Batman Meltdown - Beware lots of Rogering Bad Language

[Sylv]

Fair enough

[Antloony]

Good that, might rip that and extend it and play it out next sat

[Sylv]

Do! What music you'd mix it up to? Maybe an instrumental of Prince's Batdance? Or something with high bpm- can you make an 20" extended Ant Mix that would be ace for the turbo

[Antloony]

See what I can do Sylv. Give me something to do till the snow melts.

I often stick a mix together to listen to when I'm cycling to work. usually about 130 bpm

[Sylv]

On a lighter note
[quote]If music is the soundtrack of our lives, it is also the lifesaver for indoor training. While everybody grooves to their own drummer, is there an actual ergogenic effect from playing music during intense efforts? And what can studying music and exercise tell us about how we psychologically cope with intense efforts?

Music is an elemental and integral form of human expression that has been around since the hunting-gathering days of yore, since about the time our caveman forebears regaled his buddies around the campfire about how he survived a tussle with a sabre-tooth tiger. And since the advent of portable music devices, they have increasingly become a part of the athlete’s wardrobe. So while we do not officially condone or endorse it, music is a common companion for many cyclists when riding outdoors.

Ask most riders, and they will tell you that music is fun to have while exercising. But does it just provide a psychological lift, or is there an actual physiological or ergogenic benefit from cranking the tunes? As if often the case in sport science, a lot of research ideas come about from observing what athletes are up to, and then designing a study to prove whether there is an actual scientific basis for it. In this case we’re going to talk music (no that doesn’t mean we’re going to rap!), but the same athlete observation and subsequent scientific testing applies to many other examples, from legal but scientifically invalid (e.g. using Breath-Right snoring nose strips to improve ventilation) through to illegal but scientifically valid (e.g. blood doping, EPO)

Get out the Ghetto Blaster
In a study in the UK from Loughborough University and the Liverpool John Moores University, Atkinson and colleagues set out to investigate the ergogenic effects of music on time trial performance (Atkinson et al. 2004). Previous studies on music and cycling have employed riding at a set workload to voluntary exhaustion, but my own research back in the mid-1990s demonstrated that such tests had a very low reliability (McLellan et al. 1995). In other words, the results varied greatly in the same person across different trials when using such tests, making it difficult to tell whether a manipulation was actually effective or an error due to the test being so variable.

Therefore, over the past decade, many studies on different manipulations, ranging from caffeine effects through to sleep deprivation, have moved away from using these “constant pace” types of tests in favour of time trial tests, which have demonstrated a much higher reliability (Abbiss et al. 2008). Time trial tests also gives us a chance to explore pacing strategies, rather than forcing the athlete to arbitrarily maintain a constant pacing, which is rarely the case in real-life competition. Of course, from the perspective of both athletes and sport scientists, an additional benefit is therefore having much more real-life relevance or direct application from such research.

Move to the Music
The experimental setup was as follows:

• 16 active young adults, not specifically trained cyclists.

• 10 km time trial tests on a cycle ergometer in typical room temperature and humidity conditions. All subjects familiarized themselves with the time trial effort in order to remove the “learning effect”.

• In the “control” condition, the 10 km TT was done without music.

• In the music condition, “trance” music (don’t ask me what it is, my iPod only plays 80’s music, much to the annoyance of my lab members) with a consistent tempo of 142 minutes, at a volume of 87 decibels, was played throughout the 10 km TT. Importantly, the music was mixed by a DJ specifically for this experiment, such that the subjects, though familiar with the genre of trance music, had no direct prior knowledge or anticipation due to actual familiarity with the music itself.

Besides the direct effects of music on overall time to completion for the 10 km TT, the nice thing about using a TT is the ability to explore pacing strategies. So we might see the exact same overall time and average power output, but the pattern of pacing may be completely different.

And with this study, the authors hoped to explore the mechanisms by which music may improve performance. Namely, one theory is that music helps by dissociating or distracting the individual from the sensations of effort and fatigue. If such a mechanism is valid, what we should see is that, in the music condition, as the TT progresses and fatigue accumulates, power should be higher while perceived effort remains the same.

We’ve Got the Beat
So what did we see in the data?

• Mean power output (243 vs. 232W) and race speed (35.0 vs 34.1 km/h) were both significantly higher with music than without.

• Not surprisingly given the above, the TT was faster (1030 vs. 1052 s) with music.

• Interestingly, mean heart rate was higher (172 vs 165 bpm) with music, and the mean rating of perceived exertion (RPE) was also higher (14.9 vs. 14.1 on a scale from 6-20) with music.

• Breaking down the pattern over the 10 km TT, most of the improvements from the music came about in the first 3 km, with higher speeds and heart rates. Following the first 3 km, speed was pretty much identical between the music and control conditions, and this suggests that music mainly stimulated or primed the subjects for higher starting levels, possibly by increasing their arousal. In contrast, the lack of difference in the speed or power output in the latter stages of the TT would go against the theory that music benefits performance by distracting the subjects. The higher ratings of perceived exertion and heart rates in the early stages of the TT also suggests that the subjects were fully cognizant that they were working harder right from the start of the TT.

Taking the Show on Tour
So what are the things we can take away from this study? First off, I hope this demonstrates that science can be pretty light-hearted and fun, while at the same time useful!

• Remember, we do not condone wearing earphones while cycling, given all the loony drivers and other road obstacles out there. But if you’re riding a time trial and have radio communications with a support vehicle, or if you’re indoors riding a hard interval workout or a fitness test, then crank it loud!

• The subjects self-reported their perceptions of the music, and rated the rhythmic qualities of the music as the most notable factor, ahead of other parameters such as “musicality” or the harmony or melody. This suggests that, unless you really get a dig out of ballads, music with a strong and fast rhythm are preferred over the singer’s actual vocal ability or even whether the lyrics make any sense.

Have fun and ride safe!

Reference
Abbiss, C.R., G. Levin, M.R. McGuigan, and P.B. Laursen. 2008. Reliability of power output during dynamic cycling. International Journal of Sports Medicine 29: 574-578.
Atkinson, G., D. Wilson, and M. Eubank. 2004. Effects of music on work-rate distribution during a cycling time trial. International Journal of Sports Medicine 25: 611-615.
McLellan, T.M., S.S. Cheung, and I. Jacobs. 1995. Variability of time to exhaustion during submaximal exercise. Canadian Journal of Applied Physiology 20: 39-51.

[Antloony]

Interesting read that Sylv.

so theres the proof, music makes you faster. Anyone want a PB in a time trial, just ask me for a mix.

[Sylv]

[quote]FITNESS magazines and Web sites love to ask readers about their favorite workout music while presenting their playlists or suggestions from celebrities. Self.com features the “ ’80s cardio playlist,” which includes the short-shorts video classic “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” by Wham! On Fitnessmagazine.com, the singer Rihanna reveals her favorite workout songs — immodestly recommending four of her own for “when you have to pick up the pace on the treadmill.”

The playlist fixation has a scientific basis: Studies have shown that listening to music during exercise can improve results, both in terms of being a motivator (people exercise longer and more vigorously to music) and as a distraction from negatives like fatigue. But are certain songs more effective than others?

Generally speaking there is a science to choosing an effective exercise soundtrack, said Dr. Costas Karageorghis, an associate professor of sport psychology at Brunel University in England, who has studied the effects of music on physical performance for 20 years. Dr. Karageorghis created the Brunel Music Rating Inventory, a questionnaire that is used to rate the motivational qualities of music in the context of sport and exercise. For nearly a decade, he has been administering the questionnaire to panels representing different demographics, who listen to 90 seconds of a song and rate its motivational qualities for various physical activities.

One of the most important elements, Dr. Karageorghis found, is a song’s tempo, which should be between 120 and 140 beats-per-minute, or B.P.M. That pace coincides with the range of most commercial dance music, and many rock songs are near that range, which leads people to develop “an aesthetic appreciation for that tempo,” he said. It also roughly corresponds to the average person’s heart rate during a routine workout — say, 20 minutes on an elliptical trainer by a person who is more casual exerciser than fitness warrior.

Dr. Karageorghis said “Push It” by Salt-N-Pepa and “Drop It Like It’s Hot” by Snoop Dogg are around that range, as is the dance remix of “Umbrella” by Rihanna (so maybe the pop star was onto something). For a high-intensity workout like a hard run, he suggested Glenn Frey’s “The Heat Is On.”

Music preferences are as idiosyncratic as workout routines, of course. Allison Goldberg, a 39-year-old life coach and amateur runner who lives in Texas and who is training for the Houston Marathon on Sunday, has been running to the Green Day CD “American Idiot” because, she said, “There’s no way you can run slow to Green Day.” (Though she may not be listening on race day; a rule bars runners from using portable music players and headphones.) Haile Gebrselassie, the Olympian from Ethiopia who has won the gold medal at 10,000 meters, often requested that the techno song “Scatman,” which has a B.P.M. of around 135, be played over the sound system during his races.

Ms. Goldberg also includes on her playlist “Don’t Phunk With My Heart” by the Black Eyed Peas (130 B.P.M.), “Mr. Brightside” by the Killers (150 B.P.M.), and “Dancing Queen” by Abba. The musical style that seems to most reliably contain a high B.P.M. is dance music, said Richard Petty, the founder of Power Music, a company that has produced workout compilations for instructors and fitness enthusiasts for two decades. “A rock song doesn’t have that same consistency,” said Mr. Petty, a former D.J. who takes a metronomic approach to making exercise music: He chooses a hit song with a catchy melody — say, “Gold Digger” by Kanye West — and produces a remix whose B.P.M. count is tailored to experience level and type of workout.

For a stroll walker going at a pace of around 3 miles an hour, a remixed track has a count of 115 to 118 B.P.M.; for a power walker going 4.5 m.p.h., the count is 137 to 139 B.P.M., while the B.P.M. for a runner elevates to 147 to 160.

The compilations, aimed largely at women doing cardio, with titles like “Shape Walk — 70’s Hits Remixed,” contain no pauses between songs. That unwavering beat allows a person to synchronize their movements to the music, something that Kate Gfeller, a music professor at the University of Iowa, said is crucial.

“Music provides a timing cue,” said Professor Gfeller, who after taking an aerobics class several years ago where the teacher picked music whose tempo didn’t match the moves, was inspired to study the components of music most important to a gainful workout. “It helps you to move more efficiently, which, in turn, can help you with endurance.” (She likes to warm-up for figure skating to the Buena Vista Social Club, in particular the songs “Candela” and “El Cuarto de Tula.”)

In other words, the best workout songs have both a high B.P.M. count and a rhythm to which you can coordinate your movements. This would seem to eliminate any music with abrupt changes in time signature, like free-form jazz or hard-core punk, as well as music that varies widely in intensity, like much of indie rock. It also rules out what the writer and neurologist Oliver Sacks calls “music which doesn’t have adequate rhythmic force.”

“Here, I think of Wagner,” said Dr. Sacks, whose recent book, “Musicophilia,” discusses the link between rhythm and movement. “Nietzsche wrote of what he called Wagner’s ‘degeneration of the sense of rhythm.’ ”

Dr. Sacks is fond of swimming, and said the one-two-three cadence of his strokes often leads him to play a waltz in his mind. “Neurologically, it makes no difference if you’re listening to music or imagining it,” he said. “Vivid imagining activates motor parts.”

Much of the research done on music and exercise is geared toward aerobic workouts like jogging and cardio. But as anyone who has heard Metallica blasting from a weight room stereo knows, music is a motivator in strength training, too. “The vast majority of bodybuilders are fans of heavy metal, if not in their personal life at least in the gym,” said Shawn Perine, a senior writer at Flex magazine. Loud, aggressive music, he said, “keeps you elevated, especially in between sets.”

Mr. Perine prefers to work out to hip-hop. “Let’s say you’ve done a grueling set of squats,” he said. “You’re out of breath, and L. L. Cool J’s ‘Mama Said Knock You Out’ comes on. Your energy won’t flag.”

But is there a perfect workout track, a song that transcends exercise forms and personal preferences? One comes up repeatedly: “Gonna Fly Now,” the theme from “Rocky.” In a forthcoming book on music and sport that he contributed to, Dr. Karageorghis writes that the song “evokes a state of optimism and excitement in the listener,” and Ms. Goldberg said it helped her get through her first marathon. The band from Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School in Brooklyn has set up along the New York City Marathon route and performed the “Rocky” theme for runners each race day for the last 30 years.

Bill Conti, the song’s composer, shed light on why it continues to motivate. "I put a Da-Da! in the beginning,” Mr. Conti said. “any kind of Da-Da! gets your attention. Then it goes into a tune we’ve heard played so weepily throughout the movie, but now I put a beat behind it and put it in a major key.” When Rocky runs up the museum steps, musically, Mr. Conti said, “I am milking it as much as I can.”

Still, Mr. Conti is reluctant to overanalyze it. “Music is anti-intellectual,” he said. “We know the Greeks went into battle listening to music in the Dorian mode. I can only imagine some Greek guy said, ‘This works.’ ”