Effect of music therapy, aerobic exercise and combined intervention on psychological and physiological parameters in collegiate athletes: A comparative study

Abstract

Aim of the study is to compare the effect of three forms of interventions: relaxing music, aerobic exercise, and both in combination, on state and trait anxiety, RPE and HR in collegiate athletes. Subject: Thirty five collegiate athletes were recruited with inclusion and exclusion criteria and randomly allocated into one of the three groups. Methodology: Each group were performed with different interventions, Group 1-music therapy, group 2-aerobic exercise, group 3-music with aerobic exercise. The intervention was performed one session per day for two weeks. Pre and post measurement of STAI-Y1 Score, STAI-Y2 Score, RPE and HR were taken. Data analysis: ANCOVA and repeated measure analysis were used to analyze the changes in the psychological and physiological parameters. Result: Music therapy, aerobic exercise and combination therapy shows significant changes in pre and post value of STAI-Y1, STAI-Y2, RPE and HR while combination therapy was more effectively reduced state anxiety and trait anxiety when compared individual therapy. There was a significant group × time effect for STAI-Y1 score (p=0.012), STAI-Y2 score (p=0.001) and HR (p=0.016). Conclusion: So the study revealed that while music therapy and aerobic exercise, when imparted independently, both reduce the state and trait anxiety level in collegiate athletes, the magnitude of reduction increases if combined intervention is used.

Aerobic Training, in Combination with Listening Music, Changes Post-Exercise Cardiac Autonomic Function in Collegiate Overweight and Obese Individuals

“…Figueroa et al (20) also found a reduction in exercise HR after 16 weeks of endurance training in obese individuals. These results support our previous finding that aerobic exercise along with relaxing music reduces HR to a greater extent than aerobic exercise in athletes (36). The mechanism behind this could be the psychobiologi-Asian J Sports Med.…”

“…cal impact that music has on exercise due to relaxation, reduced muscle tension, and increased blood flow, hence reduced heart rate when compared to the only aerobic group (36). Our study found overweight and obese individuals could be able to continue aerobic exercise for a longer time duration due to music intervention helping the distraction of mental stress during exercise bouts, which might help to achieve greater health benefits.…”

“…However, a decrease in exercise HR was higher in the aerobic plus music group. While most of the previous studies reported that there was a reduction in HR when exercise was incorporated with the music (21,22,36,40). Nethery reported no difference from the motivational music on the HR during treadmill running at 50% VO 2max (22).…”

“…The number of subjects was determined using Software G*Power 3.1.9.2, from the study done by Jamali et al (36) showing the effect of aerobic vs. aerobic plus music in collegiate athletes taken post measures of exercise HR. A total of 16 subjects (including 10% of drop-outs) per group were shown to be necessary based on the effect size of 1.64, an alpha level of 0.05, and power (1-beta) of 0.98.…”

“…Relaxing music increases parasympathetic activity by inducing positive emotions (34,35). A study reported that two weeks of relaxing music along with aerobic exercise showed a reduction in the RPE, HR, and anxiety levels in collegiate athletes (36). To the best of our knowledge, the combined effect of these two on the autonomic function of the heart is still unknown.…”