Keep those blues away. Plug into some energy-filled music, whip up a beat and start feeling the burn.
Are you the type of person who hums a tune while watering the plants or doing the dishes? Do you get a melody stuck in your head and drive everyone around you crazy as you whistle it all day long? Chances are that you would love working out to a rhythmic and musical beat.
Have you ever thought about how everything in our lives is intertwined, especially when it comes to health and well-being? A socially active person, surrounded by friends, is sure to enjoy team workouts. Similarly, a person driven by ambition and the drive to excel will perform well in high-powered fitness programs. Music is another concept that inextricably binds us to one another and, by extension, to our overall physical good.
Yes, exercise can be boring, exhausting, demanding and just about every other synonym that you can think of for the word, ‘fatigue’. Making the activity enjoyable is one way of overcoming this hurdle. And what better way to combat boredom than with the power of music?
In fact, wake up one morning and take a walk down your street. Almost invariably, every jogger and walker you see will have a musical device on the arm/in the pocket and have headphones/earphones plugged in. People relate very well to a rhythmic melody which increases their motivation to exercise.
How Music Helps
Four factors make up how music affects us positively during a workout. These are rhythm, melody, cultural background and paired association. While the first two are intrinsic influences, the latter are external stimuli.
Tapping one’s foot to a beat is something that comes spontaneously to almost every human being. That is the reason music has such a universal appeal. That is also the reason we have innumerable aerobic, cardiovascular and step exercises set to power-packed music. Turn on a health channel and nine times out of ten, you will see groups of people twisting their bodies to a fast-paced, thumping rhythm. The mind connects instantly to the sound created and sends those signals to the body, directing the feet and hands to move in time with the beat.
Melody is the next aspect that impacts exercise. Instead of running for half an hour on the treadmill and staring blankly at the gymnasium wall while doing so, it makes sense to match our pace to our favourite songs. And, interestingly, you can customize the workout to suit the speed of the song. For a brisk jog, set a medium-paced melodious song that you can hum, while a high-powered run can be done to some great rock music.
External motivators are equally crucial to the selection of the right workout music. What we grow up listening to, impacts how energized we are when using melody to lose those extra pounds. Similarly, our brain makes early connections between concepts. As a child, if you observed an adult jogging to the sound of Micahel Jackson, there is every likelihood that you would be just as comfortable doing the same thing.
Benefits you Reap when you add a Beat :
- You burn more calories per minute when you exercise to a rhythm.
- Music energizes you to push yourself beyond your perceived limits.
- Your body starts synchronizing music and exercise seamlessly and enhances overall performance.
- You have fun while exercising and feel empowered to continue the routine.
Every form of exercise can be done to some variant of music. It’s up to you and your preferences to make the choice that is ideally suited for you. So, what are you waiting for? Grab those dancing shoes and break out into a sweat!
Ray Lehigh is a person with great passion for writing; he has written many articles on different topics like diet loss weight. You can look out for more on his other blogs related to health and beauty.
