 20 subjects had to peddle as fast as possible on a bike for 12 minutes under the 4 conditions outlined above in a random order.
They found that when the participants were in the 2 media groups of music and audio, they reported a significantly lower score for their rating of perceived effort - just like the participants in the squat jump study.
It seems when the music is blaring - everyone seems to get on with the job a lot easier.
The subjects favoured the music to the video.
PART 2: Looked at how music preference affected physical performance, this time running as fast as possible.
For this part, a larger group of subjects were recruited; 75 students into 5 groups:
1. High preference, high motivation
2. High preference and low motivation
3. Low preference and low motivation
4. Low preference and high motivation
5. Control
The motivational level of the songs chosen were based on responses to what's called the Brunel Music Rating Inventory.
FIT'N'FLEXED FAST FACT: The Brunel Music Rating Inventory was created by Costas Karageorghis, an associate professor of sport psychology at Brunel University in England.
Mr Karageorghis has been studying effects of music on physical performance for nearly 30 years, and created this questionnaire that allows one to rate how motivational they think the tune is for exercise and sport.
For over ten years, Mr Karageorghis has been playing 90 seconds of various songs to panels from different demographics, who rate the song accordingly. So this is where these songs came from.
So what did they find?
"Results showed that music preference, but not its motivational quality, had a significant effect on physical performance. Overall, these results show that listening to music, and in particular preferred music increases physical performance and reduces perceived effort."
They authors also concluded:
"Among different sensory stimulations, music can enhance physical performance more strongly than video. In addition to the motivational level of the music, music preference can also influence the physical performance of aerobic exercise participants."
So if you listen to your preferred music (even if it is a soppy love song!) as opposed to a tune that someone else perceives to be very motivational - you're giving yourself a better chance at performing better, and getting through the workout easier!
MUSIC FOR FITNESS, BODYBUILDING & MUSCLE GROWTH, STRENGTH AND PERFORMANCE: THE CONCLUSION
So we know that music WILL help us with acute performance, eg squat jumping, and well help us with aerobic performance.
But when it comes to more muscle gains and reps in the gym, it doesn't seem like it gives much of an advantage.
But then again if you like doing it, you've no real need to stop based on this research.
Based on what music HAS been found to be beneficial in, regardless of what it is you're doing in the gym, it certainly won't be detrimental.
The verdict?
Rock on!
"Stay Fit, Stay Flexed!"
REFERENCES
(1) Biagini MS, Brown LE, Coburn JW, Judelson DA, Statler TA, Bottaro M, Tran TT, Longo NA. Effects of self-selected music on strength, explosiveness, and mood. J Strength Cond Res. 2012 Jul;26(7):1934-8. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0b013e318237e7b3.
(2) Lin JH, Lu FJ. Interactive effects of visual and auditory intervention on physical performance and perceived effort. J Sports Sci Med. 2013 Sep 1;12(3):388-93. eCollection 2013.
