Preliminary evidence for the benefits of “Jymmin” – creating or influencing music while exercising

The researchers suspect that being able to influence music causes a bigger release of endogenous opioids By Emma Young Listening to music while exercising can make a work-out feel more pleasant. But might having some control over the sound of that music have an even stronger effect? A new study, published in Frontiers in Psychology, suggests that it does. In theory, this approach (known as known as “Jymmin” – gym plus jammin’…) might help injured athletes and other rehab patients to complete beneficial, but painful, exercise programmes. As the researchers, led by Thomas Fritz at the Max Planck Institute for Human Brain Sciences in Leipzig, Germany, note, “Physical pain can present a significant obstacle to the success of physical exercise rehabilitation, increasing negative affect and decreasing patient motivation.” Ten men and nine women, all in their twenties, worked out for ten minutes, in pairs, facing each other. One member of the pair used a cable lat pulldown machine (which exercises the latissimus dorsi muscle in the back, and also the biceps), while the other used an abdominal muscle trainer. For one session, the exercise machines were hooked up to computer software that modified the music being played depending on how hard the participants worked. The fast-tempo (130 beats per minute) soundtrack featured a drum beat, bass guitar line and a melody played on a synthesiser. A faster rate of pulldowns on the lat/bicep machine altered the sound, so...
Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Health Sport Source Type: blogs