There has long been a perception that music can have a big impact on how we exercise.  Indeed, so strong is this perception that various providers now offer playlists explicitly designed for certain types of exercise.

The scale of the impact was underlined by a recent study from the University of British Columbia, which highlighted how music can change our perception of intense exercise.

High intensity interval training (HIIT) has recently made headlines due to the effectiveness of the workout, especially for those strapped for time.  The nature of the workout means it’s hard work though, especially mentally as it pushes you harder than you ordinarily would go.  This can be challenging, especially for those who aren’t usually active.

“While HIIT is time-efficient and can elicit meaningful health benefits among adults who are insufficiently active, one major drawback is that people may find it to be unpleasant. As a result, this has the potential to discourage continued participation,” the researchers say.

Musical support

So how can music help?  The researchers recruited a bunch of volunteers who were not especially active and tasked them with completing a HIIT regimen that was designed for people like them.

A separate pool of adults was asked to rate the motivational qualities of 16 songs, with the three voted as most motivational were then used to try and cajole the volunteers into completing their workouts.

“Music is typically used as a dissociative strategy. This means that it can draw your attention away from the body’s physiological responses to exercise such as increased heart rate or sore muscles,” the authors explain. “But with high-intensity exercise, it seems that music is most effective when it has a fast tempo and is highly motivational.”

The workouts consisted of three 20 second sprints, with a short rest in between each, resulting in a total of 10 minutes exercise (after a warm up and cool down were added).  The volunteers completed the workout using motivational music, in silence and whilst listening to a podcast with no music on it.

Motivational

The volunteers reported greater enjoyment of the workout and higher performance levels when they listened to music than when they had either no audio accompaniment or the podcasts to listen to.

The improvement is down to something known as ‘entrainment’, which is when humans alter the frequency of their biological rhythms towards that of musical rhythms.  The researchers believe their findings may help those who don’t normally exercise get more value and persist with exercise for longer.

“Music can be a practical strategy to help insufficiently active people get more out of their HIIT workouts and may even encourage continued participation,” they conclude.