Effects of Music on Exercise Performance
Summary
Music has emerged as a potent non-pharmacological strategy for enhancing both physiological and psychological dimensions of exercise. Across endurance, resistance and high-intensity modalities, music can modulate heart rate, oxygen uptake and blood lactate accumulation while concurrently lowering subjective effort and elevating mood and motivation. Key mechanisms include distraction from internal fatigue signals, entrainment of movement to musical tempo and the promotion of positive affective states. Music also serves as an ergogenic aid by synchronising motor output with rhythmic cues and by facilitating arousal regulation before, during and after exercise. Individual preference and tempo selection critically moderate these effects; self-selected or fast-tempo tracks often yield the greatest gains in performance and enjoyment. Collectively, research underscores music’s capacity to optimise pacing strategies, prolong time to exhaustion and accelerate post-exercise recovery, highlighting its global significance for both recreational exercisers and elite athletes.
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Effects of Music on Exercise Performance publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in effects of music on exercise performance across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Ergogenic aid: An external strategy or substance that enhances physical performance and recovery.
Rate of perceived exertion (RPE): A subjective scale rating an individual’s perceived effort during exercise.
Tempo: The speed or pace of music, typically measured in beats per minute (bpm).
Attentional focus: The allocation of cognitive resources to internal bodily sensations or external stimuli during activity.
Motivational arousal: The state of physiological and psychological activation that drives goal-directed behaviour in exercise.
References
- The effect of Virtual Reality Cycling with Music on simple obesity in college students: evidence from a randomized controlled trial in China. Frontiers in Public Health (2024).
- Music Alters Conscious Distance Monitoring without Changing Pacing and Performance during a Cycling Time Trial. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (2023).
- The exercise intensity–music-tempo preference relationship: A decennial revisit. Psychology of Sport and Exercise (2024).
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