When going to the gym, most individuals make sure to bring a water bottle and their headphones. But one powerful tool can often be overlooked — a personalized workout playlist. According to new research from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, this item can be one of the most important tools to optimizing performance during workouts
Christopher Ballmann, Ph.D., associate professor in the School of Education and Human Sciences and director of the UAB Resistance <a href="https://healthylife7.com/a-neurologist-shares-1-exercise-you-should-try-to-outsmart-brain-aging/” title=”A neurologist shares 1 exercise you should try to outsmart brain aging”>Exercise Physiology laboratory, is one of the foremost experts on music preference and exercise performance. Recently, his lab systematically examined the psychological and physiological changes that happen when an individual is in control of their own music selection during exercise
“Listening to music causes changes to psychological and physiological processes that are occurring simultaneously, and while most people try to think of them as distinctly different, they are not,” Ballmann said
Ballmann explains that the feeling of motivation induced by music is psychological, but that physiologically, there are neurotransmitters released and structures activated in the brain that allow for an individual to be motivated to exercise — making it a whole-body experience
In the paper, Ballmann and his team reviewed research on how listening to choice music — music that the individual prefers and selects themselves — can have an impact on exercise, specifically anaerobic, resistance and endurance-based exercise
“What we saw in the literature is that music choice has been shown again and again to determine both anaerobic and aerobic base performance,” he said. “We also see that music largely impacts motivation and other psychological factors, and that an individual’s motivation is really dependent upon their music choice.”
Beyond motivation, Ballmann’s research showed listening to choice music can ultimately impact an individual’s physical performance in a workout. In addition to helping people perform better and work out harder, listening to choice music can also make intense exercise feel easier by lowering perceived exertion
“Music can work as a distraction from the intense part of an exercise and the discomfort that is being felt,” he said. “Several studies we reviewed, some of which have come from our lab, have shown that an individual can perceive an exercise to be easier while listening to choice music, even if they are working at the same or higher intensity.”
Former research from Ballmann shows that listening to music with different tempos can lead individuals to synchronize their movements with the beat, making some workouts, such as running or weightlifting with repetitions, more effective. Ballmann has published more than 30 manuscripts on music preference and exercise, and he has shown that personalizing workout music choice, including genre, tempo and even volume, is pivotal for optimizing performance outcomes. Personalization of music is the key ingredient to attaining its benefits.
While Ballmann and his lab have spent years studying the impact of music choice on exercise performance in healthy populations, he is now taking what he learned in the gym to apply it to the clinic
“We recently published a study where we developed a framework for using music choice as a means to improve exercise ability in clinical populations too,” Ballmann said
Another publication from his lab showed that listening to choice music improved exercise ability and psychological responses in people with Parkinson’s disease
“We are seeing that the benefits of music and exercise transcend health status,” he said
Ballmann hopes the findings of his work help individuals recognize how something as simple as creating a personalized workout playlist can enhance exercise experiences for everyone.“No matter what an individual’s goal is, from motivation to improving health outcomes, what is playing over their headphones can be a powerful tool in helping them achieve it.”
Courtesy of UAB
