Research Spotlight · Energize
Moving to the beat
Upbeat sound to get you going. Find a beat that matches your stride and ride it.
What the studies found
Early- Ten men cycling in time with the music used about 7% less oxygen than with slightly slower music.[1]
- Thirty-six men ran 400 m faster with music matched to their movement than with no music.[2]
- Nineteen recreational runners kept going longer with music matched to their stride (733 s) than in silence (624 s).[3]
- In the large 2020 review, faster tempo strengthened the lift music gave to performance.[4]
Who took part
Small groups of young, mostly male, recreational exercisers in the lab.
Funding
The runner study was funded by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research.[3]
References
- Bacon CJ, Myers TR, Karageorghis CI. Effect of music-movement synchrony on exercise oxygen consumption. J Sports Med Phys Fitness. 2012;52(4):359-365. bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/6602 · n = 10.
- Simpson SD, Karageorghis CI. Effects of synchronous music on 400-metre sprint performance. J Sports Sci. 2006;24(10):1095-1102. doi.org/10.1080/02640410500432789 · n = 36.
- Bood RJ, Nijssen M, van der Kamp J, Roerdink M. The power of auditory-motor synchronization in sports. PLoS One. 2013;8(8):e70758. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23951000/ · n = 19.
- Terry PC, et al. Effects of music in exercise and sport: a meta-analytic review. Psychol Bull. 2020;146(2):91-117. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31804098/ · 139 studies.
Research summaries are for interest only. ARK Sounds is music for enjoyment, not a treatment. These studies are about kinds of sound in general; none of them tested ARK tracks.