8 Reasons to Listen to Music While you Exercise

By Rosemary Marchese

Are your workouts getting you down just as much as the lack of time you have to workout properly? Did you know that music can help you to train harder? Can you think of a better way to reinvigorate your workouts? Here are 8 of the latest reasons why you should get your Ipod up to speed and get the music pumping while you work out!

1. It makes the time appear to go faster!
2. Workouts will feel more enjoyable.
3. Heart rate doesn’t climb as high.
4. Blood pressure doesn’t get as high.
5. Lactate levels do not get so high.
6. The rate of perceived exertion is less – so you actually feel like you are exercising at a lower intensity when you are not!
7. There is a modest reduction in the circulation of the stress hormone called noradrenaline. Noradrenaline is responsible for increasing heart rate, blood pressure, contractility of the heart and fuel use. This has to be good news for all of us!
8. It is thought to have a relaxing effect – reducing muscle tension so that blood flow and lactate clearance is increased.

Can you imagine a ‘Group Exercise to Music’ class at the gym without the music? Well besides the fact that helps with choreography it is also a stimulating and positive environment to be in while exercising. If exercising alone with headphones is not for you then perhaps get to your local gym and try a Group Exercise to Music class. And for those of you not so familiar with gyms, these days you don’t have to be super coordinated and wearing lycra pants to fit in. There are a whole range of classes to music to suit all types, including (but of course not limited to):

1. Les Mills BODYPUMP™ classes – a weights class to music whereby all the major muscles are worked out using a barbell and weights. Each class is made up of ten songs with each song having a purpose. The first and last song are for the warm and cool-down respectively while the eight songs in between are each specifically targeted at: legs, chest, back and butt, triceps, biceps, legs again, shoulders and abs. I promise you a great workout in these classes!
2. Step classes where you use a step to get a great workout for the lower body in particular as well as getting the heart pumping. Although there are some basic step classes for beginners the more advanced classes will require some coordination.
3. Circuit classes – great for those a little less coordinated. These can be aimed at improving cardiovascular fitness as well as muscle endurance. They often use resistance exercises interspersed with cardiovascular exercises for short intervals between 40 to 60 seconds.
4. Dance classes – a whole range available in gyms now…check out your local clubs.
5. Freestyle aerobics – although these are the more traditional group classes and for some, it is not so fashionable now, there still are classes for those of you keen to test out your coordination but have loads of fun at the same time!

Of course this is just a small sample but it does show you that you have lots of options when it comes to using music as a tool. Whether exercising on your own or in a group environment, music may be the key to reinvigorating your workouts!

Rosemary is a registered physiotherapist who has combined her expertise in health with fitness. She has over 15 years of experience teaching and consulting in the fitness industry. She is the co-author of the best-selling text book ‘The Essential Guide to Fitness: For the Fitness Instructor’, which was specifically written for those people wanting to start a career in the fitness industry. She is also Editor for Ultra Fit Magazine, which presents the fitness industry (experts and participants) up-to-the minute fitness industry research and workouts. For more information on Ultra Fit Magazine or Rosemary’s book, visit www.ultrafit.com.au.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 29th, 2008 at 11:28 pm and is filed under body. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.