Many people engage in physical exercise while listening to music, often without realizing that combining exercise and music offers numerous benefits. Here are several advantages of listening to music during workouts, as reported by the MSN website:
**Motivation to Increase Effort**
Coach Costas Karageorghis from Brunel University London states that music is a remedy for athletes; it encourages them to exert more effort and decreases their sense of fatigue, potentially enhancing their endurance by up to 15%.
**Pain Reduction**
A study conducted in 2013 at McGill University found that listening to music reduces the need for opioid medications for post-surgical pain. Experts suggest that while music is not a substitute for medication in chronic pain management, it can distract you from normal aches and pains during exercise.
**Natural Enhancement of Happiness**
Music naturally boosts dopamine, the neurotransmitter that activates your brain's reward system. Listening to music while working out can provide a dose of dopamine, leading to a feeling of relaxation. At the same time, exercise enhances serotonin, a neurotransmitter that improves mood.
**Reduction of Stress and Anxiety**
Listening to appropriate music during a workout or yoga session can help you relax and reap the benefits of relaxation throughout the rest of your day. According to a 2013 review published in "Trends in Cognitive Sciences," listening to music can decrease stress levels.
**Immune System Boost**
As mentioned, music has been shown to improve mood and reduce stress, which positively affects the body’s immune system.
**Brain Exercise**
While you’re working out your body, why not engage your mind as well? According to Professor Daniel J. Levitin, musical activity involves nearly every area of the brain and every subsystems. One part of your brain decodes pitch and rhythm while other parts are stimulated by the lyrics.
