The Relationship Between Exercise Intensity and Preferred Music Intensity

Self-selected music intensity (i.e., volume) and perceived music usefulness were examined across a range of exercise intensities that were standardized around ventilatory threshold (VT). The influence of gender and athletic status (i.e., athletes vs. recreational exercisers) was also explored. Participants were male (n = 23) and female (n = 19) volunteers; 18 were recreational exercisers, and 24 were collegiate athletes. Participants completed a maximal treadmill graded exercise test (GXT) while listening to motivational music. Participants controlled the music volume, and could adjust it at any time during the GXT. Ratings of music usefulness were collected at 1-min intervals throughout the test. It was expected that both music intensity and perceived music usefulness would be highest at or immediately after VT, and lowest at the extreme beginning and end of the test. This quadratic trend was confirmed by our results. Recreational exercisers preferred louder music than athletes, and made more volume adjustments at points beyond VT. No gender differences were observed for music intensity. Music was perceived as increasingly useful up until the point of VT, after which ratings plateaued and then declined during cool-down; however, a gender x task intensity interaction revealed that whereas males followed a clear quadratic trend, females rated music as increasingly useful until the end point of the GXT. The results of this study are supportive of the information processing framework. Individual differences in preferred music intensity and use of music should be considered in future investigations.