Music and Exercise

This story in the NYT talks about the effects of listening to music while exercising. 

Some snips:

. . . The up-tempo music didn’t mask the discomfort of the exercise. But it seemed to motivate them to push themselves. As the researchers wrote, when “the music was played faster, the participants chose to accept, and even prefer, a greater degree of effort.” . . . 

. . . In fact, it’s music’s dual ability to distract attention (a psychological effect) while simultaneously goosing the heart and the muscles (physiological impacts) that makes it so effective during everyday exercise. Multiple experiments have found that music increases a person’s subjective sense of motivation during a workout, and also concretely affects his or her performance. The resulting interactions between body, brain and music are complex and intertwined. . .

. . . “Our bodies,” Dr. Kraus concluded, “are made to be moved by music and move to it.”