Creating music while exercising makes workouts feel easier

If you thought listening to tunes for training got you pumped up, you should trying making your own music while working out.

An interesting new study published in the Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America has tested the effects of creating music while working out. It was the first time anyone has thought to test whether creating the music you workout to would have any effect on exercising, even though it has long been understood that upbeat music produces upbeat exercise.

The researches built exercise machines which played techno music while they worked out, and responded differently depending on various factors such as the power produced. The music the machines made was played at 130 beats per minute.

The study tested the force exerted by volunteers when they exercised while listening to the music created by others and when they used the machines to produce the music themselves. Volunteers across the board exerted more force while using the machines which produced the music. They also used less oxygen and claimed to find the work less strenuous.

The researchers are unclear as to why exercise feels less strenuous when making music, but they note that their work may provide hints as to why humans used to sing while they completed difficult tasks.