Your Workout Performance Can Be Affected by the Music You Listen To

Written by Chelsea Ling

Have you ever listened to music while you were on a jog or when you were working out? I certainly have. People who listen to fast-paced music while exercising tend to be able to go further and usually get much more out of the experience than their peers who do not. You may have noticed that upbeat songs tend to make you feel excited and ready to continue, while slow songs, on the other hand, may make you feel unmotivated and make you want to just sit down and take a nap.  This is because, as multiple studies have concluded, music with a higher beats per minute (BPM) enhances the performance levels during low-to-moderate levels of exercise.   

Several studies have also shown that there are specific tempos that are ideal for certain forms of exercise. For example, the preferred tempo range for cycling is 125-140 BPM and the preferred tempo range for running on a treadmill is 123-131 BPM. The reason why there are different ranges for different forms of exercise is because at these tempos, it is easiest for the average human to follow along and to synchronize their movements with whatever they are listening to. Thus, with different levels of speed needed for each type of exercise, the music would also call for different tempos.

In addition, there is a medical and psychological side to this explanation. Music changes the hormone levels within a person’s body. In a 2012 study, people who listened to music that brought out pleasure and happiness from within them, tended to feel more optimistic and excited. This is because more serotonin was released compared to those who were listening to sad and sorrowful music. Serotonin is also known as the “feel-good hormone” which is released in the neurons that originate in the Raphe nuclei which are located in the midline of your brainstem whenever you experience something that makes you happy. Hence, when listening to upbeat music while you exercise, the increase in serotonin levels help put you in a better mood and help make you feel more motivated to exercise.

Sources:

Berger, Miles, et al. “The Expanded Biology of Serotonin.” Annual Review of Medicine, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2009, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5864293/.

Markell, Jenny. “Can Listening to Music Improve Your Workout?” National Center for Health Research, 21 July 2020, www.center4research.org/can-listening-music-improve-workout/.