If you’ve ever set foot in a fitness facility, you’ve noticed that the majority of gym-goers are listening to music as they work out. Same goes for athletes on the sidelines warming up before a game. It’s a source of inspiration, of course, but music may actually stimulate anaerobic power. Researchers publishing in the American College of Sports Medicine conducted a series of Wingate tests.
They divided test subjects into two groups. One group listened to motivational music while they were at peak power, the other did the same performance tests, but without music. Their conclusion was that motivational music interacts positively with anaerobic performance. Athletes that were tested while listening to motivation music were able to perform for longer while at peak power.
Musical Interaction Therapy- We all have a favorite piece of music that interacts with us to generate a physical response in us. Our favorite song, or concerto, or opera, or symphony that reaches into our bodies and makes us FEEL. There’s no doubt that music impacts our emotions, but did you know that music can cause physiological responses too? That’s right, music can actually change our bodies physical properties and its function
Musical Interaction Therapy
Music and Your Brain
A study in 2014 from Frontiers in Neuroscience concluded that the benefits of musical training have a profound impact on the brain, particularly in children. They have better vocabulary, reading ability, and a greater attention span. Learning an instrument as a child may even predict IQ and academic performance in young adulthood! The age that a child begins music training and frequency they with which they train seem to have an impact as well. It’s exactly what you’d think: the children who trained longer and more often saw even greater benefits.
Music and Your Heart
Believe it or not, your heartbeat and blood pressure can change depending on the type of music you listen to. A research study from Pavia University, in Italy, determined that music with quicker tempos made people breathe faster, creating a physical response, thus increasing their heart rate and blood pressure.
The opposite was true too, slow and soft music produced a slowing of heart rate and drop in blood pressure. Another study from New York on the effect of music on surgery showed that patients that were surrounded by silence.
These subjects continued to have abnormally high blood pressure throughout the procedure. The blood pressure of those that listened to music of their choice through headphones before and immediately after the operation recorded a lower blood pressure during operations, and a quicker return to their baseline during recovery.
Music and Your Muscles
So, the next time you listen to your favorite piece of epic classical music that really gets your heart pounding, and causes a physical response consider that it’s not just your emotions reacting to the crescendos, it’s your whole body!
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