This season can be difficult for fitness routines, so it’s a good time to focus on a powerful weapon in the fight to fall in love with exercise: great tunes. Exercise should be fun. Our gym embraces this concept as a core value, exemplified by our hilarious, supportive, tight-knit community of clients. This positive, playful atmosphere is created not only through phenomenal social support, but by a playlist of upbeat songs that never fails to unleash the inner beast.
Music speaks to the passion in all of us. It can light a fire inside that will take your workout to the next level. Here are the top four ways you can use the right playlist to set you up for an epic workout.
Psyche yourself up. Up-tempo music elevates respiration and heart rate, which prepares you physiologically as well as mentally for a truly productive workout.
Experience the ergogenic effects. You will actually perform better during your workout due to enhanced neural activity and performance. Stimulating music has also been shown to boost muscle tension, giving you an edge for lifting heavy weights and helping to increase workout intensity.
Say farewell to fatigue. Jamming to some fun music also delays your body’s fatigue response to exertion during exercise. Research shows that, aside from dampening the physiological effects of fatigue, bumping music also distracts from the psychological experience of fatigue. Staying the course during challenging workouts is the key to achieving your goals.
Tap in to the power of association. It’s not hard to believe that pairing the songs that you love with the exercises that you don’t can help create positive associations between you and exercise. The reward centers in your brain respond to music in a way that rewires neural pathways, keeping you on track with fitness and physical activity for years to come.
It doesn’t matter what songs or musical genres inspire you. Your soundtrack to success could be a favorite album, a streaming station or even a movie soundtrack. What does matter is the intensity that you bring to each workout you do. Here’s to jamming our way to amazing workouts and the best results yet.
