A recent study done by British researchers turned up evidence that listening to the right kind of music can affect how well you exercise. A group of men were given six songs that they listened to on headphones while riding stationary bikes. The faster the tempo of the music was, the better their performance! Other studies have shown that listening to music while exercising not only distracts the person exercising but it also causes the heart rate to pick up and boosts motivation. In short, it seems that your body will try to match the rhythm and tempo of any workout songs it listens to.
Why Is This Beneficial?
One of the main goals with any exercise program is to enhance your performance and to continually strive to do better. If music is able to do that as well as help you enjoy your exercise program more, it would seem a shame not to take advantage of these benefits. These days, with IPods, MP3 players and earphones, you can listen to whatever music or songs you like in private while performing your workout routines for women or men, without disturbing others.
What Type Of Music Is Good To Listen To?
If you are aiming at increasing your speed and the exertion you put into your exercising, you should try to choose a fairly fast-paced song. Fortunately there are many different styles of music that are relatively fast paced, ranging from some of the faster modern-country music renditions to hip-hop or even fast Latin music; as long as they are upbeat workout songs they should have the desired effect. The best workout songs are those that you enjoy listening to, that are fairly fast paced and most of all that cause you to step up your pace!
Where Can You Find These Songs?
One of the most popular places to find great workout songs these days is from iTunes. If you already have a selection of songs and music that you think would make good workout songs you can also download free music converters that will convert almost any track into an MP3 track that can be listened to on a portable MP3 player; thus you can make your own individualized selection and add to it at any time.
Incidentally, many advocates who promote listening to workout songs recommend that you come up with a repertoire of around 100 songs. Why so many? So you will not become bored listening to the same songs over and over again while exercising. If you are really smart you can even time the length of your playlist to your exercise regime; starting off with slower warm-up songs, moving into the high impact aerobic songs and then finishing up with slower, winding down and stretching paced songs.
What Songs Should You Start With?
It is probably best if your playlist is individualized with songs in a style you enjoy listening to. The music scene evolves at a very fast rate; what is popular one month quickly becomes passé. Some popular hip hop workout songs are “Here I Come” and “Adrenaline” by The Roots; “It Takes Two” by Rob Base; or “The New Workout Plan” by Kanye West. If you want to move along to some Salsa music check out songs by Ricky Martin, Oscar D’Leon or Tito Nieves. For those who want to go jogging to some country music, you may want to listen to “Baby Likes to Rock It” by the Tractors; “Man! I Feel Like a Woman” by Shania Twain, or “Hard Workin’ Man” by Brooks and Dunn. Is R&B your style? Try Rihanna’s, ” “Pon de Replay” or Destiny’s Child, “Lose My Breath”, which seems appropriate!
If you cannot think of enough songs to make up your own personalized workout playlist, you will find many different pre-selection compilations of the top workout songs online. Simply download some songs, put on your yoga pants, grab your adjustable dumbbells and prepare to workout.