Music and sport performance
Music and you
What does music do for you?
- Makes you dance.
- Helps you relax.
- Changes your mood.
- Motivates you.
- Helps you concentrate or be more creative.
- All of the above and much more.
Do you listen to music when exercising? Or before or after sporting competition?
Potential benefits of music for performance
There is compelling evidence that music can assist the performance of athletes and exercisers, via the psychological, psychophysical (perceptions of physical exertion) and physiological effects of listening to music.
This conceptual framework is based on over 20 years of research by Dr Costas Karageorghis and Professor Peter Terry, which includes a recent objective summary (referred to as a meta-analysis) of all studies published since 1911.
The meta-analysis showed that listening to music provides a range of significant benefits, which vary according to how individual and situational features interact with the inherent qualities of the music, its cultural impact, and the associations it holds for the listener.
An appreciation of some of these features can help coaches integrate music into training, competition, and relaxation programs for their athletes.
-
Peter Terry, Sport Psychologist
Music has the capacity to reduce perceived exertion by about 10% when used during physical activity, which explains the enduring popularity of exercise-to-music classes.
The stimulative and motivational properties of up-tempo music, with lyrics that encourage effort (Bruce Springsteen's Born To Run, Britney Spears' Stronger) and associations of glory or success (M People's Search For The Hero, Gloria Gaynor's I Will Survive) typically help exercisers to work harder for longer by masking the objective level of effort. In turn, this produces a performance benefit that some elite performers have been able to exploit.
Three areas of benefit are described in the model:
Psychological benefits
Music can promote a range of feelings that may have positive effects on performance. For example, music can:
- Induce specific emotional responses (e.g. happiness, liveliness, calmness, or aggression).
- Reduce anxiety.
- Contribute to flow states (being “in the zone”).
Physiological benefits
The physiological benefits of music are small but significant. In elite sport, where the skills and fitness of athletes are often closely matched, using music may offer a valuable advantage by:
- Helping to regulate heart rate.
- Improving efficiency of oxygen consumption by a small but important margin.
Psychophysical benefits
Music can reduce perceived levels of exertion, helping athletes and exercisers to work harder for longer. One explanation for this benefit is that music distracts attention away from the negative sensations of fatigue.
Personal and situational factors
Personal and situational factors are important in determining the effects of music. Personal factors include the age, gender, personality, and level of training of the athlete. Situational factors include the type of activity (e.g. running, cycling, etc.), and its intensity (low, moderate, or high).
Music factors
The properties of the music are grouped under four headings:
- Rhythm response refers to the natural human tendency to move in time to the rhythms and tempo of the music. A prominent regular beat makes it easier to synchronise movement to the music.
- Musicality refers to musical properties, such as melody and harmony, which influence emotional responses. Music can be inherently happy or sad, uplifting or reflective.
- Cultural impact refers to the familiarity and pervasiveness of specific musical genres in society or within a sub-cultural group, which influence music preferences and associations. Samba, for example, is almost guaranteed to generate a positive response among Brazilians but not necessarily among other cultural groups.
- Associations refer to links that develop between specific music tracks and emotional or behavioural responses. Associations may be ingrained in lyrics, such as Stronger or Born To Run, or may reflect memories of positive experiences that are inextricably linked to a particular track, or can even be deliberately conditioned by repeatedly accompanying a successful event with a favourite song.
