Listening to music during a repeated sprint test improves performance and psychophysiological responses in healthy and physically active male adults

Abstract

Background It is well-documented that listening to music has the potential to improve physical performance during intense physical exercise. Less information is available on the timing of music application. This study aimed to investigate the effects of listening to preferred music during the warm up of a subsequent test or during the test on performance of repeated sprint sets (RSS) in adult males. Methods In a randomized cross-over design, 19 healthy males (age, 22.1 ± 1.2 years; body mass, 72.7 ± 9.3 kg; height, 1.79 ± 0.06 m; BMI, 22.6 ± 2.2 kg m−2) performed a test including 2 sets of 5*20-m repeated-sprints under one of three conditions: listening to preferred music during the test; listening to preferred music during the warm-up; or not listening to music. The assessed parameters comprised RSS performance indices, blood lactate, heart rate, the pacing strategy profile, rating of perceived exertion, and a feeling scale. Results For performance indices during set 1 of the RSS test, we found a significant decrease in total sum sequence, fast time index and fatigue index in the listening to preferred music condition compared to the no music condition (total sum sequence: p = 0.006, d = 0.93; fast time index: p = 0.003, d = 0.67; fatigue index: p < 0.001; d = 1.30) and the listening to preferred music during the warm-up condition (fast time index: p = 0.002; d = 1.15; fatigue index: p = 0.006; d = 0.74). However, there was no significant effect of listening to preferred music on physical performance during set 2 of the RSS test. Compared to the no music condition, blood lactate concentrations were higher in the listening to preferred music during the test condition (p = 0.025; d = 0.92). In addition, listening to preferred music appears not to have an effect on heart rate, the pacing strategy profile, perceived exertion, and affective responses before, during and after the RSS test. Conclusion Findings from this study revealed that RSS performances were better (FT and FI indices) in the PMDT compared with the PMWU condition. Moreover, in set 1 of the RSS test, better RSS indices were found in the PMDT compared to NM condition.

Combined Effects of Listening to Preferred Music and Video Feedback, during Warm-Up, on Physical Performance in Young Kickboxers

“…Just listening to fast (140 beats/min) and loud (80 dB) music during warm-up has been shown by Ouergui et al [24] to enhance kicking performance during the 10 s and multiple 10 sec kicking test in taekwondo athletes. Other studies [22,24] also indicated that the use of preferred music with a fast tempo (>140 beats/min) presents an effective strategy to improve physical performance, probably due to the motivational self-regulation of the music [22,23]. Due to the earlier findings of the positive effects on performance by the use of music during the warm-up, this condition was not included in the present study.…”

“…Besides video feedback, previous studies reported that listening to music during warm-up can also enhance physical performance [21][22][23][24]. In fact, the ergogenic effects of listening to music on physical performance, based on its motivational strategy, is attributed to the delayed perception of afferent signals related to neurological fatigue [25], improving muscular efficiency [26], neural activity [27], positive mood [22], attention [28], and selfefficacy [29].…”

Single and Combined Effects of Preferred Music and Endpoint Knowledge on Jump Performance in Basketball Players

“…Therefore, this scale was developed to measure such responses. Previous studies recommended this scale to measure affective response after exercise [ 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 ].…”

“…As a psychological aid during exercise, listening to music has been shown to improve mood/affect, enjoyment, motivation, and RPE [ 16 ]. Furthermore, inherent characteristics of music, such as musical tempo, have been shown to alter pacing strategy and improve exercise efficiency in aerobic [ 17 , 18 ] and anaerobic exercise [ 19 , 20 ]. However, conflicting reports exist with some studies reporting little to no effects of music on jump height during squat jumps [ 21 ].…”

Acute effect of hydrogen-rich water on physical, perceptual and cardiac responses during aerobic and anaerobic exercises: a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blinded cross-over trial

“…Each player responded to the question: "How did you perceive your exertion in your full-body during the test?". Previous studies have recommended this scale to measure RPE after exercise (Jebabli et al, 2022;Jebabli et al, 2023).…”