Music And Exercise: A Great Intensity-Boosting Combination

I get a lot of questions about what kind of music I listen to when I train.

I tend to lean toward heavy music. I also like some rap, such as Dr. Dre (of course) and Eminem. To some people, all this talk about music preference may seem like trivial nonsense.

However, music can be an important component to your training and the results you get!

I know this first hand from my own experience and due to the fact that I actually performed a study on this topic with the Weider Research Group.

To do this, we had a group of trained bodybuilders complete a shoulder workout on two separate occasions. Both workouts consisted of 3 sets of dumbbell overhead presses, 3 sets of Smith machine upright rows, and 3 sets of dumbbell lateral raises, all done using their 10 rep max on each exercise and taking each set to failure. During one workout they did the workout while listening to their choice of music on using an iPod and headphones, while during the other workout they wore headphones but listened to no music.

I presented the results at the 2009 Annual Meeting of the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) – we found that on EVERY set of EVERY exercise of the shoulder workout, the subjects completed at least 1 extra rep, and in some cases 2 extra reps, when they listened to their preferred music as compared to when they had no music.

This may be due to the fact that fast-paced music can increase epinephrine (adrenaline) levels, as previous research has shown. And higher epinephrine levels have been associated with higher strength levels.

Jim's take-home point:

So you see, discussing music can be as important as discussing bench press form or preworkout supplements. In fact, listening to music is actually a training tip, and much like supplements, it can make you instantly stronger. It's easy to understand why it works so well, at least for those who have felt the power of music. Just think of the impact music has on dramatic scenes in movies. Imagine the Rocky training montages without the powerful music.

Music has the ability to ramp us up in a similar way to stimulants like caffeine.

And just like caffeine it has been shown to immediately boost muscle strength or strength endurance (the ability to perform more reps with a given weight). So before every workout be sure to load your iPod, iPhone, or whatever your personal music player is, with your favorite music. It doesn't have to be heavy metal or rap. Whatever music gets your pulse up and your adrenaline pumping – even if it's Barry Manilow – will do.

Listening to your favorite playlist while you workout can help you complete more reps on ALL sets!

Plus, it can help to ward off friends from striking up idle chitchat that may knock you out of your training zone.

Reference:

Stoppani, J., et al. Preferential music selection significantly increases repetitions completed during a free-weight workout. Annual Meeting of the National Strength and Conditioning Association, 2008.

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