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For sure, a ton of athletes, both recreational and pro, listen to music while training, but why? We all jump to say it makes exercise more fun, but is that really true?
Aerobic and music-synced activities
Most people who listen to music are into predominantly aerobic activities (running, cycling, triathlon) or cyclic sports (those that repeat the same action over and over).
According to the most relevant studies:
- Time to exhaustion was up to 19.7% longer when training with music, compared to not listening to anything.
- Mood and emotional responses were more positive with motivational music.
- The RPE (rate of perceived exertion) was lower when listening to music than when not.
- Blood lactate concentrations were lower with motivational music.
Functionally speaking, the motivational qualities of music might be less important than its rhythm and how well participants can sync their movements to the beat.
In these cases, music provided ergogenic, psychological, and physiological benefits.
Anaerobic activities
Short sprints, crossfit, bodybuilding, weightlifting… all these sports and activities are quite different from the ones mentioned before; they’re non-cyclic. It’s proven that the peak mental focus needed to perform them is much higher and shorter in duration than for aerobic activities (which is why they tire out the Central Nervous System more).
In these cases, listening to music generally reduces performance (especially if you’re wearing headphones) because it distracts from the main movement. However, it’s interesting to note that ambient music (no headphones) doesn’t cause such a noticeable drop in performance.
Music and anxiety
Listening to music is a leisure activity (nobody’s forced to do it). Still, many people force themselves to listen to music that’s not really their style. Why?… This kind of music triggers anxiety, which causes:
- Increased ACTH concentrations.
- Higher exercise-induced systolic blood pressure.
- Elevated levels of testosterone, oxytocin, vasopressin, and aldosterone.
In short, the data show that an acute rise in anxiety levels contributes to neuroendocrine activation.
Practical conclusion
Results show that listening to music can influence both positively and negatively how effort and anxiety are perceived, which could have functional consequences.
- If you’re doing aerobic or cyclic activities (including HIIT), it’s good to listen to music to boost performance. Ambient music brings smaller improvements than listening with headphones.
- If you’re doing anaerobic or non-cyclic activities, it might not be the best idea to listen to music with headphones, except for special moments (like a personal record, for example). However, before exercise, it can be interesting to listen to motivational music or tunes that raise anxiety levels.
Sources
- Jezova D, Hlavacova N, Makatsori A, Duncko R, Loder I, Hinghofer-Szalkay H. Increased anxiety induced by listening to unpleasant music during stress exposure is associated with reduced blood pressure and ACTH responses in healthy men. Neuroendocrinology. 2013;98(2):144-50. doi: 10.1159/000354202. Epub 2013 Aug 13.
- Karageorghis CI, Mouzourides DA, Priest DL, Sasso TA, Morrish DJ, Walley CJ. Psychophysical and ergogenic effects of synchronous music during treadmill walking. J Sport Exerc Psychol. 2009 Feb;31(1):18-36.
- Terry PC, Karageorghis CI, Saha AM, D’Auria S. Effects of synchronous music on treadmill running among elite triathletes. J Sci Med Sport. 2012 Jan;15(1):52-7. doi: 10.1016/j.jsams.2011.06.003. Epub 2011 Jul 30.
