Listening to Music During Exercise May Increase Fat Loss!

When we think of a “fat burner,” typically what comes to mind is something we ingest, like a pill or powder.

However, science has shown usÂ that a whole other realm ofÂ fatÂ fightersÂ exists that don’t come in a bottle. Among the most potent of these unconventional diet supplements, according to recent research, is music.

The fact that we’re influenced by music should come as no surprise. Those who exercise to music have long recognized the intoxicating power of an adrenaline-boosting song.

But recent studies show that music does more than just get us going or “pump us up.” It may actually alter the body’s physiology, or as Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Famer Carlos Santana puts it, “rearrange the molecular structure of the listener.”

Faster-Paced Music Fuels Fat Loss

The most recent of these studies investigating this peculiar phenomenon comes from the Department of Life Sciences at England’s Nottingham Trent University. In this study, published last year in the Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness, Dr. Attila Szabo and colleagues set out to investigate whether musical tempo and its manipulation during exercise affect maximal workload (measured in watts) achieved during progressive cycling.

To test this, the researchers recruited 24 male and female college students and had them each cycle in five separate test sessions that included exercising to no music (the control group); slow music; fast music; slow-to-fast music; and finally fast-to-slow music. In the last two conditions, musical tempo was changed when the participant’s heart rate reached 70 percent of maximum.

In all the test sessions, the participants started to cycle at 50 watts and then the workload was increased in increments of 25 watts every minute until self-declared exhaustion. Maximal-effort cycling was defined as the workload at the last completed minute of exercise.

According to Dr. Szabo, results showed that a significantly higher workload was accomplished when the participants worked out to progressively “faster-paced” music. “The participants referred the slow-to-fast music sessions more than the other sessions,” says Dr. Szabo.

“Switching to slow-to-fast music during progressive exercise results in the accomplishment of more work (and increased fat burning) without proportional changes in heart rate.”

Whether these effects are due to an actual “rearrangement of the molecular structure” of the exerciser or simply to distraction from fatigue isn’t clear. What is apparent, however, is the powerful effect progressively faster paced music can have on increasing exercise workload.

Of course, consistency is the key to achieving greater fat-loss results with music. If done consistently over a period of weeks, listening to progressively faster-paced, uplifting music during your workouts could very well be associated with increased cardiovascular conditioning, but greater fat loss, as well.