Music Enhances Cardiovascular Fitness

It turns out that your iPod can improve your cardiovascular health, too!

The latest research from Dr. Costas Karageorghis’s 20-year-old program shows that music can increase physical endurance. During the study conducted at Brunel University West London’s School of Sport and Education, participants were asked to run on a treadmill to the beat of various chosen songs by Queen, Madonna, and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. By running in strict rhythm with the scientifically selected music, the runners were able to enhance their endurance by 15%. The researchers also learned that music helped the runners stay positive while working out at high intensity levels.

Dr. Karageorghis explained that the “synchronous application of music resulted in much higher endurance while the motivational qualities of the music impacted significantly on the interpretation of fatigue symptoms right up to the point of voluntary exhaustion.”

The study results will be published in an upcoming issue of the Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, but instead of just simply putting his results on paper, Karageorghis has decided to put his findings into practice and apply them with a half-marathon to be held in Greenwich, England this weekend. The race, Run to the Beat, will feature live music during the entire race. Karageorghis scientifically-selected and “coordinated the music that will be played at 17 live music stations to accompany 12,500 runners.”

Although not everyone can have live musical performances accompanying their morning run, it seems having upbeat, positive, and energetic music on your iPod just might do the trick.

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