19/05/15 Rest day ! I generally like my music during my workout and I’mguessing this is the general preference among a lot of you at the box. It seems to create a bit of an atmosphere and providesa bit of a kick-start particularly on days when a bit of a boost seems to be needed. Think Monday mornings for example! Ergogenic effects of music have been studied, which are basically external influences that can enhance performance in high-intensity exercises. Surprisingly though I came across an interesting articlerecently that described a study that looked at the effect ofmusic on work output and efficiency in Cross fit. This tested the scenarios of music vs. non-music on performance, physiological and psychological outcomes. Thirteen healthy, moderately trained subjects performed four identical workouts over two weeks. The order of the four workouts (two with, and two without music at 20 min each) was randomly assigned for each individual. In terms of performance acute responses in work output and heart rate were measured at the 5th, 10th, 15th, and 20th min during the training sessions. Interestingly training with music resulted in a (statistically)significant lower work output determined by number of reps performed! Given that we usually use music at the box to supposedly increase motivation and performance, this finding appears to be contradictory to this aim and to previouslyproven ergogenic effects of music. The researchers speculatedthat applying music during Cross Fit may serve more as a distractive stimulus, particularly in people who are at a higher level of training and focus intently on the performed movement and internal feedback. In this case music may possibly be counterproductive. The study felt that this could possibly explain why work output was greater without music. Of course this depends on music preference. The chosen music in the study was described as “typical music” played in that gym and yet showed disadvantageous results. A thought for coaches whoare putting together playlists, that a proportion of the class may not really like the type of music played. Being a pretty small scale study though and quite a few limitations (just 13 subjects) I doubt this will change the majority’s preference to train with music! But just a thought to think about! Any if you interested in a bit more of a detailed read, here’s the reference to the study - Sports 2014, 2, 14-23; doi:10.3390/sports2010014
Posted on: Sun, 18 May 2014 21:12:17 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015