Abstract

Background: Music listening is wide-spread in amateur sports. Ergometer exercise is one such activity which is often performed with loud music.Aim and Hypotheses: We investigated the effects of electronic music at different intensity levels on ergometer performance (physical performance, force on the pedal, pedaling frequency), perceived fatigue and heart rate in healthy adults. We assumed that higher sound intensity levels are associated with greater ergometer performance and less perceived effort, particularly for untrained individuals.Methods: Groups of high trained and low trained healthy males (N = 40; age = 25.25 years; SD = 3.89 years) were tested individually on an ergometer while electronic dance music was played at 0, 65, 75, and 85 dB. Participants assessed their music experience during the experiment.Results: Majorities of participants rated the music as not too loud (65%), motivating (77.50%), appropriate for this sports exercise (90%), and having the right tempo (67.50%). Participants noticed changes in the acoustical environment with increasing intensity levels, but no further effects on any of the physical or other subjective measures were found for neither of the groups. Therefore, the main hypothesis must be rejected.Discussion: These findings suggest that high loudness levels do not positively influence ergometer performance. The high acceptance of loud music and perceived appropriateness could be based on erroneous beliefs or stereotypes. Reasons for the widespread use of loud music in fitness sports needs further investigation. Reducing loudness during fitness exercise may not compromise physical performance or perceived effort.

Highlights

  • Music listening during every-day activities is a global phenomenon in present-day leisure and sports cultures (Kurmaeva, 2011)

  • We investigate some of these issues in the context of physical ergometer exercise, in which participants were exposed to background music of varying sound intensity levels

  • Our results suggest that the hypothesis of performance enhancing effects of loud music during strenuous ergometer exercise must be rejected

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Summary

Introduction

Music listening during every-day activities is a global phenomenon in present-day leisure and sports cultures (Kurmaeva, 2011). Background music appears to play an ambiguous role as a distractor that can interfere with cognitive tasks (e.g., Cho, 2015) or enhance physical performance (e.g., Copeland and Franks, 1991). 2007; Zatorre and Salimpoor, 2013) and prior exposure (Crust, 2004) on the one hand, and musical features such as tempo, sound intensity, and loudness (e.g., Copeland and Franks, 1991; Waterhouse et al, 2010; Thompson et al, 2012; Metcalfe, 2016) on the other. We investigate some of these issues in the context of physical ergometer exercise, in which participants were exposed to background music of varying sound intensity levels. Ergometer exercise is one such activity which is often performed with loud music

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