Fierce Fitness: Music and Exercise

“Let’s get physical, physical. I wanna get physical. Let’s get into physical. Let me hear your body talk, your body talk. Let me hear your body talk…”

I mean, who hasn’t heard this song by Olivia Newton-John? It was a popular song when I was young and commenced my aerobic training. I can guarantee it got my heart pumping! These days if you head out to the gym, studio, local park or just passing someone on the footpath, the first thing generally you will see is headphones. It doesn’t matter if you are listening to music or a podcast, but nowadays, this is so common.

Personally, music has been a big part of my entire life and honestly, I can’t remember when I didn’t have music playing – apart from when working in the office where it is not permitted. Music has been found to have an effect on the motivational state, resulting in improved performance by triggering your emotions and perceptions associated with flow. Music has also been known to help decrease anxiety.

Ask yourself the following questions:

Have you ever noticed how music motivates and inspires you to exercise?
Do you get excited when your favourite song plays during your group exercise class?
Do you find that yoga music promotes relaxation?

Your responses might be different to your friends, your work colleagues or even me. But these are just a few ways that music affects exercise and your motivation to move.

Why Should We Pair Music With Exercise?

Music creates a rhythm: This rhythm is the tendency for you to synchronise the movements and moving to a beat seems to help the body become more efficient with energy.

Music distracts you in a good way: Music competes with the sensations of working out and often wins your attention distracting you from the negative physical feels.

Music makes you exercise harder: You may disagree or agree here but from personal experience motivational music helps you exercise through fatigue and music can increase endurance by up to 15% when working out.

Just remember when pairing music and exercise together, on your playlist if you are working out by yourself, it needs to be long enough to get you through your workout and beyond, so you don’t lose focus midway through your routine. The tip is to pick songs you have positive associations with, so you can maximise your mood.

How Else Can Music Help You Exercise?

Music can help in two ways – (1) distraction or (2) motivation.

Are you one that must really force themselves to work hard during an exercise session and may not enjoy it? By playing music it is a real distraction to any fatigue you are feeling OR Are you one that playing music gets you motivated? If you associate music with inspirational figures or a good memory this might push you to train harder. Can you remember when Rocky was sprinting to the top of the stairs and listening to ‘Eye of the Tiger?’ From what I can recall of the movie, it pushed him and motivated him to run faster up the stairs.

Music for what exercise?

One of the workout playlists tricks for the exercise you are to undertake, is to find the right beats per minute (BPM). It is simple to create a playlist these days, especially with all the latest music APPs on our mobiles. Just remember to focus on two things – tempo and the type of workout you are doing. The more intense you want the workout to be, the more upbeat the tempo should be. In similar terms, finding a song tempo in beats per minute is just like finding your heart rate.

The following general guidelines will give you an indication to get you started for your playlist and some examples of songs you could play:

CrossFit, Indoor Cycling or HIIT: 140 to 180 plus BPM. Music you could listen to: Ooh La La by Britney Spears; Pour It Up by Rhianna.

Zumba and Dancing: 130 to 170 BPM. Music you could listen to: Feel the love by Rudimental; Go Hard by the Fugitive.

Weightlifting, Powerlifting and Strength: 130 to 150 BPM. Music you could listen to: Gangnam Style by Psy, Give me Everything Tonight by Pitbull.

Steady jogging: 120 to 140 BPM. Music you could listen to: Poker Face by Lady Gaga; Bust a Move by Young MC.

Yoga, Pilates, and other low-intensity workouts: 60 to 90 BPM. Music you could listen to: Possibly Maybe by Bjork; Dream by Radiohead.

Warming up and cooling down: 60 to 90 BPM. Music you could listen to: That’s What I Like by Bruno Mars; Don’t Wake Me Up by Chris Brown.

Thoughts: Next time you go to the studio/gym and attend a class, look around you. You will notice listening to music while exercising doesn’t just relive boredom, it can help improve the quality of the workout by increasing your stamina and putting you in a better mood. The lyrics or catchy rhythm of motivational music inspires you to exercise longer or work harder during your exercise routine.

I would love to know; What’s your favourite playlist or song when working out? Feel free to comment below!

Jo Lastro, Our Expert (Former)

A 1st-Degree Muay Thai Kickboxer and sole owner of Jo’s Fitness Studio. Muay Thai has made Jo stronger, more comfortable in her own skin, and taught her to have faith and trust in herself. She now hopes to inspire, and help others overcome their own obstacles by sharing her expertise in fitness.