Effects of music on heart rate

Music and Exercise

Today's busy life styles become hectic for many people. Tensions and anxieties haunt each one of us in our daily lives. This busy life style and its various problems put a lot of physical, psychological and even spiritual stress on all of us. Exercise is an activity considered good for human health while listening to music has its own positive effect on human mind and psyche but if both of these things are combined together then it can be considered a lethal combination. Different researches have been conducted to find the effect of music and exercises together.

Exercise & Music

Different training sessions involving cardio and resistance work, including a cool down and stretch sessions increasingly involve music in the whole process. Different exercises work all the body's muscles because of which the heart has to work harder to deliver oxygen to the muscles. Exercises involve a number of activities like jacks, squats, lunges, jumps and press-ups etc. And people have to do them regularly to maintain their desired physical activity. Aerobic exercises such as walking or running are also done along with other regular exercises or weight training. Some only prefer aerobic exercises while some make a combination. Doing exercises in isolation or maintaining them regularly is a difficult task as people get bored and loose their interest but involvement of music makes the whole process a fun-filled experience. It becomes frustrating having a workout without music for those who like to work out to a beat.

A variety of upbeat and popular music including disco and house music is generally used to perk up the exercises. Some people are using R&B and even hip hop depending on the likes and dislikes. Some use electronic keyboard music, some use soft music while some go for harps and flutes to create a relaxed and soulful ambience. The music is usually contagious and the moves become fantastic making the exercise a pleasurable and enjoyable experience.

Physiological Aspect

Normal exercise routines with music involve fast and energy requiring or calories burning movements. Flexibility, better movements, better posture are some of the benefits that a person can gain in short period of time. Experts suggest that a disciple inculcated by regular practices can help control and even lose body weight.

Effects on Heart Rate: Average heart rate is between 72-80 beats per minute and exercise activities together with music change this heart beat. Different researches have been conducted to find the effect of music on heart beats while exercising. The study of its effect becomes very important when it comes to the treatment of various heart conditions. Earlier researches were inconclusive with respect to the relation of music & exercise to cardiac activity. Some of the studies used Jazz music and found that respiration increases considerably while there is only a moderate effect on the heart beat and that to end as the music ends. Music tempos may range from 70 to 170 beats per minute and fast to slow music have effects on heart beat accordingly. Music has been known to create an emotional effect on the listener and so naturally a response in heart beat also follows. However, most researches have shown that music only creates a moderate effect on the heart beat. The moderate effect of music on heart beat and respiration could act as a warm up for the person who is going to exercise for a certain time.

Effect on Physical Performance: Studies were also conducted to see what kind of music could enhance the endurance & performance. Copeland & Franks (1991) examined the effect of different types of background music intensities) on endurance during treadmill use and found that a slower beat might contain advantageous results. However, later researches showed that people desire listening to the upbeat music because it facilitates exercise tempo. As different studies were conducted involving different variables, results become more detailed. "Brownley, Murray, & Hackney (1995) concluded that listening to music while running may be more beneficial to untrained runners because of the lack of desire to run compared to those who are trained" ('the Effect of Music on Exercise')

Psychological Aspect

As discussed earlier, mental stress has become a normal feature of the urban lifestyle. People are now looking ways to fight this problem of stress. Some people take help of drugs to control the stress issue but the side effects of drugs create more problems rather than solving one. Exercise has been proven as a natural solution to the problem of stress with no side effects. In certain cases of other psychological problems combining exercise and music can be helpful.

Effects on Mental Performance: Researches have also shown that both music and exercise combined together have positive effects on cognitive abilities. In a research including 33 men and women in the final weeks of a cardiac rehabilitation program after bypass surgery, angioplasty or cardiac catheterization, the effects of classical music and exercise were studied. All participants were asked to complete a verbal fluency test before and after two separate sessions of exercising on a treadmill. Vivaldi's 'The Four Seasons', a classical music piece, was used to judge the effects of music together with exercise on cognitive abilities among other music items. The results proved that both music and exercise create a positive impact. "Exercise seems to cause positive changes in the nervous system, and these changes may have a direct effect on cognitive ability," Charles Emery, the study's lead author and a professor of psychology at Ohio State University said. "Listening to music may influence cognitive function through different pathways in the brain. The combination of music and exercise may stimulate and increase cognitive arousal while helping to organize cognitive output.' Emery conducted the study with Evana Hsiao and Scott Hill, both with Ohio State, and David Frid of Pfizer, Inc. ('a Little Music with Exercise Boosts Brain Power').