Abstract
Music has been shown to reduce rating of perceived exertion, increase exercise enjoyment and enhance exercise performance, mainly in low-moderate intensity exercises. However, the effects of music are less conclusive with high-intensity activities. The purpose of this with-participant design study was to compare the effects of high tempo music (130 bpm) to a no-music condition during repeated high intensity cycling bouts (80% of peak power output (PPO)) on the following measures: time to exercise end-point, rating of perceived exertion (RPE), heart rate (HR), breathing frequency, ventilatory kinetics and blood lactate (BL). Under the music condition, participants exercised 10.7% longer (p = 0.035; Effect size (ES) = 0.28) (increase of 1 min) and had higher HR (4%; p = 0.043; ES = 0.25), breathing frequency (11.6%; p < 0.001; ES = 0.57), and RER (7% at TTF; p = 0.021; ES = 1.1) during exercise, as measured at the exercise end-point. Trivial differences were observed between conditions in RPE and other ventilatory kinetics during exercise. Interestingly, 5 min post-exercise termination, HR recovery was 13.0% faster following the music condition (p < 0.05) despite that music was not played during this period. These results strengthen the notion that music can alter the association between central motor drive, central cardiovascular command and perceived exertion, and contribute to prolonged exercise durations at higher intensities along with a quicken HR recovery.
Highlights
Music has long been thought to affect the senses (Szmedra & Bacharach, 1998) and can act as dissociation during exercise and enhance exercise enjoyment and performance (Karageorghis & Priest, 2012a, 2012b; Karageorghis, 2016)
Blood lactate While no statistical interactions or main effect for conditions were observed between conditions at any time point (p > 0.278), the average blood lactate (BL) levels post-exercise in the music condition at the exercise end point exhibited a moderate magnitude 12.5% higher blood concentration than those at post-exercise in the no-music condition (13.5 ± 2.7 vs. 12.0 ± 3.0 mmol ⋅ L-1; Effect size (ES) = 0.48) (Fig. 1C)
The research is somewhat conflicting when it comes to measuring the extent to which music can enhance exercise performance at maximal or near-maximal levels, this study demonstrated that listening to high tempo music during high intensity cycling intervals can lead to greater physiological performance without increasing individual’s perceived exertion
Summary
Music has long been thought to affect the senses (Szmedra & Bacharach, 1998) and can act as dissociation during exercise and enhance exercise enjoyment and performance (Karageorghis & Priest, 2012a, 2012b; Karageorghis, 2016). Music may allow individuals to separate thoughts from feelings. This divergence can change ones perception of unpleasant feelings, narrowing the performers attention, and reducing the sensations of fatigue during exercise (Atkinson, Wilson & Eubank, 2004; Edworthy & Waring, 2006; Yamashita et al, 2006; Murrock & Higgins, 2009). The third explanation postulates that during continual submaximal activity, an individual is predisposed to respond to rhythmical elements (Nikol et al, 2018; Terry et al, 2012; Waterhouse, Hudson & Edwards, 2010); the result being synchronization between the tempo and the performer’s movement making physical activity or exercise a more harmonious or less stressful experience (Nikol et al, 2018; Rendi, Szabo & Szaba, 2008; Waterhouse, Hudson & Edwards, 2010)
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