Does listening to music help make you exercise harder?
In today’s world, we now live with technology that has brought us closer to music than ever before, playing a role in our emotional and social lives. According to the available research, music in general can capture attention, trigger a range of emotions, alter or regulate mood, and induce states of higher functioning. With that being said, can listening to music while exercising increase our output or performance?
Present research on this topic has found that it can improve exercise performance. Music creates an ergogenic and distractive effect, which can either delay fatigue or increasing work capacity during exercise. This then results in higher-than-expected levels of endurance, power, productivity or strength during exercise. Studies have also found that up-beat music with a faster tempo is more effective in creating this effect, as opposed to slow-tempo music.
So if you are struggling to motivate yourself through that last set of exercise, try listening to music to help you get through it!