5 Ways how listening to music improves your full body workout
Listening to music while exercising doesn’t just alleviate boredom — it can enhance your full body workout by boosting your stamina and improving your mood.
Specifically, motivational music or tunes synchronized with your exercise routine have been shown to have both physical and psychological benefits. For example, when a song has a strong, steady beat, you can synchronize your pedaling or running to the rhythm, which can be satisfying and may motivate you to keep going.
The lyrics or catchy rhythms of motivational music can encourage you to exercise longer or push harder during your routine. This synergy between music and exercise is popular not just for enjoyment, but also due to scientific reasons that explain why they complement each other so well.
5 Benefits of combining music and full body workouts
Listening to music while you exercise offers numerous benefits, all of which stem from the simple fact that music makes exercise feel easier and more enjoyable. This can enable you to push yourself harder than if you were working out in silence.
Explore these reasons to combine music and exercise, along with tips on how to optimize your full body workout playlist.
01. Music can help you keep pace
According to Scientific American, music creates a ‘rhythm response,’ where people tend to synchronize their movements with the beat. This is similar to using a metronome when learning to play the piano. Moving to a beat helps the body use energy more efficiently, making music and exercise a perfect pair.
In The New York Times, Costas Karageorghis, an associate professor of sports psychology at Brunel University in England, suggests that the ideal tempo for full body workout music is between 120 and 140 beats per minute (BPM).
He notes that most commercial dance music and many rock songs fall within this range. This tempo typically aligns with the average heart rate during exercise. Songs like ‘Push It’ by Salt-N-Pepa, Rihanna’s dance remix of ‘Umbrella,’ and ‘Drop It Like It’s Hot’ by Snoop Dogg all fit within the 120 to 140 BPM range.
Scientific American also recommends using smartphone apps like jog.fm to match your full body workout pace to the tempo of your music.
02. Music can elevate your mood and motivate you
A study published in Frontiers in Psychology found that people listen to music to improve their mood and gain self-awareness. When you’re in a good mood, it’s easier to feel motivated to take action.
03. Music distracts you in a good way
Scientific American explains that music competes with the physical sensations of working out—such as an escalating heartbeat, sweat, and muscle fatigue—and often wins your attention, distracting you from these negative feelings. By elevating your mood, music can motivate you to push through physical discomfort.
04. Music makes you exercise harder
Research by Costas Karageorghis, published in the Journal of Sports Exercise Psychology, found that motivational music helps exercisers push through fatigue. In an article by the American Council on Exercise, Karageorghis states that music can increase the full body workout endurance by up to 15 percent.
05. Music gets you in the groove and makes you want to move
‘High-groove music’ is a scientific term really! A study in Brain and Cognition shows that groove ‘a musical quality that can induce movement in a listener’ excites the area of the brain that is responsible for movement literally making you want to move.
5 Ways how listening to music improves your full body workout conclusion
With all these benefits you’ll want to choose a playlist that’s long enough to get you through your full body workout and beyond so you don’t lose focus midway through your routine.
Choose songs whose BPM match the heart rate you want to achieve during your full body workout — faster songs for higher intensity slower ones for lighter or moderate intensity. Pick songs you have positive associations with so you can maximize your mood.
Get a great set of earbuds and a good holder for your phone or MP3 player and rock out while you work out!
