Effects of types and intensities of background music on treadmill endurance

The effects of different types and intensities of music on heart rate (HR), rating of perceived exertion (RPE), and time to exhaustion during submaximal and maximal treadmill work were investigated. Twenty-four (13 female and 11 male) volunteers participated in two accommodation exercise sessions and three multi-staged progressive walk/run maximum tests. In the progressive maximum (max) tests, an equal number of subjects (in equal fours) was randomly assigned to different treatment orders: loud, fast, exciting, popular music (Type A); soft, slow, easy-listening, popular music (Type B); and no music (control). Treatments were administered with portable light-weight headphones. HR was recorded halfway through each minute and at max. Time to exhaustion was recorded in seconds. Subjective estimates of RPE were obtained after the test for five different points during the test. Differences (p < .10) between gender and experimental treatments were determined by a 2-way (2x3) ANOVA. HR was significantly higher with Type A and control treatments than with Type B treatment in minutes one and six. In the minute before max, HR was significantly higher with Type B treatment than with Type A and control treatments. A significant interaction of music and gender was found for max HR with males having significantly lower max HR in the control treatment than in the music treatments. Female HR was significantly higher than male HR at each minute of work (excluding the minute before max and at max). RPE was significantly lower with, the two music treatments than with the control treatment for submaximal work. There was no significant gender difference for RPE. Time to exhaustion was significantly longer during the Type B music treatment than during the control treatment. Time to exhaustion was longer for male than for female subjects. It was concluded that (a) soft, slow, easy-listening, popular music reduces HR response in submaximal work and increases endurance time, and that (b) music reduces RPE response for submaximal work.