Over the past few months,\u00a0I\u2019ve\u00a0been training for the\u00a0London Marathon,\u00a0so\u00a0most weekends\u00a0I\u2019ve\u00a0been out running more than 20 miles at a stretch. I carry the usual bits to make these long slogs vaguely civilised\u00a0\u2013\u00a0energy gels, a water bottle, a couple of fruit pastilles. They help, of course. But\u00a0there\u2019s\u00a0one thing I absolutely cannot do without: music.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Non-runners sometimes ask if I ever\u00a0feel like giving\u00a0up and trudging home. And honestly, the only times\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0happened is when my AirPods have died and the music\u00a0\u2013\u00a0my invisible pacer, my emotional support DJ\u00a0\u2013\u00a0has\u00a0suddenly\u00a0vanished mid-run.\u00a0
\u00a0
This makes sense, according to\u00a0Victoria Williamson, a researcher and lecturer in music psychology and the author of\u00a0You Are the Music. She\u00a0says that\u00a0hundreds of studies show music improves endurance by around 15\u00a0per cent\u00a0and reduces perceived exertion by around 10\u00a0per cent.\u00a0For context,\u00a0caffeine\u00a0\u2013\u00a0the darling of the endurance world\u00a0\u2013\u00a0only manages about 3\u00a0per cent\u00a0for endurance and 5\u00a0per cent\u00a0for perceived exertion.\u00a0Although\u00a0your\u00a0energy drink\u00a0is doing its best,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0simply\u00a0no\u00a0match for a properly timed chorus.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve never fancied a\u00a0tea\u00a0halfway through a run, but I always fancy a\u00a0tuuuune. Music boosts dopamine\u00a0\u2013 the brain\u2019s\u00a0\u2018reward\u2019\u00a0chemical\u00a0\u2013\u00a0making everything feel a bit more enjoyable. It also distracts you, in the best\u00a0possible way. When your brain is busy belting out the chorus, it has far less capacity to dwell on the fact that your legs\u00a0are starting to\u00a0feel like overcooked spaghetti.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As\u00a0I discovered when I\u00a0wrote\u00a0my book\u00a0Running: Cheaper Than Therapy, exercise is more about\u00a0what\u2019s\u00a0happening in your\u00a0head\u00a0than your\u00a0legs.\u00a0Put simply, when your brain is focused on\u00a0a\u00a0song, it has fewer resources\u00a0left\u00a0to dwell on how tired you\u00a0might be\u00a0feeling.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0all\u00a0in\u00a0the\u00a0mind.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
There are other\u00a0perks. If you can hear yourself panting,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0a\u00a0rather pointed\u00a0reminder that\u00a0you\u2019re\u00a0getting tired. Drown that out with music, and suddenly everything feels more manageable. Even better,\u00a0you\u2019re\u00a0spared the soundtrack of other runners\u2019 wheezing and groaning\u00a0\u2013\u00a0never the morale boost one\u00a0yearns\u00a0for during a race.\u00a0
\u00a0
When you listen to music as you run, your body naturally\u00a0syncs\u00a0to rhythm, a process\u00a0called entrainment. This can help\u00a0maintain\u00a0a steady running pace, improve efficiency of movement,\u00a0and\u00a0reduce wasted energy.\u00a0That said, sometimes you\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0want steady,\u00a0and\u00a0music\u00a0can help there, too. If\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0doing an interval run (alternating short bursts of high-intensity, fast-paced running with recovery periods of light jogging), I find that\u00a0songs that switch between fast and slow sections\u00a0are perfect\u00a0personal pacers.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Think\u00a0cheesy\u00a0stadium anthems, not\u00a0polite background music for people discussing sourdough starters<\/p>\n
Music\u00a0just\u00a0makes running more fun\u00a0and it can trigger\u00a0the\u00a0emotional states or identities\u00a0you need to keep going\u00a0\u2013\u00a0as long as\u00a0you\u00a0pick the right tunes.\u00a0A run is not the moment for experimental jazz or a\u00a014-minute\u00a0prog-rock odyssey, replete with\u00a0three separate drum solos. This is the time for\u00a0massive, familiar bangers\u00a0\u2013\u00a0the kind that make you feel like\u00a0you\u2019re\u00a0headlining Glastonbury, not limping round a damp park. Think\u00a0cheesy\u00a0stadium anthems, not\u00a0polite background music for people discussing sourdough starters.\u00a0Basically, if\u00a0you\u2019re\u00a0embarrassed to be listening to a song,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0probably the\u00a0right one for exercise.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the gym, music blocks out the clatter of weights and the inescapable chatter of other humans, helping you slip into that elusive\u00a0\u2018zone\u2019.\u00a0Most gyms provide their own playlists these days\u00a0\u2013\u00a0endless, vaguely interchangeable tracks that sound like they were\u00a0curated\u00a0by an algorithm with a\u00a0kink\u00a0for bass drops.\u00a0So\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0forget your\u00a0airpods.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There are\u00a0disadvantages to\u00a0all this. If you listen to music every time you run\u00a0or workout\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0easy to build a dependence on it\u00a0\u2013\u00a0as I have discovered when my\u00a0AirPods\u00a0run out. A growing number of running events ban headphones\u00a0for safety and insurance reasons, so if\u00a0you\u2019ve\u00a0had\u00a0tunes in your ears as you\u00a0train hard for an event,\u00a0you might struggle on the big day without them.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0good\u00a0to develop a range of sources\u00a0of motivation to keep your\u00a0runs\u00a0interesting\u00a0and the sounds of birdsong are one of the joys of running.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
There are safety concerns when\u00a0you\u2019re\u00a0running outdoors\u00a0if you\u00a0can\u2019t\u00a0hear approaching vehicles or\u00a0potential\u00a0predators.\u00a0And in the gym, there are moments\u00a0\u2013\u00a0lifting heavy weights,\u00a0attempting\u00a0anything involving balance or coordination\u00a0\u2013\u00a0when full attention is\u00a0rather more\u00a0useful than a killer playlist.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But when you get\u00a0exercise music\u00a0right,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0everything.\u00a0Professor Costas\u00a0Karageorghis,\u00a0a leading expert on the interplay between music and exercise,\u00a0said that\u00a0the right workout music can be a type of\u00a0\u2018legal performance-enhancing drug\u2019.\u00a0I agree\u00a0and\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0why\u00a0I\u2019ll\u00a0continue to\u00a0mainline it straight into my ears.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Over the past few months,\u00a0I\u2019ve\u00a0been training for the\u00a0London Marathon,\u00a0so\u00a0most weekends\u00a0I\u2019ve\u00a0been out running more than 20 miles at a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":600989,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[49,48,408,407,84,213846,5295],"class_list":{"0":"post-600988","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fitness","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-exercise","11":"tag-fitness","12":"tag-health","13":"tag-london-marathon","14":"tag-running"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/600988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=600988"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/600988\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/600989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=600988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=600988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=600988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}