The Effects of Preferred Music and Its Timing on Performance, Pacing, and Psychophysiological Responses During the 6-min Test

Nidhal Jebabli; Hassane Zouhal; Daniel Boullosa; Karuppasamy Govindasamy; Claire Tourny; Anthony C Hackney; Urs Granacher; Abderraouf Ben Abderrahman

doi:10.2478/hukin-2022-0038

The Effects of Preferred Music and Its Timing on Performance, Pacing, and Psychophysiological Responses During the 6-min Test

J Hum Kinet. 2022 Apr 26:82:123-133. doi: 10.2478/hukin-2022-0038. eCollection 2022 Apr.

Authors

Nidhal Jebabli^{1

2}, Hassane Zouhal^{3

4}, Daniel Boullosa^{5

6

7}, Karuppasamy Govindasamy⁸, Claire Tourny⁹, Anthony C Hackney¹⁰, Urs Granacher¹¹, Abderraouf Ben Abderrahman¹

Affiliations

¹ Higher Institute of Sport and Physical Education of Ksar-Said, University of Manouba, Manouba, Tunisia.
² Research Unit, Sportive Performance and Physical Rehabilitation, High Institute of Sports and Physical Education of Kef, University of Jendouba, Kef, Tunisia.
³ University of Rennes, M2S (Laboratoire Mouvement, Sport, Santé) -EA 1274, F-35000 Rennes, France.
⁴ Institut International des Sciences du Sport (2I2S), 35850, Irodouer, France.
⁵ INISA, Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande, Brazil.
⁶ Sport and Exercise Science, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia.
⁷ Research and Development Department, iLOAD Solutions, Campo Grande, Brazil.
⁸ Department of Physical Education & Sports Science, Srm Institute Of Science And Technology, Kattankulathur, Tamilnadu, India.
⁹ EA 3832 CETAPS, University of Rouen, Rouen France.
¹⁰ Department of Exercise & Sport Science, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
¹¹ Division of Training and Movement Sciences, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of listening to preferred music during a warm up or exercise, on performance during a 6-min all-out exercise test (6-MT) in young adult males. Twenty-five healthy males volunteered to participate in this study. Following a within subject design, participants performed three test conditions (MDT: music during the test; MDW: music during the warm-up; WM: without music) in random order. Outcomes included mean running speed over the 6-min test (MRS6), total distance covered (TDC), heart rate responses (HR_peak, HR_mean), blood lactate (3-min after the test), and the rating of perceived exertion (RPE); additionally, feeling scale scores were recorded. Listening to preferred music during running resulted in significant TDC (Δ↑10%, p=0.006, ES=0.80) and MRS6 (Δ↑14%, p=0.012, ES=1.02) improvement during the 6-MT, improvement was also noted for the warm-up with music condition (TDC:Δ↑8%, p=0.028, ES=0.63; MRS6:Δ↑8%, p=0.032, ES=0.61). A similar reverse "J-shaped" pacing profile was detected during the three conditions. Blood lactate was lower in the MDT condition by 8% (p=0.01, ES=1.10), but not the MDW condition, compared to MW. In addition, no statistically significant differences were found between the test sessions for the HR, RPE, and feeling scale scores. In conclusion, listening to music during exercise testing would be more beneficial for optimal TDC and MRS6 performances compared to MDW and WM.

Keywords: aerobic exercise; blood lactate; rating of perceived exertion; work-rate distribution.