Music ergogenic effect on strength performance: randomized clinical test

Abstract

Background: Using preferred music during the exercise series was a differentiated way to increase muscle performance and fatigue slowdown, increasing the number of repetitions in these exercises. Despite of some studies present the effects of music, there is still a little music influence in strength training. Objectives: Verify the music effect on the strength performance in young adults, and the relation with the preferences of muscular grouping according to gender. Methods: a cross-sectional, controlled and crossover study was carried out with 20 physically active young adult participants (10 men). After previous laboratory evaluations, they underwent two exercise sessions, one experimental, where the participant performed 3 maximum series of exercises Barbell Curl and Leg Extensor seat listening to songs of their own choosing and another control session without music, adopting the series with greater repetition in each exercise for analysis. A minimum interval of 48 hours was adopted between each session. The protocol order (i.e. with music or without music) was made by the raffle. In the sessions, participants were asked to perform the maximum number of repetitions at 80% of the load determined in the laboratory. Results: The use of their preferred music significantly increased the number of repetitions in the two exercises, however, the preferences for muscular clusters characterized by the genders proved to be a determining variable. Conclusion: With the increasing of repetitions it was possible to observe an ergogenic resource to increase the performance in strength training, thus, a differentiated performance pattern was found between men and women in arm exercises when they use music.