Since the invention of portable music devices such as Walkmans, MP3 players and Ipods, music has played a large role in running culture. It is now commonplace to see runners hustle past you with headphones or earphones in, fully in the zone. Many of us would struggle if required to do a long run with no music and only our thoughts for company. So it raises the question – does listening to music make you faster? Or is it merely a nice distraction away from the fatigue?
In 2020, Jebabli and colleagues set out to answer this question. They recruited 20 healthy male volunteers to participate in two running trials – one in which they listened to their favourite music and one in which they did not. Before they completed either of these conditions, they completed a base test of their fitness, including a V02 max test. Once their base fitness was established, the participants completed the two running conditions. In each running trial, they were asked to run for 6 minutes as fast as they could to cover the longest possible distance.
Interestingly, it was found that listening to preferred music can positively affect exercise performance. A significantly faster mean running speed was observed when individuals were listening to their music than with no music. While listening to music, individuals were found to run faster and experienced reduced blood lactate levels.
This finding is a potentially crucial one for the running and fitness community. All runners constantly seek ways to beat their personal best and the competition. There is a continuous search for supplements, training plans and quick fixes to get faster. The findings of this study highlight a simple and proven strategy to improve speed and lactic tolerance. So next time you enter a race and want to push through a barrier or break your personal best, think about utilising your favourite music to push yourself.
Full study available at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7281270/
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