When it comes to working out, music is more often than not found where exercise is found. Even at public gyms, there is usually workout music pumping through the speaker systems to get everyone inside excited and worked up for their hour of gruelling physical exertions.
Sports technology has been making leaps and bounds in the field of integrating music with fitness, and companies like Bioconnected are even making Heart-rate biosensing earphones that interact with a fitness app on your mobile phone. It’s this kind of innovative thinking that is pushing the boundaries of the merits of music as a muscle building tool. For more of these merits, read on.
Rhythm
Rhythm is a huge part of many things, and many cardio related things benefit greatly from rhythm. Running, jogging, dancing and power walking all have rhythm aspects, and the right soundtrack can help you synchronise your steps to the song playing in your headphones.
This is a great tactic for exercise, because it distracts you from the burning in your legs and your lungs, the sensations that stop most people in their tracks during a run. It’s important to listen to a range of music and find the tempo that fits your speed, and then find songs with that tempo to make a playlist. What makes a more effective listening experience is being focused on the work and avoiding distractions. A lot of great headphones with passive and active noise-canceling features give you this kind of productive environment. Check out the ones with these features on https://musiccritic.com/
Inspiration
Inspiring yourself is a big part of getting up and getting out into the world, and without inspiration you’ll find it much harder to convince yourself to go for a run on a dreary tuesday morning before work. Music inspires as it always has, and taking advantage of this inspiration is key when it comes to getting yourself pumped up for a workout.
Find the songs that make you feel energised and ready to take on the world, and put them together for a short selection of music to work out to.
Conscious Motivator
As a conscious motivator, music can help you to beat your previously held records in certain exercises. You put on a song that has a really great swell in it right before an absolutely huge chorus and you run to that song.
While running, you push yourself to make a certain distance before that swell begins, and then a certain milestone before the huge chorus begins. You have used the song as a metric for what you can achieve in exercise, and without it there as motivation you wouldn’t have anything to aim for.
Subconscious Motivator
A subconscious motivator can be even more powerful than a conscious one, in that the subconscious motivator is more a swelling in the chest; a sudden wave of energy that lets you absolutely surge forward and beat previously held records.
The music might be making it’s way into your mind, subtly helping you along with this subconscious motivation, but if you don’t know about it it will just seem like the benefits of exercise, which will make you feel better about yourself. A double reward from the music you choose for your workout.
Timekeeping
Precise time keeping is a drag on exercise, and more often than not it tends to restrict your movements. This is because your mind is focused on how many minutes it’s been since you started and how much you’ve gotten done in that time.
Timekeeping is still important, however, and music gives you a unique way to approximately track time without having the visuals and knowledge of a certain amount of time having passed. Measuring time by how many songs you’ve listened to or how many you’ve got to go gives you an idea of how long it’s been but doesn’t let you dwell on the exact time.
Pushing Harder
Finally, pushing yourself to the absolute limit of your physical capabilities is one of the best things about exercise, and music helps you to get there and beyond there whenever you need it to. Starting a super-set at the end of your workout is a gruelling time, because you’re already tired and you’re now doing extra work on sore and heavy arms and legs.
Putting on an inspiring super-set playlist can aid you in all the aforementioned ways at once, letting you push yourself through the super-set and survive the incredible difficulties you’ve just put your body through.
