effects of music on high-intensity short-term exercise in well trained athletes

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this investigation was to assess the effects of listening to music during warm-up on short-term supramaximal performances during the 30-s Wingate test in highly trained athletes. Twelve young male athletes [20.6 +/- 1.8 yrs, 177 +/- 4.4 cm and 72.3 +/- 5.3 kg] underwent two Wingate tests in separate sessions with a recovery period of 48 h in-between, either after a 10 min of warm-up with [MWU] or without [NMWU] music. High tempo music [> 120 to 140bpm] was selected for the study. Heart rate [HR] and rate of perceived exertion [RPE] were recorded after the warm-up [for HR = average of warm-up] and immediately after the Wingate test. HR, RPE and the fatigue index during the Wingate test are not affected by the incorporation of music during warm-up. However, power output [P[peak] and P[mean]] was significantly higher after MWU than NMWU [p < 0.05]. The relative increases were 4.1 +/- 3.6 and 4.0 +/- 3.7 W·kg[-1] for P[peak] and P[mean] respectively. These findings demonstrated the beneficial effect of music during warm-up on short-term supramaximal performances. As it's a legal method and an additional aid, music may be used during warm-up before performing activities requiring powerful lower limbs' muscles contractions during short-term supramaximal exercises