Right Mix of Music and Exercise Will Keep
You Fit
音乐与健身的正确搭配你知道吗?
For cardio-style workouts, an optimal workout tempo is 120-140BPM (beats per minute) for most people, where it's likely to match the heart rate they experience.
At the same time, at least one study suggests that we spontaneously modify our cadence to match the tempo of the music we're listening to, suggesting that differently paced tunes might help runners or rowers change their pacing.
Rhythm is also important."A predictable, not-too-complex musical rhythm seems to work best," says Karageorghis.
"Classical music and rock, for instance, are often characterised by rallentandos and accelerandos – basically, slowing down and speeding up – which isn't very good if you're trying to synchronise your performance with the beat."
"During our formative years, we tend to form quite secure bonds with certain music and lyrics that we personally find meaningful," says Karageorghis.
"And so a particular song can be very individual, but there can also be pieces of music that through peer group influence or sheer cultural impact can have a powerful bearing on our psychology.It's really about matching the person to the situation, the intensity and the mode of exercise."
All of this brings us to the crucial point that playlists, personal trainers and spin instructors often miss: workout music works much better if you actually like it.
"To get the most out of your training you need to actually like what you're listening to," says Dr Christopher Ballman, associate professor of kinesiology at the University of Alabama."We've published around 15 papers now, which show that if you don't like the music being played, you perform worse – in some cases worse than you would with no music at all."
"Until fairly recently, scientists were trying to apply a form of science known as cognitivism to getting people engaged in physical activity – asking them to think about the benefits," explains Karageorghis.
"But there's a scientific movement towards promoting hedonism as a more modern approach to getting people to habitually engage in physical activity – the core of that is fundamentally making sure they enjoy what they're doing and music can play a huge part in that."
"My clients are all of a certain age and my playlists tend to be based on music from when they were younger," says Feel Good Fitness coach Susannah Simmons."It helps motivate them and also gets conversation going – while newer music tends to have the opposite effect.It's important to remember it's about them, not you."
So you just need to find a class that lets you listen to Metallica's One and you're sorted?Perhaps not: some research suggests that overfamiliarity can mute the buzz any one song gives you."I look at familiarity with music as a sort of inverted-U principle," says Dr Matthew Stork, a research scientist who studies the effects of music on training.
"You're probably not going to get to an optimal state to work out from hearing a piece of music once or twice, but once you've heard something on the radio a thousand times, it's not going to elicit the same emotional response any more.So there may be a kind of sweet spot."
There's one final wrinkle here, which is the question of whether there are times it's better to turn off the music – or leave the headphones at home entirely."If your goal is to keep an easy pace or complete a recovery run, music could get in the way," says Brady Holmer, a sub-three-hour marathon runner.
"Headphones can remove the feedback from your steps and your breathing rate, so you might not perceive effort correctly.Listening to songs that motivate you or with a tempo that's too fast can also push you to run faster than you'd like.I save my music playlists for hard or fast workouts and listen to podcasts or audiobooks – if anything at all – for my easy runs."
For most workouts, then, keep things fairly simple: choose music you like, keep the rhythms simple and the tempo moderately high.Save a few favourite songs for tougher efforts – in theory, you'll come to associate them with the fun and endorphin rush of a good workout.
Above all, remember that maybe the most powerful thing music can do isn't push you to do a bit better in one individual workout, but keep you coming back again and again.
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