How many of us, as soon as we enter a gym, find the right playlist to blast into our headphones, knowing that nothing will be accomplished until we hear those songs start? A lot of people think that music helps us lift weights, especially if we decide to try and go for a personal record, right? Well, not exactly. It depends more on what kind of lifting a person does.
In a study at the University of Bologna, a group of men did their maximum weight on a barbell bench press for one rep and in a separate exercise, they had to bench press a lower weight as many times as possible. They were then tested again, with half of them repeating the two exercises while listening to music. There was no increase in the one rep at maximum weight for either group, but the music group showed a significant increase in how many reps till failure they could do. The reason was that the many-repetition workout was more movement based, thus the music helped set a pace.
There are some limitations to the study, such as only men were tested, only one type of lift was tested, and the main one being it was all self-selected music. The reason for the improvement in the music group, according to the researchers, is the motivational effect that selecting one’s own songs can cause. So just listening to what the gym might be playing at the time won’t necessary give one that extra push needed.
So next time you’re about to hit the gym, think about what workout you’ll be doing. If you’re aiming to do as many reps as you can with some weight, turning up that soundtrack to Rocky may just be your best bet.
Written by Patrick Stewart