Music and performance: Why should we run to the beat?
Some swear by ‘running in the moment’ and free from distraction while others choose to don a pair of headphones and fire up their favourite tunes/podcast/audiobook. So, is there any evidence that listening to audio effects performance? Much like the ‘Myth Busters’, I set off to find out!
Music and running performance at sub-maximal efforts
Bonnette et al. (2010) demonstrated that runners performed better at a 1.5mile time trial when they listened to music (self selected by participants) than when not. What’s interesting is that their rates of perceived effort (RPE) didn’t vary but their times to completion did.
To me, this is huge. With all the discussion around performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) - legal and illegal, and here we have something that not only is virtually free but also comes with few side effects (I don’t know about anyone else but I sometimes get a weird dizzy feeling, slightly disorientated and nauseous when I wear ear buds).
But is this effect limited to high intensity efforts?
Music in endurance sports
Patania et al (2020) compared the effect of running with/without music on physiological variables (heart rate, RPE) while walking (endurance) and a one-repetition maximal leg press (high intensity). They found endurance exercise, compared to high intensity exercise, was MORE susceptible to the benefits of music (reduced RPE at a given pace). Furthermore, this was was tempo-dependant i.e. the higher the musics tempo, the greater the benefit.
Of course, walking and a single maximal leg press are at the very extreme ends of the spectrum. However, in combination with the first paper that focused on a 1.5mile TT, we are starting to show that a wide variety of running efforts are influenced positively by music.
Furthermore, this suggests that endurance sport has the most to benefit. To me, this makes sense - the closer we get to our maximal effort, the less music can do to reduce the perceived effort. It can’t distract us or effect our neurohormonal systems to reduce stress because we are simply at an all-out effort.
Is this the only facet of endurance sport that is effected by music?
Music and mental fatigue
Lam et al. (2021) administered a 30min mental test (the one where the word ‘red’ is in green font and you have to name the colour of the word, not the meaning of the word) to participants after which they were required to either run a 5k time trial or perform something that resembled the bleep test (they really must have been compensated well!). During the subsequent exercise, they either listened to music or they did not. Performances in the exercise tests improved while listening to music compared to not suggesting that, by listening to music, we can negate some of the effects of mental fatigue.
This immediately got me thinking about those latter stages of a long ultramarathon when you’re not thinking clearly and even tying your shoelace feels like an expert sudoku. Perhaps, by listening to music, we could counteract some of that mental fatigue leading to improved race performance.
Take Homes
Music can improve performance at a variety of running efforts
As the intensity of exercise increases, the effect of music wains
Music might help combat mental fatigue and its negative impact on running performance
What I take way from this
Going forwards, I won’t be hesitant to pop my headphones in and crank up the tunes for my workouts. However, you can’t always listen to music in race situations - sometimes it is not allowed and sometimes it simply doesn’t make sense. Also, I believe there are circumstances when it is valuable to have all your attention on the challenge at hand. For me, in ultra-running, I would be tempted to use music in the early stages of the race (providing its permitted) to limit the development of mental fatigue and thereby improve performance. Moving into the later stages of the race, I would switch to music-free allowing myself to concentrate on balancing my effort, considering race strategy, focusing on my nutrition, and doing the endless pacing calculations that seem to rattle around in my head!
Unanswered questions
1) One paper showed that it is not the motivational nature of music that improves performance but rather its function as a metronome allowing us to synchronise to it. However, I wonder if there is also an element of distraction to it. I listen to a lot of podcasts when I run and wonder if they too could effect performance.
2) Given that in most of these studies, the physiological variables remained the same but performance improved, it seems that our bodies aren’t working harder while listening to music but rather working more efficiently. How does this come about - Is there a shift in a running form? Or are we simply more relaxed thereby able to reduce energy expenditure at any given effort?
References
Bonnette. R, Smith. M, Spaniol. F, Ocker. L and Melrose. Don. (2010). The Effect Of Music Listening On Running Performance And Rating Of Perceived Exertion Of College Students. The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 24: 1-10
Patania, V. M, Padulo, J, Iuliano, E, Ardigò. L. P, Čular, D, Miletić, A and De Giorgio, A (2020). The Psychophysiological Effects of Different Tempo Music on Endurance Versus High-Intensity Performances. Frontiers in Psychology: 11
Lam, H. K. N, Middleton, H and Phillips, S. M (2022). The effect of self-selected music on endurance running capacity and performance in a mentally fatigued state. Journal of Human Sport and Exercise: 17(4)
Thanks for following along!