The Effect Of Background Music On The Rating Of Perceived Exertion Heart Rate And Duration Of Exercise During Treadmill Work PDF Download

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to determine if listening to self selected music while running on a treadmill would have an effect on time to exhaustion and RPE in male and female runners. SUBJECTS: Seventeen volunteers, 6 males (x age = 25.7 + 4.0) and 11 females (x age = 21.7 + 1.3) between the ages of 18 and 35 participated in this study. Subjects had no lower extremity injury with in the last 6 months, ran 6 miles a week, and had treadmill experience. METHODS: Subjects were randomly assigned to either the music or no music test condition. All subjects were tested under both conditions three days apart. The test began with a 2 minute warm-up at 3 mph and 0% grade. The speed was increased 1 mph each minute until 80% - 85% of maximal predicted heart rate was reached. Time recording and music began when the subject maintained this heart rate for 21 seconds. The speed remained constant. RPE was recorded at one minute intervals until volitional exhaustion was reached. A 2-5 minute cool down at 3 mph and 0% grade was performed when volitional exhaustion was reached. ANALYSIS: A repeated measures ANOVA revealed a significant increase in RPE level. A Fisher Protected t LSD multiple comparisons revealed that RPE scores significantly increased throughout the test. No significant difference was found between gender and RPE level. A second ANOVA revealed significantly longer times to exhaustion when subjects ran with music than without music. No significant difference was found between male and female subjects with respect to time to exhaustion. CONCLUSION: Listening to self selected music while exercising prolongs a subject's time to exhaustion. Self selected music has no effect on RPE values reported by male and female subjects. Using music in clinical settings may increase motivation and performance.