We all have our own idea of a ‘workout’. For some people, it’s an hour in the gym, for others, it’s a jog in the park, and some people have to be content with walking the dog. In any event, ‘every little helps’ as they say. New research suggests that listening to the right music not only makes the exercise more enjoyable, but also significantly boosts performance and reduces post-workout stiffness. It may just provide a ‘hack’ to make your workout more effective and enjoyable.
Recent research at the University of Jyväskylä (JYU), Finland, centred around endurance in cycling. The participants rode their bikes until exhaustion and, importantly, they chose their own favourite music to listen to while cycling. All the participants were recreationally active and the cycling was high-intensity, at a tempo of about 120–140 beats per minute.
The results showed that compared to cycling in silence, those who listened to their favourite tunes were able to keep riding for a full six minutes more before they hit the wall of exhaustion. This represented an almost 20 per cent improvement in endurance with the music, and furthermore, they had a lower perceived level of exhaustion compared to those who cycled in silence. They were also able to stay in the ‘pain zone’ for longer before giving in to exhaustion.
The 29 participants cycled at 80 per cent of their full flat-out capacity, said the authors, and the results were striking: While listening to their favourite music, participants were able to cycle at around 80 per cent physical capacity for around 35.5 minutes. Without music, this dropped to under 30 minutes; however, heart rate and lactate levels were comparable in both cohorts.
Lead researcher Dr Andrew Danso from JYU’s Centre of Excellence in Music, Mind, Body, and Brain explained: “Self-selected music doesn’t change your fitness level or make your heart work dramatically harder in the moment – it simply helps you tolerate sustained effort for longer. It may be an incredibly simple, zero-cost tool that lets people push further in training without feeling extra strain at the end. Our findings suggest that the right playlist may make tough sessions feel more doable and more enjoyable.”
“Many people struggle to stick with hard training because it feels exhausting too quickly,” he continued.
“Our research shows that letting people choose their own motivating music may help them accumulate more quality training time, which could translate to better fitness gains, improved adherence to exercise programmes, and possibly more people staying active.”
If you want to dig a little deeper, the research was published recently in Psychology of Sport & Exercise.
Sticking with exercise ‘hacks’, a team at Penn State in the US have discovered an unexpected connection between body movement and brain health linked to tightening stomach muscles.
The researchers found that flexing abdominal muscles – even slightly – seems to make the brain gently ‘sway’ within the skull, which seems to help cerebrospinal fluid to circulate around the brain. This appears to ‘flush’ waste material from the brain and is linked to pressure change in connected blood vessels. The findings indicate that the brain is more closely linked to overall physiology than was previously assumed.
Experiments in mice and computer simulations showed that when abdominal muscles tighten, they press on blood vessels connected to the spinal cord and brain, causing the brain to move slightly within the skull. This moves the cerebrospinal fluid, expelling any waste matter that might interfere with normal brain function.
Prof Patrick Drew of Penn State, corresponding author, commented: “Our research explains how just moving around might serve as an important physiological mechanism promoting brain health,” he said.
“In this study, we found that when the abdominal muscles contract, they push blood from the abdomen into the spinal cord, just like in a hydraulic system, applying pressure to the brain and making it move. Simulations show that this gentle brain movement will drive fluid flow in and around the brain. It is thought the movement of fluid in the brain is important for removing waste and preventing neurodegenerative disorders. Our research shows that a little bit of motion is good and it could be another reason why exercise is good for our brain health.”
While the benefits of exercise are well known, clearly there is much still to learn about the full extent of the kinds of advantages it can confer.
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