{"id":137,"date":"2019-01-30T14:15:36","date_gmt":"2019-01-30T14:15:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/wp\/?p=137"},"modified":"2019-01-30T14:15:36","modified_gmt":"2019-01-30T14:15:36","slug":"why-music-helps-you-work-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lisajohnsonfitness.com\/why-music-helps-you-work-out\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Music Helps You Work Out"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\t\t\t\n
There\u2019s a reason the Walkman was one of the fastest-selling electronic devices in history. And a reason why the iPod lead to other personal music devices. And a reason why everyone\u2019s mobile phone can also double as their stereo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s a reason why every dramatic scene from the climax of a sports movie comes with a fully orchestrated score to punctuate the score that happens on the screen. And a reason why sports highlights on TV sound like the announcers are reporting from a Deadmau5 concert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s a reason your gym blasts uptempo music for every member on a treadmill. And a reason why Zumba<\/a> rose so swiftly in popularity as a group exercise class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And now we have science to confirm why. Humans perform better when music is playing<\/a>, and a recent article on Salon highlights these reasons why.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The research goes back over a century with the first reported study involving cyclists in 1911 who pedaled faster when a band played versus riding in silence. But the reasons why our brains respond are varied and interesting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s not just the tempo of the music, but the \u201crhythm response\u201d people have to a song, in other words the way it makes our bodies want to move when we hear it. Studies have shown that 120 beats per minute (bpm) is a sweet spot for us, with two beats per second more or less the speed at which many of us settle into when walking. In fact a study of more than 70,000 songs from 1960 to 1990 found this to be the most popular beat of all. (Carly Rae Jepsen\u2019s \u201cCall Me Maybe\u201d is a song that\u2019s 120 bpm.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n But when we run on a treadmill, our bodies want faster tempos, often between 145 and 160 bpm. \u201cCupid Shuffle\u201d comes in at 145 bpm and our bodies natural response to its rhythms could be a reason for its popularity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One other important factor behind music being such a motivator for working out is that we can push our bodies further when we are flushed with emotions and music is easily able to sustain our emotions over a longer period of time. How many times have you run an extra half mile because your favorite song came up on shuffle play? There\u2019s a perfect example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n