Motivation!

Last semester for my biomechanics class I had to go and sit through four presentations by graduates of the exercise science program for extra credit. Types of music on motivation and exercise intensity while running on a treadmill, this is the research that interested me the most out of the four presentations. This presentation was done by Megan. The purpose of her study was to test and find out whether or not music had an influence on peoples motivations and their psychological demands during exercise, more specifically while running on a treadmill.

The test was done over a three week period, where the participants in this study ran on a treadmill in the lab for fifteen minutes, for four different sessions. The participants consisted of active healthy college males and females. During each session that the participant ran on the treadmill, different music was played to see if the different types of music changed the participant’s motivation while running. The different types of music that were played were rock, hip-hop, pop and no music. To test the students demands and motivation, their heart rate was monitored, as well as the RPE. In addition the heart rate and RPE at the end of each running session a motivational questionnaire, and an IMI (intrinsic motivations invitatory), were given to each participant.

What Megan’s study found was that the participants were more motivated listening to any type of music then listening to no music at all. Furthermore, she found no significant difference in the motivation levels between the different types of music.

I find her results to be very interesting. In my opinion I know that I put in a much better workout at the gym, when I have my iPod then when I forget my iPod at home. Furthermore I know that when a country music song comes on my iPod when I am running, I am less motivated to run then when one of my hip hop or R&B song comes on. I feel that if her research could have gone on longer then she might have seen better results.