Pick up a health magazine or do a bit of surfing on the web and you will find many articles that extoll the use of music in exercise. It is used during exercises classes ranging from yoga and tai chi to kick boxing and spinning. The music lifts the ordinary exercise routine into something else...it moves us in a way that silent exercise never would.
Having tried out various different exercise classes I know how music affects me. When I did BodyBalance, which is a mixture of Yoga/Pilates/Tai Chi, the music used was everything from relaxing orchestral to pop, and it worked at every stage. Then when I started Thump Boxing I found that the music used there (music with a loud and continuous beat), really helped focus me and in many cases I ended up moving and punching to the rhythm.
What I have found more difficult however is the music used in my gym. I may only be 34 but some of the music played I have never heard before because it’s chart stuff, or has been given a new remix resulting in an awful techno/house/garage/grunge abomination to the eardrums. So what do you do when the music is affecting you negatively?
- Ask the gym to change the God awful music (and they have done in a few cases but it’s always worth asking)
- Get to the point where you no longer hear it, and that takes practice and real focus
- Use your own MP3 player with the music up loud to drown out the gym tunes
The final solution has positive and negative aspects though. Having earphones on is a message to the other gym users not to talk to you. It can be very isolating, but if that is your aim…to completely focus on your exercise, then fair enough.
Otherwise using music that you have cherry picked is the perfect way to get you motivated and enjoy your workout more. Over the past couple of weeks I have, for the first time, been using my iPhone to listen to music. I usually use it to track my exercises but now the added dimension makes it even more useful. But choosing the right music was just as important as the right shoes to wear.
Warming up at the beginning requires something to really get the blood pumping and running on the treadmill with a focus: Spitfire by The Prodigy or Ready, Steady, Go by Paul Oakenfold work wonders. Then on to the weights and for the next 40 minutes it’s a mixture of all sorts. I have quite eclectic tastes from classical to Marilyn Manson via Lady Gaga. I have created a few playlists and just let it run or stick the whole music library on shuffle and see what happens.
Finally the warm down and some stretching requires something a little more relaxing such as Nelly Furtado or Seth Lakeman. Each person has their own taste but for me these work. Since attending the gym I have noticed a change in my body; but these past couple of weeks, the use of music has helped my enjoy it much more. And the thing is, if someone comes into the gym that I have made acquaintances with, I will pull one earphone out and talk to them…I have not become the person no one talks to like some I have seen.
Try it out, let music move you. Tell me what music you listen to as you exercise.
Graham
