The right soundtrack could be key to the best workout, UBC Okanagan researchers found. Even for people who are insufficiently active.
Matthew Stork, a postdoctoral fellow in the School of Health and Exercise Sciences, published a study showing music can help less-active people get more out of their workouts while boosting their enjoyment of it.
High-intensity interval training, or HIIT, as it乌鸦传媒檚 known, involves repeated bursts of intense exercise split up by short rest breaks. This form of exercise has been shown to improve physical health over several weeks of training, but can be perceived by exercisers as gruelling work.
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乌鸦传媒淲hile 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,乌鸦传媒� Stork said. 乌鸦传媒淎s a result, this has the potential to discourage continued participation.乌鸦传媒�
Stork worked with Prof. Costas Karageorghis乌鸦传媒攁 world-renowned researcher who studies the effects of music on sport and exercise乌鸦传媒攖o conduct the study at Brunel University London.
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Stork gathered a panel of British adults to rate the motivational qualities of 16 fast-tempo songs. Three songs with the highest motivational ratings were used in the study.
乌鸦传媒淢usic is typically used as a dissociative strategy,乌鸦传媒� he said. 乌鸦传媒淭his means that it can draw your attention away from the body乌鸦传媒檚 physiological responses to exercise such as increased heart rate and sore muscles.
乌鸦传媒淏ut, with high-intensity exercise, it seems that music is most effective when it has a fast tempo and is highly motivational,乌鸦传媒� Stork said.
Twenty-four subjects were put through the 乌鸦传媒渙ne-minute workout乌鸦传媒� comprised of three 20-second sprints totalling 60 seconds. A short break separated each sprint for a total of 10 minutes with a warm-up and cool down. Each subject conducted the regimen with music, without music and while listening to a podcast.
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乌鸦传媒淭he more I look into this, the more I am surprised,乌鸦传媒� Stork said. 乌鸦传媒淲e believed that motivational music would help people enjoy the exercise more, but we were surprised about the elevated heart rate. That was a novel finding.乌鸦传媒�
That elevated heartbeat, Stork said, could be explained by a phenomenon called 乌鸦传媒渆ntrainment.乌鸦传媒�
乌鸦传媒淗umans have an innate tendency to alter the frequency of their biological rhythms toward that of musical rhythms,乌鸦传媒� he said. 乌鸦传媒淚n this case, the fast-tempo music may have increased people乌鸦传媒檚 heart rate during the exercise.
乌鸦传媒淚t乌鸦传媒檚 incredible how powerful music can be.乌鸦传媒�
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This is good news for those struggling with working out, as Stork乌鸦传媒檚 findings show music can help individuals work harder physically during HIIT while making it more enjoyable.
乌鸦传媒淢usic can be a practical strategy to help insufficiently active people get more out of their HIIT workouts and may even encourage continued participation,乌鸦传媒� Stork said.
