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Many studies have examined the relationship between music and exercise. These studies have focused on the effect of specific aspects of music, such as tempo, on certain indicators of fitness, such as heart rate. To date, no known studies have focused on the relationship between preferred volume, perceived usefulness, and exercise intensity. To test this relationship, we instructed participants to perform a VO2 max test on a treadmill while listening to music. The music was perceived as most useful and was used at higher volumes at points immediately surrounding the ventilatory threshold. We found that in a comparison of athletes to exercisers, exercisers preferred louder volumes. In a comparison of males to females, females found the music more useful during the test, and less useful afterwards.
The relationship between exercise and music has recently become a popular area of study for sports psychologists. Research into the relationship between music and exercise has revealed that music has a positive effect on exercise, either by making it a more pleasant activity or by increasing endurance (Boutcher & Trenske, 1990). The majority of these studies have primarily focused on the correlation between some aspect of the music and the subject’s heart rate (Dorney et al, 1992). A variation in tempo is the most common musical aspect examined in these studies, such as that performed by Karageorghis et al (2005), which found that as heart rate increased, preferred music tempo also rose. However, there seems to be a lack of research on another important aspect of music: Volume. It might be expected that the volume level, or intensity, of the music will have some effect on measures typically taken during exercise, as it is an additional source of arousal (Edworthy and Waring, 2006).
Some researchers have theorized that music improves exercise performance by distracting the subject from unpleasant stimuli (Hernandez-Peon, 1961; Rejeski, 1985). Such theories advocate that the amount of information that can be processed at one time is limited. Thus, focusing attention on a distracting stimulus might alter the performers’ perception of effort. However, there seems to be a point during exercise at which this distraction can no longer occur. High intensity exercise results in attentional switching from external stimuli, such as music, to internal sensations of fatigue (Karageorghis & Terry, 1997). Recent research has pointed to the ventilatory threshold as best representing this critical transition point. The ventilatory threshold is the point during graded exercise at which ventilation increases disproportionately to oxygen uptake, and is a key physiological indicator of the transition from aerobic to anaerobic energy metabolism.
Ekkekakis et al. (2004) reported a change in affect, from positive to negative, at the ventilatory threshold; it is possible that an inability to be distracted accompanies this change in affect. If this is the case, there would be a clear point at which the accompanying music is no longer useful. Prior to this point, the usefulness of the music will increase in conjunction with the increase in exercise intensity; after this point the usefulness will plateau or decline independently of exercise intensity. At the same time, based on the theory that music serves as a distraction during exercise, participants are expected to increase the volume of the music in an effort to produce more of a distraction as they near their ventilatory threshold. Therefore, it is hypothesized that both preferred music intensity and perceived usefulness of music will increase along with an increase in exercise intensity to the point of the ventilatory threshold, at which point both preferred music intensity and perceived usefulness will begin to decrease.
Participants
A total of 26 college age (M = 21.6 years, SD = 5.8) predominantly Caucasian (77%) male (n = 15) and female (n= 14) participants volunteered for this study. Participants were physically active (M = 5.6 days per week of moderate to vigorous intensity activity) and healthy (Mean BMI = 23.5; Mean VO2 max - 52.5 ml.kg.min). The sample was comprised of 10 regular exercisers and 16 Division III athletes.
Materials
Marquette T2000 Testing Treadmill
Cosmed FitMate Pro
Sony CD Player with Remote Control
Music
Using the Brunel Music Rating Inventory-2 (Karageorghis et al., 2006) the songs used in this study were selected as best representing the preferences of undergraduate students at Emory University.
Procedure
A graded maximal exercise test was administered on a testing treadmill using the established Bruce protocol. Heart rate (HR), volume of oxygen uptake (VO2), ventilation (VE), respiratory frequency (Rf), and expiratory oxygen fraction (FeO2) were measured throughout the test, and recorded at 15-sec intervals by the Fitmate unit. During the test, participants were asked to rate their perceived exertion (RPE) and the usefulness of the music at one-minute intervals, on a scale of 1-10. Participants indicated their current ratings of RPE and usefulness by pointing to a poster sized chart held in front of them by a research assistant. Throughout the test, participants were given full control over the volume of the music, and were instructed that they could adjust it to their preference at any time.
Statistical Analysis and Data Reduction
Given that the duration of the graded treadmill protocol varied among individuals, exercise intensity was standardized around the ventilatory threshold in order
to reflect metabolically comparable conditions across all participants. This is consistent with the method used previously by Ekkekakis et al. (2004). Data were analyzed in SPSS using a Repeated Measures ANOVA
Figure 1 shows that both volume and usefulness sharply increase just before the ventilatory threshold
Figure 2 shows that exercisers made the most use of the music, while athletes favored a consistently low volume.
Figure 3 shows that females rated the music as most useful at the end of the test, while males rated it most useful nearer the ventilatory threshold.
Based on the theory that music serves as a performance-enhancing distraction during exercise, we expected to find that both volume and usefulness ratings were highest preceding or at the ventilatory threshold, and lowest at the extreme beginning and end of the test. This quadratic trend was supported by our results (Figure 1). This supports previous reports (Karageorghis & Terry, 1997) that music is only useful up to a certain point, the ventilatory threshold, at which point sensations of exertion and fatigue become the primary focus of attention.
Close analysis of these results reveals interesting trends within the separate gender and status groups. Athletes did not demonstrate a strong preference for volume fluctuation (Figure 2), suggesting that music no longer serves as a beneficial distraction for the well trained athlete. It is possible that athletes have learned to push themselves past the ventilatory threshold, and this becomes their focus, leaving no room for distraction. Females reported the music to be increasingly useful during the test, and less so after it, while males never showed such a strong change in opinion. Consistent with our hypothesis, males found the music to be increasingly useful up until the ventilatory threshold, after which perceived usefulness reached a plateau, with a slight decline after the threshold, and a larger decline at the conclusion of the test.
The results of this research support the position of gyms and fitness centers which typically play music to motivate their members. Appropriately selected music might also be recommended as a useful aid to beginning exercisers. Music does not appear to offer much benefit to the more competitive athlete who desires to push him/herself to physiological limits that exceed the ventilatory threshold, although some use might be gained from listening to music during lower intensity endurance training.
One possible avenue of further research is the effect of music as a motivating factor on sedentary or inactive people.
We gratefully acknowledge the funding assistance of the Oxford College of Emory University Office of Academic Affairs, specifically Dean Kent Linville and Dean Stephen Bowen. We would also like to acknowledge the assistance of Lyndsey Davis and Nathan Reeder in data collection, and the time given by our participants.
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