6 Surprising Benefits Of Music On Your Running Performance

Guest post from Zac Green, editor-in-chief over at popular music blog ZingInstruments.com.

Even if you’re not a competitive runner, you’ll still want to get the best running performance you can. Regardless of whether you need to go faster, further or just need to get going, listening to music at the same time can help you with that. In fact, there are many surprising benefits of music on your running performance. 

Get off the mark quicker

Choosing to listen to music over running in silence can improve the explosive strength of your legs, which can be helpful for shaving those precious milliseconds off of your time.

This benefit isn’t restricted to the beginning of a run. With every stride, you’re pushing off the ground and listening to music leads to faster speed of movement and acceleration at this part of the movement - translating to greater overall speed throughout an entire run.

Ignore lactic acid buildup

Even if you’re more of a long distance runner than a sprinter, listening to music has plenty of benefits. One of the hardest parts of long distance running is powering through the ache in your legs before your endorphins have a chance to kick in or after it’s become too much.

Thankfully, listening to music can suppress the sensation of pain and help you keep running in spite of it for longer than you would normally be able to thanks to its endurance enhancing effects.

Improved oxygen circulation

Your ability to run relies on many different systems and parts of the body, and if any one of these is underdeveloped compared to the rest it will bottleneck your running performance.

Depending on the type of music you’re listening to, it can lead to an increase or decrease in heart rate, breathing rate and variability of these.

If you need a quick performance boost, using uptempo music can help you to overclock your cardiovascular system for a short while. 

Similarly, after you’re finished, listening to calming music can help you reset back to normal faster.

Beat personal records

It makes sense that the increase in physical performance can help you perform better than you have done previously - but music can also help you by giving you the mental boost you need to break through what you thought were your limits simply by choosing music that feels ‘motivating’.

Keep boredom away

Long distance running, even on the most scenic cross country route can get a little stale sometimes. The more monotonous you feel the experience is, the worse you’re going to do. Either you won’t go the distance because you just want it to be over, or you’ll notice every unpleasant sensation far more than you would otherwise.

By listening to music you can keep your mind distracted from all of this. This will help you to run regularly and to go further and faster when you do.

Consistent pacing

Keeping an even speed throughout your run will help you to benchmark your performance and track improvements more easily.

By using a playlist with a steady beat, you can match your speed to that. If you’re trying to beat a previous record, music with more beats per minute (bpm) can help you too, as you will unconsciously run faster.

There are many more benefits of music on your running performance aside from these, but by this point you’ve probably noticed that it’s never a bad idea to have a playlist loaded up with songs that you love every time you put on your running shoes.