Exercising to music - it works! (apparently)

Jamiecfc1

Found this post on the BBC website, wondered what others thought of it?

"Music has helped elite tri-athletes in Australia increase their endurance by 15%, researchers say.

Synchronous music, where stride length is matched to musical tempo, can have metronomic effects on the body by allowing athletes to run for longer, they say.

Dr Costas Karageorghis and Professor Peter Terry, sports psychologists from Brunel University West London and the University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba respectively found music increased energy efficiency by 1-3%, meaning athletes could run further on the same amount of oxygen.

Their study also examined how the power of music lowers the perception of effort. Women were found to benefit more than men from the mood-enhancing effects of music.

Previous research by the team has shown that it is not only professionals, but also recreationally active people, who can gain benefits from synchronous music."

There is a video at http://bit.ly/atRQ2k

PoeRaven

Without the research, I can vouch for all that you say. Exercising to music is the key to my success! I purposely search for and download music that has that "certain tempo" that matches my running stride. I actually look forward to my morning run. Afterward I feel energized!
I started this journey on January 4th of this year and managed to reach my goal (30 lb loss) in 123 days. When I first started, it was difficult to keep up with trying to jog until I started experimenting with music. Once I found the "perfect" tempo, I was able to endure longer and faster runs. I will never forget that first 12 minute mile! Now I am running 3+ miles, 5 days a week, and have lost another 5 lbs because of it. My next goal is the 10 minute mile.
I attribute MFP and running to music as being the 2 most influential tools to my success.


Thanks for posting. I hope this helps others reach their fitness goals. As I keep saying, if I can do this, anybody can.

Good luck in all you do! :flowerforyou:

DJH510

I don't know much about the science behind it, but I certainly agree that music makes exercise far less stressful, and probably boosts outright performance by a small margin too. Hence in some races they ban the use of mp3 players, as they can be said to give an unfair advantage to those using them!