Comparison of responses to treadmill exercise listening to Thai contemporary music and no music in untrained adult

Abstract

Living an active lifestyle is important to stay healthy especially in the aging society. Present studies showed Listening to music while exercising can enhance work capacity and delay fatigue. However, most of the research were conducted in trained subjects and used western music such as classical music, which were not familiar in Asian countries. This study aimed to investigate the effect of Thai contemporary music on response of treadmill exercise in untrained adults. Thirty untrained healthy adults were equally allocated to one of the two sequence groups. The first group was listening to Thai contemporary music selected from four types of music while performing treadmill exercise at 60% of maximal heart rate for 20 minutes, washout 1 week then performed treadmill exercise again without listening to music. For the second group, the sequence of treatment was reversed. Rate of Perceived Exertion, SBP, maximum speed, total distant and enjoyment VAS were recorded for each exercise session. Mean RPE was significantly lower while listening to music (11.29) comparing with no music (12.37, P < 0.001). Mean enjoyment VAS was significantly greater while listening to music (6.92) comparing with no music (4.37, P < 0.001). No statistically significant difference regarding SBP, speed and total distant. Thai contemporary music can decrease RPE and increase enjoyment during treadmill exercise at fixed work load, therefore music may be useful as a tool to assist exercise adherence in healthy untrained adults.