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March 18, 2010

The Value of Crappy Pop Music In Conjunction With Working Out

I listen to music all the time when I work out. And sadly, not "good" music. My workout playlist is rife with pop icons such as Beyonce, Britney Spears, and Lady Gaga. I'm sure the people who live under my apartment hate me for my late night workouts- no one wants to be kept up by a song about "disco sticks" and the sound of someone doing jump-lunges. So why is working out to catchy music easier? Dr. Costas Karageorghis has made a career out of studying this very phenomenon, and he says that the key is in the number of beats per minute of a particular tune (BPM for short). The most effective workout songs have 120-140 BPM, which also corresponds to the heart rate of someone engaging in a moderate level of exercise. The beat of a song also allows you to sync with it and therefore move more quickly and economically, provided the BPM of the song aren't horrifically slow. Speaking as someone who ran an entire half-marathon with the chorus from The Violent Femme's "Blister in the Sun" stuck in my head, I can vouch for the motivational qualities of certain songs. For more information, click here.


3 comments:

  1. funny i was think about this the other day when im on the bike i waste so much time flipping through my ipod...a simple playlist with the joints that get my hyped would save me soooo much time...

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  2. It does me! I just wish the songs that get me super amped were less annoying...

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  3. you love it and you know it.
    dont lie lynn.
    =]
    your the beastest.
    not best
    beast.

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