Last week, more than half of the female Keene State College population, including myself, visited the Spaulding Gymnasium.
Climbing the stairs I felt the anxiety many girls feel as they approach the small cardio room on the second floor. Will I even get a machine? Will I get on a broken treadmill unaware and embarrass myself?
I had just downloaded Beyonce’s “Visual Album” and planned to sweat until I played “Partition” one too many times. Alas, there was not one available machine.
Have you seen Mean Girls? Who hasn’t. This small gym was the equivalent of the “animal world” Katy Heron daydreams of in the cafeteria when regular people take on animal hunting instincts and begin fighting like large cats.
Girls in yoga pants (how does anyone workout in pants anyway?) hovered over soon-to-be available machines and stalked the aisles glaring at girls already sweating on the few coveted treadmills and ellipticals. I never got on a machine that afternoon. I did go back later in the evening, only to face one of my worst fears: yes, the elliptical I finally snatched broke. With me on it.
Matt Sayles / AP Photo:
Beyonce, left, and Jay-Z perform “Drunk in Love” at the 56th annual Grammy Awards at Staples Center on Sunday, Jan. 26, 2014, in Los Angeles. Beyonce’s recently released “Visual Album” holds a series of tracks fit for working out.
I stray from my point. Really, I wanted some time at the gym, just me, Yonce, Jay-Z and Blue Ivy. I knew this album would keep me on the machine for a good hour.
There is a relationship with fitness and music—and it’s a good relationship to be in. I have yet to be disappointed with it.
Costas Karageorphis, Ph.D. is known to be one of the world’s leading authorities on music and exercise from London’s Brunel University School of Sport and Education.
According to Karageorphis, music is an athlete’s “legal drug.” The researcher explained in an article for the American Council for Exercise that his studies show music can not only speed and intensify a workout, it can actually build endurance by as much as 15 percent. As the body endures more—moves more, it needs something to keep it in motion.
Music. Studies show that just a simple beat establishes synchronization. In a current study published in the Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 30 subjects synchronized their pace to the tempo of music. Subjects were given a choice of either pop or rock music. The result: Karageorphis’s 15 percent endurance claim.
“The synchronous application of music resulted in much higher endurance while the motivational qualities of the music impacted significantly on the interpretation of fatigue symptom,” Karageorghis reported.
As fitness and health grow in spotlight and priority, this music-exercise relationship gets easier.
It’s 2006 in Manhattan, New York City, and the ever popular SoulCycle has begun. SoulCycle is indoor cycling, with a greater purpose than just aiming to tone your legs and glutes.
One thing that makes SoulCycle so popular and so successful is their music playlists. Every trainer has a playlist, and many are featured on the commercial music streaming services like Spotify.
Janet Fitzgerald, a master instructor and senior training officer for SoulCycle said blood-pumping music is one reason her clients not only see results, but have fun on the journey.
In an interview with Elle Magazine, Fitzgerald named music as “everything” in regards to a good workout.
“The music should do the pushing. It should feel like you’re climbing a hill or running downhill a million miles an hour. Music connects people on a soul level as well as on a physical level,” she said. Fitzgerald’s playlists include a variety of music, from Lil Wayne to Youngblood Hawke to old school rock-and-roll.
Whether you are on a bike or a treadmill or pounding a trail in the great outdoors, Fitzgerald said creating a playlist that pushes your physical endurance is essential to a successful workout.
“Pick something that will make you want to jog it out or go faster. It provides built-in intervals to vary your pace. So your body has an opportunity to flush out the lactic acid and get your energy back up after a big hill. The next day, you’ll feel longer, leaner, tighter; not locked up and sore,” the cycle guru said.
According to NBC’s The Today Show, Macklemore’s hit song “Can’t Hold Us,” has been named the 2013 top workout song in the world. Fitness Magazine named “Can’t Hold Us” their number one song, as well, with a list that also includes Macklemore’s “Thrift Shop,” “Wake Me Up” by Avicii, “‘Til I Collapse,” by Eminem, “Stronger,” by Kanye West and “We Found Love,” by Calvin Harris, to name a few.
Kanye West’s “Yeezus” album features several songs that are scattered across top workout playlists, “Black Skinhead,” being the most prevalent.
Less mainstream—remixed songs continue to hold strong star power over many gym playlists.
While I love “Can’t Hold Us” as much as the rest of the world, apparently, the Big Gigantic remix to Macklemore’s hit single has more plays on my “Run” playlist than the original.
Some other remixes I have scattered through my gym playlists include Ratatat’s “Party and Bullshit,” the Calvin Harris and Florence Welch’s “Sweet Nothing” remix from Tiesto, and Caked Up’s “Wrecking Ball.”
Matt Sayles / AP Photo:
Macklemore performs “Can’t Hold Us” at the MTV Movie Awards in Sony Pictures Studio Lot in Culver City, Calif. Macklemore and Ryan Lewis are top contenders at the Jan. 26, 2014, Grammy Awards, with seven nominations, including best new artist and song of the year for “Same Love.”
I press play on Girl Talk’s album, “Feed the Animals,” for longer runs, while Beyonce and the brilliant lyrics of Childish Gambino keep me on the machines.
The affect music has on the brain is undeniable. I may not have even made plans to spend the afternoon at the gym had I not just downloaded an hour of new music. This relationship proves an advantage to our health—an assistant to our fitness goals. With playlists already available on iTunes and Spotify, intensifying and enjoying your next workout will be as effortless as pushing “play.” Let’s not spend another year fighting fitness and instead find ways to enjoy it. With new music to push you, the only uphill battle you have left to face is the incline on the treadmill and the resistance on the elliptical.
That is, if you can find a machine.
Julie Conlon can be contacted at jconlon@keene-equinox.com