Effects of music on exercise performance

To determine the influence of music on submaximal exercise performance, 10 untrained men (x̄ age = 20.20 years; x̄ weight = 83.44 kg) and 10 untrained women (x̄ age = 21.40 years; x̄ weight = 60.99 kg) performed a maximal bicycle ergometer test. Each subject then participated in two randomly administered test trials at 75% of max, one with fast-tempo music and one without music. The subjects were blind to the purpose of the study. Data were collected every 3 minutes for RPE and HR and were continuously collected and averaged into 1-minute values for V̇O₂, V̇(E), and RER for both submaximal tests. Blood lactate was collected during midexercise, immediately after exercise, and at 3 and 6 minutes after exercise for both maximal and submaximal tests. Men exhibited greater absolute V̇O₂ max (x̄ = 3.59 l x min^-1) and V̇(E) max (x̄ = 110 1 x min^-1) than women (2.35 l x min^-1, 80.92 l x min^-1) (P < 0.001). ANOVA analysis revealed that neither gender nor music exhibited a significant effect on submaximal relative V̇O₂, HR, blood lactate, or exercise duration (P > 0.05). Men exhibited a higher submaximal absolute V̇O₂ and V̇(E) than females (P < 0.001), but music did not significantly influence these variables. These data show that music does not alter the submaximal exercise performance or physiological response for either men or women. In addition, the psychological perception of effort was not altered with the presence of music in submaximal exercise. Consequently, music does not appear to be an ergogenic agent for exercise training.