Music is actually accompanying us every day. We often listen to it at home, when driving by car, in public transport, walking, falling asleep or with the morning alarm to welcome a new day. Some songs make us sad and melancholy, others give us energy and willingness to act. Music is also a strong motivator for training.
Music motivating for training - is it needed?
Music during training is not only needed, but it can be even necessary! It can really do wonders. And it is extremely useful when there is no one next to you who can motivate you to do a few more repetitions or run the last few meters.
Music can positively affect your physical state and motivate you to go to the training. If it is properly selected it can give additional incentives to perform the more intensive effort. It is worth listening to music not only during the workout itself but also before it. The music will make you jump into the training, looking forward to show off your skills! During the workout, it will give you an additional portion of energy and a desire to work on your body.
What should it be like? There is no one answer here. It should be energetic and cause all the effects mentioned above. So you don’t have to listen to dubstep or power metal music. If rap or even the classical Beethoven Sonatas are doing trick for you – stick with them!
Music motivating for aerobic training
When I write aerobic training, I mean running, cycling, skating or rollerblading, etc. Here, music plays a similar role as in strength training. It is important that it is well matched to the intensity of our training. It is often the case that we run to the rhythm of the music. Depending on what is going on during your efforts, you should adjust your tempo to the song. Therefore, make sure you have songs fitting your training pace because the music is here to help, not to disturb!
Music motivating for training in the gym
If you train at home, the matter is simple, you choose music that affects you well and only you. In the gym, where different people come, usually, loudspeakers are playing universal and not always stimulating music. Often you can only listen to a bunch of radio songs. If music plays a significant role for you then invest in a proper pair of headphones. Then you will be able to listen to the songs you like, and this will allow you to increase your training results even by up to 15%!
Experts say that the best music for strength training is the heavy one like rock or metal. But as I said before, it is an individual matter of taste and there are people who achieve greater results listening to classical music or an electronic one. The most important is the effect of stimulation, causing positive aggression and getting that extra kick of energy. It will be great if it stops getting your attention after some time and becomes a kind of background for training rather than being an additional distraction. Also, if the gym is crowded, and this causes additional noise, the music in the headphones will allow you to cut off from the others and there will be only you, exercise equipment and subsequent repetitions to perform.
Music motivating for fitness training
You don’t really have a choice about music during group fitness classes. The instructor running the classes decides what will happen during the training. But don’t worry, the music has to be chosen correctly because it has to match choreography performed during the training. There are training programs, where each workout has its own specific music and choreography constructed strictly for it. If you practice concrete training program for a long time, then through the music that is on, you will get along not only what exercises you will generally perform during the training but even the order of exercises which you have to perform!
