The influence of Music on Arousal & Achieving Optimal Performance State

By: Zach Connell, Scott Frost, Brendan O’Leary

Michael Phelps

Cam Newton

Lebron James Sun Yang Kobe Bryant

Defining Arousal & its effects

Arousal is the Physiological Activation of the nervous system.

Arousal triggers feelings of confidence or doubt in an athlete based on their subjective attributions with their given state of arousal.

Feelings of doubt trigger anxiety & somatic anxiety - negative attributions associated with physiological variables HR, Sweating, BP, Core Temp

Prolonged stress or strain on the SNS can lead to negative physiological implications ( cortisol, Immune System fxn, memory processing) as well as poor performance.

The Inverted U Hypothesis

Top Athletes have an individualized optimal state of anxiety & arousal

Factors Affecting Optimal Level of Arousal

1. Type of Task (precision task vs. power task)

2. Specific Sport or Environment of Task

3. Skill Level of the Athlete

4. Motivation

5. Mood State

Type of Task (Precision vs. Power)

Power TaskPrecision Task

Inverted U Hypothesis depending on Type of Task

Specific Sport or Environment of the Task

Weight Lifting

Golf

Inverted U Hypothesis depending on Type of Sport

The effects of Sedative music, Arousal Music, and Silence on ECG Signals

32 subjects

Procedure:Silence(30 sec)

Arousal (30 sec)

Silence (30 sec)

Arousal (30 sec)

Silence (30 sec) Sedative (30 sec)

Silence (30 sec) Sedative (30 sec)

Silence (30 sec) Sedative (30 sec)

Silence (30 sec) Arousal (30 sec)

Silence (30 sec) Music (30 sec) Silence (30 sec) Music (30 sec)

The effects of Sedative music, Arousal Music, and Silence on ECG Signals

Results & Conclusions

Sedative Music: unchanged mean HR, R- AMP, T- AMP

Min HR, Max HR, and in R- Amp declined significantly

Arousal Music: no changes in mean T-Amp or HR. Min R-AMP decreased. Max HR & Max T Wave increased.

Conclusion: The electrical conductivity patterns of our hearts are different when listening to different types of music (fast vs. slow Na+ channels)

Purpose: Examine the effect of music on the psycho-physiological indicators of emotional processing

What does the research say?

This all makes sense in theory

In practice, athletes frequently report using music while training and during (if permitted), before or after an event

Look at the research in four areas:Strength/PowerEnduranceAnaerobic CapacityRecovery

EFFECTS OF SELF-SELECTED MUSIC ON STRENGTH, EXPLOSIVENESS, AND MOOD

• Twenty resistance trained men between the ages of 20 and 24

• Subjects came on 3 different visits• Visit 1 – Obtain bench press and back squat 1 repetition

maximum• Visit 2 and 3 - measured bench press reps to failure, squat

jump performance, and mood • A Profile of Mood States (POMS) was given pre and post test

both days

• The two experimental days were separated by 48 hours and alternated exercises by either having self selected music or silence.• Ex: Day 1 (Self- selected music)

Bench press- 3x failureSquat jump- 3 reps at 30% back squat 1RM Day 2 (Silence)Bench press- 3x failureSquat jump- 3 reps at 30% back squat 1RM

EFFECTS OF SELF-SELECTED MUSIC ON STRENGTH, EXPLOSIVENESS, AND MOOD

• Results and Conclusions

Conclusion:• Music increased squat jump explosiveness and feelings

of vigor, tension, and fatigue• Therefor music might enhance acute power

performance

A MOTIVATIONAL MUSIC AND VIDEO INTERVENTION IMPROVES HIGH-INTENSITY

EXERCISE PERFORMANCE

• 6 nonacclimated male participants

• Each subject performed 3 exercise bouts of 30 minutes warm-up (5 km·h-1 [5 minutes])9km·h-1 (10 minutes)maximal effort run (15 minutes)

• The exercise days had 3 different designs • control (no music or video) • motivational music plus video intervention• non-motivational music plus video intervention

A MOTIVATIONAL MUSIC AND VIDEO INTERVENTION IMPROVES HIGH-INTENSITY

EXERCISE PERFORMANCE• Results and Conclusions

Conclusion:• this study showed that a combined music and video intervention has a

beneficial effect on exercise of high intensity• Music and video might help combat elements of premature fatigue in

high intensity exercise.

EFFECTS OF MUSIC INTERVENTIONS ON EMOTIONAL STATES AND RUNNING

PERFORMANCE

• 65 ( 19 male, 41 female)participants between the ages of 30 -50

• Three stage studyStage 1 – Questionnaire given to participants to find the type of

music they wish to listen to and music choice based on their own selected running goal.

Stage 2 – Running goal was attempted without music to set a baseline.

Stage 3 - participants were randomly assigned to either a self-selected music group or an Audiofuel group.

• Before and after stage 3 run a questionnaire was given to find the emotional status of the subjects and how the music affected their running performance.

EFFECTS OF MUSIC INTERVENTIONS ON EMOTIONAL STATES AND RUNNING

PERFORMANCE• Results and Conclusions

Conclusion:• Support to the hypothesis that listening to music is an effective

emotion regulation strategy for use in running• Participants who rated music as motivating reported significantly

greater improvements in perceived performance

EFFECTS OF PREFERRED AND NONPREFERRED MUSIC ON CONTINUOUS CYCLING EXERCISE

PERFORMANCE

• 15 healthy male participants between the ages of 20 and 25

• The study was done on 5 days separated by at least 1 day• Day 1-2 - Participants performed exhaustive continuous

cycling exercise to assess the critical power intensity

• Day 3-5 - Cycled at critical power intensity until exhaustion under 1 of 3 conditions:

• Condition 1 - Listening to preferred Music• Condition 2 – Listening to nonpreferred music• Condition 3 - Not listening to any music

• During the three conditions, HR and RPE were recorded every minute and distance until exhausted was recorded at the completion of the test to the nearest meter

EFFECTS OF PREFERRED AND NONPREFERRED MUSIC ON CONTINUOUS CYCLING EXERCISE

PERFORMANCE• Results and Conclusions

• Preferred Music Increased the distance covered while having a lower value

for RPE

• Nonpreferred Music Showed a higher RPE value then both the control and the

preferred music.

Conclusion:• When cycling for a continuous period of time preferred

music will increase the time to exhaustion along with decrease the your perceived excursion.

Purpose: examine the effect of music on Wingate Anaerobic Test Performance as measured by power output as well as time to fatigue 

Subjects: 15 college students; regular exercisers (mod to high fitness); none were anaerobic athletes

Procedure: Two separate test sessions; music condition and non-music condition (order randomized)

Perform 3 consecutive Wingate Tests separated by 30sec rest 

On Test 3: subjects pedaled to fatigue (pedal rate fell below 10rpm

Music condition: Select favorite type of music from selections matched for tempo (120 bpm)

Music played continuously from start of Test 1 until finish of Test 3

 Variables Measured

Mean Power Output (mean over full 30sec), Max Power Output (peak 5-sec work output), Min Power Output (lowest 5-sec work output), Fatigue Index (% drop in power from Max throughout test), Time to fatigue in Test 3

• No Significant difference between conditions in all variables

Hypothesis 

Active recovery has been found to enhance lactate clearance after intense exercise

The natural movement response to rhythm and tempo and music-related dissociation from unpleasant feelings such as pain and fatigue would lead to more active recovery and faster lactate clearance

Purpose

Determine the effect of motivational music (music that stimulates or inspires physical activity) during recovery from intense exercise, on activity pattern, RPE and blood lactate concentration

Conclusionsof Sports Studies

Trend emerging which suggests that music is a genuine ergogenic aid (at least among non-elite sports people) 

Positive psycho-physical benefits Motivation Mood State RPE In-task Affect

4 factors contribute to psychophysical motivational qualities of music:  rhythm and tempo musicality (melody and harmony) suitability of music to the sociocultural background of the athlete extra-musical associations    

Ergogenic effects observed for sports at the opposite ends on the sports continuum (Endurance vs. Strength/Power) but not so much for Anaerobic capacity

References Dousty, Mehdy. The effects of sedative music, arousal music and silence on

electrocardiography signals. Journal of Electrocardiology. 2011, 44: 396.e1-396.e6

Barwood MJ et al. A motivational music and video intervention improves high-intensity exercise performance. Journal of Sports Science and Medicine. 2009, 8: 435-442.

Biagini M, et al. Effects of Self-Selected Music on Strength, Explosiveness and Mood. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 2012, vol 26, 7: 1934-1938

Lane, AM, P Davis, T Devonport. Effects of music interventions on emotional states and running performance. Journal of Sports Science and Medicine. 2011, 10: 400-407

Nakamura, PM. Effects of preferred and nonpreffered music on continuous cycling exercise performance. Perceptual and Motor Skills. 2010, 110: 1, 257-264.

Becker N, et al. Mellow and Frenetic Antecedent Music During Athletic Performance of Children, Adults and Seniors. Perceptual and Motor Skills. 1994, 79: 1043-1046

Sammler D, et al. Music and Emotion: Electrophysiological correlates of the processing of pleasant and unpleasant music. Psychophysiology. 2007, 44: 293-304.

Pujol TJ & ME Langenfeld. Influence of Music on Wingate Anaerobic Test Performance. Perceptual and Motor Skills. 1999, 88: 292-296.

Eliakim M, et al. Effect of motivational music on lactate levels during recovery from intense exercise. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 2012, 26, 1: 80-86

Abernethy, Bruce. "Attention." Trans. ArrayPrint

Ravissa, Kenneth. "Increasing Awareness for Sport Performance." Trans. ArrayPrint.

A Quick Activity to Demonstrate How Music Affects Emotional State

Thank You!

From Zach-mon, Scotty Hotty, Breezy Brendan