Listen and Go Hard. Don't and Go Home.
Music's ability to motivate can be seen throughout human history. Military generals, dating back to the Spartans, used music as a tool to boost motivation and troop effectiveness. In more recent times, professional athletes listen to carefully curated playlists to get focused during trainings, or before big sports events. Their customized routine not only includes physical training and an increased attention to their nutrition, but also a sound therapy, with selected songs that help the athlete focus and motivate him to achieve more. Today, living in technology-rich cosmopolitan cities, whether listening to music to push a little forward every day or to achieve specific goals, music still arms us with the motivational weaponry to succeed on the battle lines against fatigue.
In a 2013 study in Thailand, the effect of music on the duration of exercise was highlighted in an exercise whereby participants asked to cycle to a personalized, curated playlist of workout songs were able to cycle longer than those without music. A more recent study by the American College of Cardiology in 2018, further quantified this effect whereby participants who listened to music could boost their treadmill work out more than 11 percent, nearly one minute longer, than participants not listening to music. These studies scientifically confirm something we intuitively know, that listening to music during workouts help us engage in a greater degree of effort for longer periods of time.[1]
Music streaming services recognize this effect as well. At Spotify, we are focused on data and strategically working with sports scientists to create the ultimate workout playlists for listeners. For example, Spotify collaborated with Brunel University in 2014 studying more than 6.7 million fitness compilations in the UK to fine tune the beats of the service's Workout Genre to best motivate its audiences. The growing magnitude of fitness compilations reflects the uniqueness of each person's taste and the musical journey required to release the inner athlete.
Data-focused players, such as Spotify, are strategically working with sports scientists
to create the ultimate workout playlists for listeners.
Music's Ability to 'Release the Beast' is Tied to Sex
So why does music motivate us? Most studies indicate, music influences our body to move and work in the rhythmic pattern we hear. This helps us focus less on the actual activity, or become less self-aware, so we can enjoy and endure the act more, with more effort for a longer period of time.
However, Kimberly Hess, author of The Beautiful Life of Your Brain says researchers are still trying to work out the exact mechanics of music's motivational effects. According to Hess, the most probable aspect is music's ability to cross talk between brain structures that handle prediction and anticipation with reward centers that handle pleasure. In layman's terms, the music that our body anticipates becomes inherently connected to the release of endorphins, more commonly called "the happiness hormone," triggered by physical activity. This musically-driven process activates the brain's reward system—an ancient and powerful circuitry—which is linked to other highly pleasurable activities such as eating and sex.[2]
How Professional Athletes Improve Their Performance with Music
Dr. Costas Karageorghis, Reader in Sport Psychology at the Brunel University, says "Music lowers your perception of effort. It can trick your mind into feeling less tired during a workout, and also encourage positive thoughts, acting as a sedative or a stimulant: a fast tempo can be used to pump you up prior to competition, or slower music can calm your nerves and help you focus. It's considered by some athletes to be a legal drug with no unwanted side effects."
Experiments have shown that music blocks out fatigue-related symptoms such as the burning lungs, the beating heart and the lactic acid in the muscles. It can reduce perception of effort by as much as 10 percent. So, for example, a 66-minute cycle can feel like a 60-minute cycle with music. "Although music doesn't reduce perception of effort during very hard exercise, it can make you feel more positive at a high workload, even up to the point of exhaustion," explains Dr. Karageorghis.
English footballer, Wayne Rooney, prefers rock or electronic music to get motivated before his matches, and often listens to Daft Punk hits, such as "Touch" and "Within"[3] World record marathon runner, Paula Radcliffe, particularly likes to listen to "Stronger" by Kanye West.
"In sport, if you play the right music, you can engage the crowd and the players can then feed off that energy," stresses Paul Sullivan, production manager for the Cardiff Devils, Ice Hockey Team. He uses music and images of the players at the beginning of each match to get the people pumped and ready for the game, and then continues with music so the crowd cheers and claps when the players enter the pitch. It's a strategy that paid off, as the Cardiff Devils progressed to the semi-finals of the Challenge Cup for the first time in 3 years by beating the Coventry Blaze in October 2009 and reached the Play-offs semi-final the next year.[4]
Personalized Music Shifts Perspectives
Fitness and music go well together, and in some cases are inseparable. Gyms know the psychology of music and virtually any successful fitness center will steadily stream motivational beats in the background. But long gone are the days we are subject to the generic beats of a gym's self-proclaimed DJ. Just as exercise is personal, so is music. With the evolution of listening devices and the ability to personalize our own on-demand music streams, we can tailor unique motivational mixes to sweat it out.
An example of this intersection of sports science combined with personalization is Spotify's Running Genre - found within the Workout Hub - which offers listeners playlists curated by beats per minute (BPM) to match music tempos to run speeds. From Pop Warmup 130 BPM to Energetic Run 160-165 BPM, each set of songs is selectively curated to help even the most novice jogger, find their internal Toon Bodyslam. Paul adds "Delivering the greatest personal music experience to anyone, anywhere is our focus at Spotify. We understand that with proper personal curation, music's ability to enhance and change moods is amplified."
Spotify combines sports science with personalization to offers listeners playlists
curated by beats per minute (BPM) to match music tempos to run speeds.
And when the gym is not available, music has the added ability to shift our perspective on our surroundings. A carefully chosen playlist can turn a park trail into an Olympic track or a stretching station into a gymnastics bar set. Lifestyle and fashion icon, Kittirith Sittichai, more famously known as Kayavine, hysterically articulates this magical ability of music to transform Lumpini park into a fitness playground with a hilarious video recently posted to his Facebook.
So, the next time you are sluggish and can't find the motivation to hit the gym or the trail, open your favorite upbeat playlist, plug in your headphones, and boost your motivation and unleash the athlete within.
(Eve Tan, Team Lead Shows & Editorial, Spotify, SEA, HK & TW)