Never been a fan of the violent imagery in Eminem’s songs? Well, if you’re looking to exercise for longer hours, you’d better start tuning in to his tracks. According to a study from the UK last month, listening to Eminem will increase the intensity of your workout by 10%, while Bob Marley songs may have the reverse effect.
Not just that, different genres impact your workout in surprisingly different ways. Read on to find out which tunes you should listen to the next time you hit the gym.
POP FOR WARM UP AND COOL DOWN
Dr Costas Karageorghis, deputy head (research), School of Sport and Education at Brunel University, UK, says songs like Katy Perry‘s Roar or Move by Little Mix are best to start off a workout. Similarly , another site says slow pop songs like Burn by Ellie Goulding and Royals by Lorde were best suited for the cool down session.
Katy Perry’s Roar.
Burn by Ellie Goulding
Royals by Lorde
One website notes, “Pop is perfect for slower, more repetitive-type tasks, including aerobic warm up and cool down because many pop songs have regular rhythmic patterns.“ In fact, Olympic gold medallist Kelly Holmes says she listened to Alicia Keys’ Fallin’ while warming up before she competed in the 2004 Olympics race.
Alicia Keys’ Fallin’
EMINEM FOR ENDURANCE?
Anyone who’s heard Eminem’s Lose Yourself knows that feeling of wanting to do something with their life by the end of the song, and this feeling applies to your workout as well, where you can lose some weight while you lose yourself. Researchers from Hartpury University Centre, UK, studied the effects of Eminem’s Lose Yourself, Not Afraid and Without Me on British swimmer Ben Hooper, and found that they increased his speed by 10%.Other songs that made it to the `success list’ included Fort Minor’s Remember The Name and pop punk band The Script’s Hall Of Fame.
Lead researcher and sports psychologist Richard Collins, said, “Tracks with an emotional resonance can boost performance and endurance by as much as 10%. Listening to Eminem inspires confidence and determination, as there is a general theme of triumphing against the odds.“
Lose Yourself
Not Afraid
Without Me
Fort Minor’s Remember The Name.
FAST PACED SONGS FOR CARDIO
This one is a no-brainer. A study from the University of Virginia, USA, says that we naturally sync our movements to the beat of a song, so working out to fast paced songs causes a person’s heart rate to increase. Rihanna has admitted to listening to her own songs when she hits the treadmill, but perhaps it’s not immodesty that drives her to do so, because her Umbrella dance remix, along with Black Eyed Peas’ Let’s Get It Started, is listed as a good example for a cardio workout, according to the study .
Umbrella dance remix
Black Eyed Peas’ Let’s Get
Scatman by Scatman John
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6oXW_YiV6g
“Songs that produce the most success for workouts are those that have a regular rhythm and tempo, particularly at 120-140 beats per minute (bpm),“ adds neuroscientist Jessica Grahn. In fact, two time Olympic gold medallist Haile Gebrselassie says he trained for his 1000-metre races by listening to Scatman by Scatman John because its 135-bpm tempo perfectly matched his stride.
NO REGGAE OR ROCK
While a rock song may seem like a good background score for cardio, oddly enough, it can affect a person’s speed because of the frequent changes in tempo, according to one site.
The same team that studied the effect of Eminem’s songs on workouts also found that more effort was required to exercise while listening to reggae, leading to fatigue. Bob Marley’s No Woman No Cry, Three Little Birds and One Love might soothe the soul, but tended to wreck havoc on Hooper’s workouts. Aerosmith’s I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing made this list as well.
Bob Marley’s No Woman No Cry
Three Little Birds
One Love
Aerosmith’s I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing
By Katakee Gondane
