The Effects of Fast Rhythm Music on Perceived Exertion Rate and Performance during Progressive Exercise in Trained and Untrained Individuals

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of listening to music during progressive exercises on perceived exertion rate and performance as well as to evaluate the effects of fitness differences on the effectiveness of music. Twenty four healthy students (training group n=12, mean age =23.2±2.06 and untrained group n=12, mean age =22.96±2.31) voluntarily participated in this study. In the first session, participants were made familiar with the way of test performance and its evaluation instruments and took part in the Bruce Test while some were randomly selected to listen to music and some not to listen to music. In the second session, those selected to listen to music, took part in the test without listening to music and vice versa. The result of MANOVA revealed that the effects of music on RPE and time to exhaustion is significant (P<0.05). In addition, the survey of the interaction between music and fitness showed that music had a significant effect on RPE but it had no significant effect on the time to exhaustion. Paired-sample t test revealed that music had a significant effect on RPE in trained as well as untrained subjects. But the subtraction of t values showed that the effects of music on RPE were more significant in the untrained subjects. The results suggest that using the music in progressive exercises would be positively effective on performance and psychological view, regardless of the level of fitness.