Hearing just the right song can change your whole mood. So it makes sense that it may have the same powerful effect on your athletic performance. Research suggests listening to the right music during your workout helps you run faster and farther with less perceived effort. If this is true, you may never leave for another run without your headphones.
Increases Endurance
Listening to music while working out increases endurance by as much as 15 percent, says Dr. Costas Karageorghi of England's Brunel University School of Sport and Education. Dr. Karageorghi says by distracting the brain, music keeps you from focusing on the fatigue you feel, allowing you to run farther and work out longer.
Improves Performance
When combined with exercise, music helps to increase speed and performance by as much as 20 percent, says Karageorghi. He calls music's effect on athletic performance the legal equivalent of a performance enhancing drug. Music also enhances flow--the state of optimum mental and physical performance, says Karageorghi. Olympic Gold medalist and marathon world record holder Haile Gebrselassie uses music while training to keep and increase his pace.
Improves Brain Function
When you add music to exercise, your brain performs more efficiently as a result, says Dr. Charles Emory, professor of psychology at Ohio State University. Emory led the research on a study that found the brain's cognitive function improved significantly after participants spent just 30 minutes walking on a treadmill while listening to Vivaldi's "Four Seasons."
Affects Physical Strength
Slow, soft music decreases physical strength when played during exercise, says Dr. Len Kravitz, an exercise scientist at the University of New Mexico. Study subjects performed with increased strength to upbeat music and even silence. So if you want to increase strength, Kravitz suggests working out to music with a fast beat or no music at all.
Choosing Appropriate Music
Matching the beat of the activity to the music is one of the elements that enhance performance. To get pumped for a workout or road race, the optimum range is 120 to 140 beats per minute (BPM), according to the Brunel Music Rating Inventory, developed by Karageorghi. This range matches the average heart rate while running. Most popular dance songs fall into this category. Leisurely walking needs a slightly slower BPM, in the 115-to-120 BPM range.
High-Intensity Activity
When you work out at a high intensity level--over 85 percent of your VO2 Max--music loses its effect on performance, says Karageorghi. VO2 Max represents your body's ability to use oxygen from the blood to feed your working muscles. Music may still distract you slightly, but not with the same effectiveness of lower intensity levels--40 percent to 60 percent of VO2 Max. The average person's VO2 Max falls somewhere between 35 percent to 51 percent, while elite athletes often have a VO2 Max of 70 percent and higher.
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