Music can be a very helpful addition to your exercise routine. Just like when you’re listening to the radio and your favorite song comes on, it excites you and makes you want to move. Using this feeling of excitement in your workout can help get your heart rate pumping.
So, how exactly does music affect us during our workout session? Research shows that people who listen to music while exercising perform 15 percent better than people who don’t listen to music. Listening to a song you enjoy increases electrical activity in regions of the brain that are important for coordination and movement – the supplementary motor area, cerebellum, basal ganglia, and ventral premotor cortex. This neural communication makes us instinctively want to synchronize our body with the beat of the music by keeping time and automatically moving.
Music can also significantly reduce our perception of the amount of effort we exert by distracting us from some of the discomfort that comes with exercise. Studies have shown that cyclists who listen to music require seven percent less oxygen than those who performed the same amount of cycling without listening to music. And that’s not all – music builds motivation, boosts our mood, and improves endurance, resulting in faster and longer workouts.
Music can’t take away the physical exhaustion many of us experience during exercise, but it can change the way our bodies respond to the feeling of fatigue. Music helps us push ourselves harder, and assists us with using our energy more efficiently.
So find your favorite music and get moving! Physical health is an essential component of successful living.
– By Yanasa Grubs, Health Fitness Specialist
