The Role of Music During Exercise and Before Competition By: Patrick MacLennan Introduction Lots of people listen to music while exercising or before a competition. What are the qualities of that music and what are their emotional responses to it? Highlights from Lit Review My literature review focused on: Music accompanying exercise: preferred styles and qualities of the music. Music accompanying exercise: emotional responses. Listening to music prior to competition and emotional responses. Music accompanying exercise: qualities of the music Rock, pop, and new wave music were often listed as genres people choose while exercising. Music already known helped predict exercise intensity and duration (it increased). Lyrics were sometimes listed as essential. Importance of rhythmical features having a good beat One of the participants believed there is a natural human characteristic that if someone has a good rhythm and beat, then there is a desire to keep up with that. - Priest & Karageorghis (2008). Music accompanying exercise: emotional responses Music motivates people during aerobic exercise and provides a distraction from any discomfort. When listening to motivational music while exercising, people often feel alert. Motivating music may evoke images of inspirational events or even movies like Rocky. Listening to music before competition Michael Phelps (MARTIN BUREAU/AFP/GettyImages) Objective The purpose of this investigation was to find out the qualities of the music people choose while exercising and to determine how that music makes them feel while exercising and before a sports-related competition. Methodology The authors of the articles included in my literature review used questionnaires and interview methods to get their results. If I were to conduct my own study, I would take a semi-structured interview approach as this method allows flexibility and unexpected data could emerge. THE END