Running, or jogging has become synonymous with a healthy lifestyle. The trend has become more and more popular, and running is undoubtedly an activity that can boost your health index with amazingly quick results. When the Walkman was invented, people started listening to music while running, thereby claiming it helped them get better results and improved their performance. They also claimed it helped them stay focused for longer and added even more enjoyment to the activity. Recent studies claim almost three-quarters of runners now listen to music while jogging. Other runners consider using headphones as sacrilege and point towards the dangers of running on the roads without being able to hear what’s going on around. This has, in fact, become a hot debate among fans since the advent of the headphones era.  Let’s take a good look at the advantages of listening to music while running.

1: Improves Motivation

All runners experience a dip in motivation at some point or other. It’s hard to force yourself into action if you aren’t motivated enough. Music is a great motivator, so grab your earphones, plug them into your smartphone and hit the play button. You can create a playlist, so you don’t have to keep changing the song, and you will feel a flow of subliminal power surge through your body almost immediately. Music plays a vital role in motivating athletes while training and the right music can set you off with a positive mindset, ready to tackle that dreaded training run. It also elevates positive aspects of your mood, including excitement and happiness. Furthermore, it reduces harmful elements like tension, confusion and fatigue. Listening to your favourite music helps you to get fired up and better prepared you for your subsequent goal. You should listen to uplifting, upbeat music that fits your running tempo. You don’t want to be listening to sad, slow-beat love songs while running up that hill!

2: High Tempo, Fast Paced

A high tempo and fast-paced song will help you run faster. Although a few runners still prefer running without any headphones, so they can concentrate on their foot strikes and breathing techniques, others have found listening to music achieves better results for them. If you do it right, music will improve your breathing techniques significantly. When the beat of the music matches the runner’s heartbeat and tempo, it can improve results significantly when compared with previous results with a different rhythm, or even without music. You should use fast beat music of 120 beats per minute or more for high intensity running, and slower music for longer runs. Listening to the right song may actually reduce your recovery time after a hard workout.

3: Music makes it much easier to cope

Whether getting in shape for summer or taking part in a marathon, it is hard to remain on track. Music makes it easier, so why not take advantage of it? Listening to your favourite music while you are running reduces exertion levels and increases your feelings of being in the right zone and frame of mind. Stimulating your brain with positive activity such as music can effectively block internal stimuli including fatigue transmitted to your body when you are running. Reducing your perception of how exhausted you feel means your running can last longer and you can run faster. Boosting the volume to the max during your workout can help the most strenuous exercise, especially running.

4: Multiple positive effects backed by studies

Adequate studies point towards the positive effects of music while running. They show that music can increase your concentration, lower your mental perception of effort, and provide you with ongoing stimulus. Music makes running more relaxed, more enjoyable and can increase your physical performance by over 15%. Brain MRI studies show that when upbeat and loud music is played, athletes and runners show a marked increase in activity in the ascending reticular activating system, and that translates in faster, and more extensive efforts with far less perceived physical effort. It is evident that music really does improve your running performance, help you run more often, and faster than before. So what are you waiting for to create that playlist and start running?