Some British researchers have recently conducted a study which shows fairly conclusive evidence that if you exercise whilst working out that you naturally try to mimic the tempo of the music you are listening to. They found that the faster the music you listened to the more vigorous your workout was. They performed the study on a diverse range of participants and tested them on exercise bikes in a gym environment but the researchers believe these findings apply across the board when it comes to cardiovascular exercise.
The participants were asked to ride the exercise bikes at a steady pace 30 minutes, while listening to six songs of varying tempos on headphones played at whatever volume they liked. They each rode three trial runs: once with the songs played normally, once played 10% faster and once played 10% slower.
The results: The performance of the subjects — and their attitude — stayed in line with the tempo of the music. When the tempo dropped, so did their pace, their heart rate, their distance covered and even the degree to which they said they liked the music. When the tempo increased, all those things picked up.
It was found that faster music is actually a stimulant in exercise because although the participants reported they were aware of the extra effort they were putting in they said they liked the music more and whilst it didn’t kill the pain, it took the edge of the extra effort.
Research in the past has always concluded that listening to music whilst working out can be distracting but this seems to prove that the body will naturally match your rhythm to the music you are listening to.
This research might seem like a bit of an odd-one but if you are someone that often struggles to pull themselves into the gym then finding an upbeat soundtrack to your workout could be the answer particularly if you want to shed some pounds in time for the festive party season!
