Endurance Innovation

88 - Costas Karageorghis on Music and Exercise

Episode Summary

Brunel University London professor Costas Karageorghis joins us to discuss the 'small but reliable' effect of music as performance enhancer.

Episode Notes

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• 4:00 Professor Costas Karageorghis 
• 10:00 the history of research of music and physical activity
• 14:45 a look ‘under the bonnet’ at the brain’s role in mediating athletic performance and the influence of music on this process. Playing music appears to have the following effects
  • Improvement in brain oxygenation. This may account for improved performance on time to exhaustion studies with music 
  • A reduction in the frequency of firing of certain populations of neurons appears to lessen perception of fatigue
  • Improvement in firing of both the afferent and efferent nerve impulses, facilitating muscle contractions
  • An impairment in communication between areas of the brain responsible for signaling fatigue 
• 22:00 the limitations of modern imaging techniques in studying the brain while the subject is mobile
• 25:30 the evolutionary drive for this performance-enhancing role of music
• 27:45 auditory-motor synchronization increases aerobic efficiency by 6-7%
• 32:15 evidence for the effect on music on performance improvement is small but reliable. The effect on emotional state and mood regulation is medium and reliable. 
• 33:30 the role of enhanced mood on motivation and consistency in training
• 34:45 pre-task music 
• 36:15 musical recommendations for improved performance
  • Use cases include: pre-task, in-task, post-task, and synchronously or asynchronously 
  • Music with relaxing or low-arousal properties for warm up, cool down, recovery. Music for high-arousal properties for high intensity work
• 39:45 it is difficult for listeners to process music above ~75% of maximal aerobic output (~ anaerobic threshold)
• 40:00 qualities of music that determine its arousal / energizing potential
  • Tempo: ideally between 120bpm and 140bpm
  • Rhythmic accentuation
  • Lyrical affirmation 
  • Beat regularity
• 44:00 recommendations for exercise at very high intensity
  • Syntactic processing of lyrics severely impaired above 75% of maximal aerobic capacity
  • Rhythmic music with minimal lyrics ideal 
  • Music does not appear to reduce perception of effort at high intensity, BUT it may colour our interpretation of fatigue, making it less uncomfortable
• 47:45 contraindications: when using music in training is not recommended:
  • Music can capture 10-12% of our attention, making it completely unsafe when riding outdoors
  • Music above 80dB carries an increased risk of hearing damage when concurrently exercising at a high intensity due to a reduction in blood flow to the cochlea in the inner ear
  • Routinely using music in all workouts creates dependency 
• 51:45 advice on ‘earworms’
• 54:15 music to avoid when training
• 57:00 classical playlist recommendation  
• 59:45 the greater someone’s experience and appreciation for music, the more complex the music they may want for exercise

Follow Prof. Karageorghis on Twitter and check out his book: Applying Music in Exercise and Sport.