Walk into a gym. What do you see? People moving in sync to their exercise machines, concentrating on their workouts, and being in “the zone.” Observe closely, and you will notice that the majority of people working out may be bopping their heads to a beat on their phones while running on the treadmill or working the elliptical. All kinds of music can be heard, from the thumping beats of the aerobics classes, to heavy metal screeching from the headphones of people banging free-weights around, to the heart-pounding rhythms emanating from the spin classes.
According to sparkpe.com, music stimulates the part of the brain that controls unconscious movement, and is why people will tap feet and nod heads without even realizing when listening to their favorite song on the radio.
In a 2010 study done by researcher Dr Costas Karageorghis of Brunel University, 12 students rode stationary bicycles in a gym for half an hour while listening to music through their headphones. Unknown to the students, the researchers slowed the pace of the song by 10 percent for part of the ride, and sped it up by 10 percent at other points during the exercise. The study revealed that when the music slowed, the riding speed and distance covered did as well, and when the music sped up, so did the rider.
Karageorghis also specifies how using the “right music” before and also during a workout can boost one’s performance by as much as 20 percent. The “right music” constitutes no definite playlist, and would be a matter of each individual’s taste; according to her, each individual should find a song that drives and inspires them to work at their peak.
Tempo and beat in music contribute to peak performance. For example, runners benefit from running to music with a pace that matches or is higher than the rate of their strides, measured in beats per minute (BPM). In fact, there are music programs, such as Spotify, that aim to match a certain songs to a runner’s stride with the BPM. The song “Gettin’ Jiggy With It” by Will Smith, for example, has a BPM of 108, which makes it a good warm-up song. “Rockafeller Skank” by Fatboy Slim, on the other hand, has a BPM of 153, which makes it good for endurance-building.
At Aragon, students report increased endurance and activity levels after listening to music. Senior Isa Ng uses the music app Spotify to help match her running strides to the music.
Ng says, “I feel like music is a good way to distract yourself when you’re working out. I don’t work out very often but personally, I can’t run for more than 10 minutes if I don’t have music on me.”
Senior Kristina Chiu states how music helped her through freshman and sophomore year of PE. “Those laps we had to run were much more bearable if I had music with me. If I didn’t, well … let’s just say I got lazy.”
Health teacher Barbara Beaumont says, “Music is inspiration. You need to choose correct tempo and a good beat for the exercises you are planning to perform whether it’s basic cardio, sprints, strength training.”
Beaumont also uses Spotify to create new playlists for her water fitness and yoga classes weekly. She has been teaching fitness classes in a gym setting since college, and explains how playlists now are much easier to make than they were 20 years ago when instructors were making playlists on cassette tapes.
Junior Oliver Chang states that music does not help him during his workouts like it does with others. “I play tennis and music doesn’t help me focus at all. I’m not playing this year on the team but I never trsten to music during playing tennis. It messes up my hitting-the-ball tempo, so I just leave music alone during my practices. It’s just a distraction.”
Music might be helpful to some, while distracting to others, but overall, it is up to the athlete to determine whether or not music will be integrated into their workouts.
