Music Tempo Influences Perception but not Performance of Exercise

Music is an ergogenic aid often used in exercise and has been shown to have positive impacts on performance. Six male recreational (REC) (Age: 20.5 ± 1.2yr, Ht: 177.5 ± 1.3cm, Mass: 75.0 ± 6.9kg, BF: 15.3 ± 4.8%) and 6 competitive (CMP) female swimmers (Age: 20.0 ± 1.4yr, Ht: 165.9 ± 7.0cm, Mass: 66.6 ± 4.9kg, BF: 28.0 ± 7.7%) completed a self-directed warmup of up to 10 minutes, followed by four 200-yd swims during which they were exposed to 4 conditions: fast-tempo music (FT;160 bpm), slow-tempo music (ST;80 bpm), control (C; no music), and metronome (M:160 bpm). Subjects were exposed to each for 4 minutes before and during each 200-yd trial. Swim times, RPE, exercise enjoyment (EE), and the musical qualities (MQ) impact on the exercise bout were collected after each trial. No significant differences were found in times (FT: 3.3±1.0, ST: 3.3±1.1, C:3.3±1.0, M: 3.3±1.0; p = 0.685) or RPE (FT:14.2± 2.5, ST:13.2±3.0, C:13.9±2.8 M:14.6±3.4; p=0.132); an interaction effect was found between competition status and RPE (F(3,30) = 4.373; p = .013). CMP swimmers had higher RPE (FT:13.8±3.3, ST:12.3±3.7, C:13.5±3.5, M:12.7±4.0) for FT compared to ST (p=.017), and higher RPE for FT compared to M (p=.013). There was a significant difference in EE (FT:4.6±1.3, ST:4.7±1.1, C:1.8±1.6, M 4.1±1.5, p=0.022). There were higher MQ scores for FT and ST (p<.001, p=0.001) compared to C and M (p<.001, p<.001), indicating higher motivation in FT and ST conditions. In conclusion, different music conditions impacted perception of exercise but not performance.