You may never learn to love exercise, but you can hate it a little less or even begin to look forward to that “me time” with the help of the right music! What is the right music, and how can it help?
1. Music Makes You Feel Like Moving
Those days when you’d much rather just sit on the couch and eat brownies than put on athletic shoes or yoga pants? Music can help pull you out of that funk by making you want to move! Whether you get a few songs under your belt while you get dressed, or have something high-energy playing in your car on the way to class, by the time you begin your workout, your brain will be telling your body it’s time to get going. Continue this into your workout with an energetic track to keep you on the move.
Songs that tend to make you want to dance are best for this purpose. “Shut Up and Dance” by Walk the Moon, Capital Cities’ “Safe and Sound”, “Jump Around” by House of Pain, and “I Like it Like That” by Pete Rodriguez, are all great for dancing, but I’m sure you have your own songs you prefer as well.
2. Music Can Improve Your Mood
This 2013 Study shows that many people effectively use music choices to elevate and improve mood. For those days when you’re not inclined to exercise because you’re just feeling generally down, try using music to pick you back up!
Of course, the choice in music here is quite personal. Some prefer classical, some rock, others country or something entirely different. When using music to improve your mood, it’s more about how your listen than what you’re listening to. But all the same, if you’re choosing music with lyrics, you may want to stick to lyrics that are positive. Think something like “Best Day of My Life” by American Authors, “Perfect” by Pink, “I Gotta Feeling” by the Black Eyed Peas, and “Happy” by Pharrell Williams are great bits of positivity to add to your playlist!
3. Music is a Good Distraction
When you’re working out, the focus needs to stay on your body. Distraction can be unsafe at worst, and keep you from your most effective workout at best. But listening to music can help distract you from your exertion just enough to help you do just a little more, or push a tiny bit harder – up to 15% on average!
Keep in mind that songs with complex instrumentation and a faster, heavier beat may give our brains more to process, meaning a slightly greater distraction. This is a good thing! Unless you’re doing yoga, in which case the deeper, slower music helps to match the movements and bring your focus to the inner self as well as the physical.
4. Music Increases Your Effort
Most humans have a natural desire to move with music. You don’t have to have been a member of a marching band to observe people’s steps becoming quicker as the music in the mall changes to something happy and upbeat. This is because the rhythm of music stimulates the motor areas of the brain, and it feels slightly “off” to walk against that rhythm. The same goes for your workout! The faster the music, the quicker your pace.
For most workouts, including walking, jogging, running, aerobic classes, and other high-intensity training, the best workout music isn’t just guesswork. It’s science, folks! Check out songs with tempos between 120 and 140 beats per minute (that’s BPM is music speak.) Jog.fm has some great lists to help you sort out what might be best for your playlist.
5. Music Can Make Exercise More Effective
Speaking of listening to music with the right tempo or beat count for your workout, there’s more! In workouts with repetitive movements like HIIT, kickboxing, weight training, or TRX, that beat is even more important. When you are able to time your movements with the beat of the music, you are able to direct more of your focus to the movement itself. Whether you know how to count measures of music, or just keep up with the “one, two” hits of a snare drum, you control your movements. This helps you make better use of those muscles, rather than going too fast. In these types of classes, control of your body is a large part of building strength, and there’s almost nothing better than well-chosen music to help!
Try starting with music in the range of 130 BPM, like “Titanium” by David Guetta feat. Sia or “Hot Blooded” by Foreigner. If that’s not the best pace for you, it’s easy to choose something a little faster or slower as needed with the jog.fm lists.
So get some music, or some better music, into your workout! It just might be as important as those new shoes or fancy weights.