ADITI SARAWAGI
MUSIC &
FITNESS
Music has an overhand reach across all spheres. It helps in
relieving stress, puts one right in the party zone and helps
one vent emotions too, be it listening, playing or creating
music. Music has an undeniable connection to fitness as well.
Not many can claim to knock out a workout or two without
listening to their favourite beat pumping song. This is not
only a psychological or a general phenomenon but the concept
of the association of music and fitness has been scientifically
ramified as well with researchers bringing out information on
the interconnection of the two and how music actually affects
fitness and our approach to it. Movement and music are deeply
related and even if a person is sitting in one position listening to
music, the sound vibrations increases electrical activity in those
regions of the brain which are important for synchronizing
movements and hence music and fitness are deeply entrenched.
Research by Carl Foster, Ph.D., director of the Human
Performance Laboratory and research director of the Clinical
Exercise Physiology program at the University of Wisconsin
shows that as far back as in the B.C. era, rowers working on
Roman Galleys, used music for their work. Drummers would
play a certain beat which would keep the rowers rowing with a
basic rhythm in coordination and following a common tempo.
Research dating back to as far as 1911, shows that cyclists
pedaled faster when a band was playing than when it was not.
This correlation between music and fitness has been around
for more than a hundred years and a huge amount of research
has been conducted in this field and even today scientists are
working on theories surrounding this phenomenon of music
affecting people’s performances during any sort of physical
activity. Research by Szabo, Small and Leigh in 1999, has also
revealed that music not only facilitates exercise performance,
but also reduces fatigue, promotes relaxation and increases
motor co-ordination as well.
Some psychologists suggest that the most effective form of music
which will work in enhancing fitness should have rhythms at
a frequency of two hertz i.e. 120 beats per minute (bpm) or 2
beats per second. This is the most natural form of rhythm to
which people have been seen to respond to. Though 120bpm is
said to be the most prevalent pulse, activities such as running
on a treadmill or while performing other such exercises, people
prefer music with rhythm of around 160bpm and sometimes even
180bpm for those who prefer an even faster tempo. Researchers
are of the view that though each person favours a different
tempo, a maximum tempo of 145bpm has an effect on perceived
performance enhancement. A higher tempo does not really have
an additional positive effect on fitness.
20
The
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