Heading home after we head out for a run simply because we left our headphones behind, or noticing energy surges when a big hit plays in the gym. They are two situations with a common denominator: music as a great companion of fatigue (in the literal sense). And the same in reverse: training in silence often equates to listening to an internal voice saying: “Do you really need to do this last set, when you could rest now?”
This phenomenon that we all notice when we lace up our sneakers also has a scientific explanation. A study from Brunel University London shows that listening to synchronized music while we exercise can increase our physical endurance by up to 15%. It explains why that song you love so much acts as a kind of mental hack that distracts your brain from fatigue signals, reducing perceived effort.
You tire the same, but the brain doesn’t notice
Yolanda Moreno, PhD in sports psychology and professor at the Catholic University of Valencia, confirms what happens to the brain. “Electroencephalography has shown that, when we engage in intense physical exercise and listen to music, the activity of certain brain waves called theta decreases. These are related to states of fatigue, lower alertness or sustained mental effort.”
Thus, when a reduction in this brain activity is observed during exercise with music, “a possible interpretation is that the brain is processing the experience of effort in a way less focused on fatigue.”
Therefore, listening to music we like while we train lends its contribution to us to push a little further. While those chords sound pleasurable to the brain, it pays less attention to physical signs of fatigue, such as heavy breathing or muscle tension. Our brain’s control center prefers to attend to the rhythm of the music, the lyrics, the melody, the emotion it produces, even the conditioned impulse to keep going. “Fatigue is still there, but our brain pays less attention to it,” says the psychologist.
In silence, more attentive
And what if there is no music at all? We could return to that moment in which, as we said before, we forget the headphones to go out for a run or walk, for example. If you have experienced it, it is likely that the discomfort lasted as long as it took you to relax and devote yourself to observing your surroundings, listening to birds if you were outdoors or your breathing.
It can be uncomfortable at first, “especially if we are used to distracting ourselves from the effort, but it can also help us regulate intensity, to detect signs of overload and to train with greater awareness,” explains Yolanda Moreno.
Training in silence, far from draining us, gives us other things that we might not have noticed: it connects us with our body, and that is especially important for taking care of technique. In fact, as the sports psychologist notes, “the good technique is essential to perform better, even to tire less, because exercise is more efficient.” That is, music favors a dissociative strategy that helps us tolerate the effort, although it may not always be advisable to train disconnected from the body and the surroundings.
The higher, the more activation
If what we want is to have an extra energy boost, the volume matters. Loud music activates us more than music played at a low volume. Something similar happens with rhythm: the faster, the more intensity we are willing to put into our workouts.
“The most robust evidence concerns tempo. 120 BPM (beats per minute) or more is associated with greater benefits. Listening to loud and fast music activates the central nervous system and leads to an increase in heart rate and muscle activation,” something that is an extra, especially in high-intensity training sessions.
Watch the volume outdoors
One thing is doing squats with music blasting in your headphones and another is running through the hills with your playlist at maximum decibels. While indoor training occurs in a safe, controlled environment, outdoor experiences demand maximizing attention to environmental sound cues. It could be a loose dog, a car or any other unforeseen hazard.
“Auditory signals tell us where to look before crossing, whether someone will overtake us or cross into our path, whether something is approaching us and in which direction. Reducing or cancelling the perception of these signals with headphones can pose a great risk. If we train outdoors, a moderate volume, one earbud, or, directly, no headphones in traffic zones. Music can be an ally of exercise, but it should not cancel our awareness of the surroundings,” warns the expert.
Keep the rhythm going
Another interesting feature of listening to music while we train is the rhythm. There is evidence that, if we move in a synchronized way with the music (auditory-motor synchronization), the metabolic expenditure of the activity is lower. In other words: energy expenditure is more efficient.
In long-duration rhythmic and repetitive activities, music helps regulate the pace of the exercise. It therefore contributes to the improved performance, according to research published by the American Psychological Association (APA). In those more cyclical disciplines, such as running, cycling on a stationary bike, elliptical or walking, it is recommended, according to Yolanda Moreno, “to listen to more rhythmic music, with medium-high volume and a tempo equal to or greater than 120 BPM. For strength training, intense music with a strong emotional charge can help, especially in warm-ups or demanding sets.”
Chill-out time
On the other hand, when we reach the joint mobility exercises, stretches or cool-down, “it is usually more appropriate to listen to slow, instrumental music or even the total absence of music. Focusing on our own breathing also helps to relax,” she notes.
“For technique training, in precision tasks or tasks that require a lot of attention to the surroundings, silence is also better,” she advises. In any case, the choice of music is a personal matter and the final word lies in each one’s taste. It is often noted that songs such as Highway to Hell, by AC/DC, Eye of the Tiger, by Survivor, or the great hits of electronic music are the best for thrilling and getting the athlete to give their all in every workout.
But if Beethoven, Bad Bunny, or Los Marismeños are more your thing, go ahead. After all, the playlist that accompanies us in those high-effort minutes has to move us and make us want to keep training in order to keep enjoying that melody.
