Where do you get your inspiration? It can come from many different places art, music, photos, an article or a book about an inspirational person. The definition of inspiration is stimulation or arousal of the mind, feelings, etc, to special or unusual activity or creativity. Its also defined as the process of inhaling or breathing in. In other words it is the stimulus our mind is consuming that sparks action. We are looking at music’s stimulating effect; it can shape our mood, sharpen our resolve, bring us out of a depression, pick us up for coming the day and help us sleep through the night. Specifically we are looking at what you would call the Rocky effect, for men of a certain age group you put on the Rocky soundtrack they take action. Who is shadowboxing the meter in the street? One of you is looking at the eggs in the fridge, and someone is envisioning running through Philly. Ok I was shadowboxing just thinking of the music. I remember articles about actors and directors that use music to set up their mindset with music. If I remember correctly while making Training Day Anton Fuqua listened to Eminem and while he made King Arthur he listened to epic classical music. Lets look at how you can make music work for you.
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The main academic paper that I found which contains most of if not all the studies on music and exercise was done by Len Kravitz a PHD at the University of New Mexico. In his paper titled”The Effects of Music on Exercise?” He reviewed numerous studies and surveys to determine what if any effect music had on exercise and physiology. He broke it down into several sections, first it was to see if music increased respiration and heart rate. The study he cites are Ellis & Brighouse 1952 finding that heart to only moderately follow music increasing in response to fast music and decreasing with slower music. The Dainow 1977 study found slow sedative or stimulative music moderately increases the heart rate but this was the case with all types of music due to an emotional effect. Next up he looks at the effects of different types of music on physical strength he cited the Pearce 1981 study on grip strength that focused on the influence of stimulative music, sedative music and silence. This study showed sedative music decreased strength significantly compared to stimulative strength and silence. He did note a determination in the Sears, 1957 study which demonstrated that stimulating music increased muscular tension. This next one will be of interest to PT’s and OT’s Dr. Kravitz noted that musics effect on rhythmic stimuli and the rehab of gait disorders from Rudenberg 1982 and Staum 1983 rhythmic music and percussive pulses favorably affected coordinated walking and proprioceptive control. He went on to state that music or auditory stimuli improves gait regularity due to the use of the beat, helping people to anticipate the rate of movement. The effect of music on exercise performance he found that music has been shown to improve muscular endurance from the Chipman 1966 paper. The Leslie 1967 paper found it did not improve running speed, although some college age men and women found they could walk farther with less effort with music. This shows us that music can in some instances can directly effect our performance, and it can also make working out or running a more enjoyable experience.
Earlier I mentioned how music can affect our mood, many of us rely on music to get us through the day at work or on a long commute, and some of us cook and even shower with music. Music does have a role in health care, in the classroom and in psychotherapy as well. The principles of Chinese medical theory use a five tone scale to motivate the mutual interaction between the Yin Yang and the Five Elements. The music helps to regulate the function of the organs in the body and restore metabolism. Musical treatment not only avoids side effects of medicine but allows for long term treatment, and a more efficient recovery. Music therapy is being used to treat several different conditions such as Autism. People with Autism are noted to have a heightened interest and response to music. In autistic people music has been used to aid in verbal and nonverbal communication skills and in engaging normal developmental processes. In older adults diagnosed with Alzheimer's dementia, music therapy has been found to improve mood, reduce agitation and improve cooperation with activities of daily living. Music therapy may increase response to antidepressant medications. In older adults music therapy has been shown to have long lasting effects. It may also be beneficial for patients suffering depression post total joint replacement or hemodialysis. Music has also been used to increase sleep quality, in older adults music has been found to increase sleep duration, quality and greater sleep efficiency. This information can be found on the Natural Standards website.
Onto building the consummate kick ass workout playlist, thats why your here not to hear about studies, music therapy and Chinese medicine. The normal heart rate in adults ranges from 60-100, the UFC fighter Michael Bisping has a resting heart rate of 54. When most of us workout or run we want fast paced music, studies have shown the ideal tempo is approximately 120-140 beats per minute. You do not have to count the BPM, they have a BPM assistant for MAC and the BPM Calculator. If you use i-tunes you can sort your music by the BPM. When you put your tracks in order consider what your using the playlist for. In all likelihood you will want a slow build, yes you want to get the BPM up to 120-140. If your doing HIT cardio, tabata, or running hills you will want to time out the high and low BPM. If you really love a song you can always speed up the BPM with Sony Soundforge without changing the pitch. After you have been using the same playlist for a while, its OK to hit the shuffle button!
Originally the plan was to give you some pro-athletes playlist for working out, but it was scrapped. I am more interested in what my readers listen to. In the comments section please put up your favorite playlist. It is to be hoped that this article has shown you that music really is the answer. In the coming weeks I will be completing an article about gut flora, this will go past the previous entry concentrating on immune health. Also in the works are articles focusing on functional training versus traditional split style, as well as the supplement piece I have been promising. As always please read and share this blog.
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| Tuning out the heat and pain at Badwater |
http://www.unm.edu/~lkravitz/Article%20folder/musicexercise.html
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