Published March 4, 2026 03:33AM<\/p>\n
I have a nerdy confession: my fastest Peloton<\/a> ride to date was to the Hamilton soundtrack<\/a>. One of my favorite runs in recent memory was a slow 45-minute trot to Lily Allen\u2019s new album, West End Girl. And during my longest run\u201413.1 miles\u2014I ditched my headphones<\/a> and listened to the sounds of nature around me.<\/p>\n It\u2019s well documented<\/a>\u00a0that music, or lack thereof, can have a profound impact on your workouts. While the effects largely hinge upon your tastes and the type of activity you\u2019re doing (and we get all into that below), a well-crafted playlist can transform your mood, endurance, and performance.<\/p>\n Three Things That Happen in Your Brain When You Work Out to Music<\/p>\n I chatted with experts about what occurs physiologically when we listen to music during exercise. Here\u2019s what they had to say.<\/p>\n 1. Your Motor System Syncs with the Beat<\/p>\n When you throw on your favorite tune, part of your brain\u2014the auditory cortex\u2014automatically picks up on both the tempo and beat and starts to synchronize to them, according to Christopher Ballmann<\/a>, an exercise physiologist and associate professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. As a result, you may suddenly find yourself jogging, breathing, or pedaling to the beat, according to a 2020 review<\/a>. \u201cWe want to move to music,\u201d says Renate Tsuyako Rohlfing<\/a>, a music psychotherapist, pianist, and associate professor with the Music and Health Institute at Berklee College of Music.<\/p>\n Synchronizing to music<\/a> increases speed, boosts endurance, and lowers oxygen consumption, research shows. A quick caveat: this doesn\u2019t occur with all types of physical activity, but it predominantly occurs with rhythmic exercises where you can pace yourself (think: running, cycling, or rowing), says Ballmann.<\/p>\n 2. Your Pain Tolerance Increases<\/p>\n Music is also a potent distractor<\/a>. According to Ballmann, research<\/a> shows that music pulls your attention away from your body sensations and toward the lyrics, vocals, and instrumental sounds. \u201cAs a result, you don\u2019t perceive the discomfort of exercise as intensely,\u201d he says. If you aren\u2019t as focused on how out of breath you are or how your legs are aching, you\u2019ll be more comfortable, he adds, and can go longer and harder.<\/p>\n 3. Your Mood Changes<\/p>\n You may also notice that your mind starts to match the vibe of the playlist you\u2019re listening to, according to Rohlfing. She adds that, for example, if you\u2019re working out to upbeat tracks, you may start to feel more positive, energized, and motivated. Rohlfing says this is because music causes your body to release dopamine and oxytocin\u2014two \u201cfeel-good\u201d hormones known to be mood boosters.<\/p>\n Throw in the fact that exercise amps up the production of endorphins, neurotransmitters that increase feelings of happiness and lessen pain, and you can see why music and exercise, together, can do wonders for your mood, says Rohlfing. An added bonus: music can ease performance anxiety, which may prove useful when you\u2019re stretching or warming up prior to a big event, she says.<\/p>\n What Happens When a Song Comes on That You Don\u2019t Like?<\/p>\n Through his research on music and exercise responses<\/a>, Ballmann has discovered that people\u2019s athletic performance suffers when they listen to songs they\u2019re not into\u2014plus their motivation and enjoyment decline.<\/p>\n The same 2020 review mentioned earlier explained that blood flow efficiency dropped by six percent when people listened to anxiety-inducing music, like heavy metal<\/a>, per study participants\u2019 music tastes\u00a0(whereas it increased by 26 percent when they listened to music they liked). A 2025 study<\/a> noted that asynchronous music (you don\u2019t sync up to the beat) can make you move less efficiently.<\/p>\n After all, if you aren\u2019t into the songs, they\u2019re not going to do as good a job taking your mind off discomfort you may be feeling, says Jessica Grahn<\/a>, a cognitive neuroscientist who studies music and movement at Western University in London, Ontario, Canada. \u201cIf it\u2019s hard to ignore and it\u2019s not the right kind of music to exercise to, then it could definitely have a negative effect,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n I can relate: I usually jog to soft indie rock, but when a modern pop song comes on, I run faster than I intend to and lose my breath. I find the tunes grating and oftentimes wind up taking a break.<\/p>\n Scientists Say This Music Boosts Performance and Motivation<\/p>\n As for the kind of music that will reliably up your game? The music you <\/a>love<\/a>.\u201cYour preference to whatever you\u2019re listening to is the most important thing in determining whether or not it will actually help you during exercise,\u201d says Ballmann. Your favorite music tends to heighten your sympathetic responses, which raises your heart rate, boosts the amount of oxygen your body consumes, and helps your muscles take on more force, he adds.<\/p>\n It can also be extremely motivating, increasing the amount of effort you exert along with your enjoyment of the activity, says Ballmann. \u201cPeople are able to go a little bit longer and push a little bit harder,\u201d says Grahn.<\/p>\n How to Pair Music to Your Workouts<\/p>\n If you, like me, are into all kinds of musical genres and physical activities, then you\u2019ll want to be strategic about the kind of songs you play during different workouts. As\u00a0Ballmann told me, \u201cIt\u2019s all about what your goal is.\u201d<\/p>\n The Best Music for High-Intensity Workouts<\/p>\n If you\u2019re doing a quick burst of movement\u2014like a sprint or resistance-based training\u2014a high-energy song (tunes with a beat of about 120 bpm) will be most effective at activating your fight or flight response and leveling up your performance, Ballmann says. It may help to blast it\u2014evidence suggests louder music can increase arousal and stimulation, ultimately benefiting your performance.<\/p>\n The Best Music for Endurance Training<\/p>\n But high-energy music is actually not the ideal type of track for endurance events, such as a marathon or even a short race, where you need to give it your absolute all, notes Ballmann. In a quick, high-stakes race, this kind of music could actually decrease performance, he adds.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you are going all out max effort, you\u2019re not pacing, you don\u2019t want to pace, you want to just go,\u201d says Ballmann. With longer events, these high-energy pump-up songs could actually lead to greater fatigue later on because you could cause you to burn through all of your energy early on, says Ballmann.<\/p>\n As for what may work best during these activities? Music that helps you keep pace with the activity. \u201cTempo and music choice need to be individualized,\u201d says Ballmann. It all depends on your desired speed, the kind of activity, and the type of music that resonates with you.<\/p>\n Choose Music with the Appropriate Beats Per Minute<\/p>\n In general, you want to \u201cpick whatever is going to engage and distract you a little bit so you don\u2019t have to think of the discomfort of exercise,\u201d says Ballmann. For those rhythmic exercises (your runs and bike rides), songs with roughly 120 to 160 beats per minute (bpm) will keep you moving, according to Gahn. You can simply Google a song\u2019s bpm\u2014or you can set a timer for 30 seconds, listen to a song, count the number of beats, then multiply that times two. That\u2019s your bpm, says Gahn.<\/p>\n \u201cOne more thing: many find the sounds of nature to be incredibly soothing, so if you\u2019re looking to relax and decompress on your next jog or hike, consider leaving the headphones at home,\u201d says Rehlfing.<\/p>\n How music affects your workout hinges on your personal preferences. It\u2019s very individualistic\u2014\u201cif that\u2019s with music, great, but if that\u2019s without music, that\u2019s great too,\u201d says Ballmann. My takeaway? If I\u2019m trying to set a PR, I should throw Hamilton on\u2014even if it is incredibly dorky.<\/p>\n What\u2019s your go-to workout song when you\u2019re looking for some extra motivation? Let us know in the comments!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Published March 4, 2026 03:33AM I have a nerdy confession: my fastest Peloton ride to date was to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":329056,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[49372,499,103,61,60,44361,2257,152014,67597,87095,87096,2258],"class_list":{"0":"post-329055","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fitness","8":"tag-editor-aunderwood","9":"tag-fitness","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland","13":"tag-parent_category-health","14":"tag-tag-evergreen","15":"tag-tag-music","16":"tag-tag-performance","17":"tag-tag-science","18":"tag-tag-training-tips","19":"tag-type-article"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=329055"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329055\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/329056"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=329055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=329055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=329055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}