More On Tuning In

Our Sony NWZ-W274

My wife and I share the Sony NWZ- W274. I had an older model free from Sony a few years ago. Sadly the music only comes through on the left side now so we recently bought the the W274 since we liked the fact that it did not have any dangling wires.

My wife still thinks that most of my running music is too slow. Well far too slow for her anyway.

A previous post on running with music shows that while exercising with music, fast music especially can improve athletic performances.

Well, now I can say for sure even my so called "slow" music helps during running. A recently published study shows that a song's tempo may not matter as much. It's much more important that the listener finds it motivational.

In their study, the researchers had runners run three all out 5 km sessions (spread over a few weeks).

One group listened to slow motivational songs (80-100 beats per minute), while another listened to fast tunes (140-160 beats per minute). A third group ran with no music at all.The runners with music all ran faster, especially in the first 800 meters, although difference in finishing times between fast and slow music was not significantly different.

With slow music, the runners took about 26 mins for the 5 km, while those listening to fast music took 26:06 minutes. The no music group averaged 27:33 minutes. As the runners selected their own playlists, the researchers confirmed that it's more about what the song  means to the person when it comes to motivation rather than how fast the beat is.

Well, no reason to change my play list then. Just remember not to start too fast if you run with music when you race....

Reference

Bigliassi M, Leon-Dominguez U, et al (2015). How Does Music Aid 5 Km Of Running? J Str Cond Research. 29: 305-314. DOI: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000000627.

Tuning In

Ever wonder why all commercial gyms seem to be blasting music all the time? Well, studies have confirmed what most gym users already know. Listening to your favorite tunes can boost your capacity for exercise.

The researcher that has done work in the area of music and exercise for over 20 years is Dr Costas Karageorghis from Brunel University in Great Britain.

He recommends exercising to songs with a beat of 120 to 140 beats/minute and says his subjects have improved performance by up to 15 percent while listening to songs such as: "I Like the Way You Move" by Bodyrockers, and "Mercy", by Duffy.
Those who like music from the 80's did better listening to: "The Heat is On" by Glenn Frey, "Don't Stop Me Now" by Queen, or "Dancing Queen" by Abba.

In addition, moderate exercisers said that while listening to their favorite songs reduced their perception of hard work - although for those exercising at a higher intensities, this was not the case (notice that all the elite runners at races never race with music).

Now you realize why lots of runners listen to music while running these days.

I've even seen some tune-in during races, though that's discouraged by many events and running organizations. The reason being that you may not be aware of other runners in the race causing you or them to fall. Please be careful if you do run with music. You need to be aware of traffic if you're running outdoors and other runners around you.


Karageorghis, C et al (2008). Psychological Effects of Music Tempo during Exercise
Int J Sports Med 29: 613-619