Why Music Makes Us Exercise Harder

We are big fans of music around here, especially when it’s time to exercise. So we could not agree more with this new study that finds music does indeed make exercising that much more fun.

British researchers recruited 24 people and asked them to walk around an outdoor track at whatever speed they wanted; the difference was that a third of people listened to Pharell’s “Happy,” a third listened to a TED talk podcast and a third heard nothing.

While they walked the 24 people had their brain waves measured along with other characteristics. And it had us singing a happy tune, according to this article:

The researchers found that listening to music led to a 28 percent increase in enjoyment during the walking task, compared with no auditory stimuli. Enjoyment was also 13 percent higher for those who listened to music, compared with those who listened to a podcast.

We may not know all the reasons why music makes us feel better, but our clients tells us anecdotally that music can be a key factor in how hard they push during a workout. As some of you know – we debate which songs and genres make the best workout playlists. Some of our clients have made excellent playlists comprised of Pop, Rock, Classics and even some One Hit Wonders. Send us your favorite workout tracks; info@markg250.sg-host.com.

-Shane M.