The Power of Auditory-Motor Synchronization in Sports:
Enhancing Running Performance by Coupling Cadence
with the Right Beats
Robert Jan Bood1, Marijn Nijssen1, John van der Kamp1,2, Melvyn Roerdink1*
1 MOVE Research Institute Amsterdam, Faculty of Human Movement Sciences, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 2 Institute of Human Performance,
University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR
Abstract
Acoustic stimuli, like music and metronomes, are often used in sports. Adjusting movement tempo to acoustic stimuli (i.e.,
auditory-motor synchronization) may be beneficial for sports performance. However, music also possesses motivational
qualities that may further enhance performance. Our objective was to examine the relative effects of auditory-motor
synchronization and the motivational impact of acoustic stimuli on running performance. To this end, 19 participants ran to
exhaustion on a treadmill in 1) a control condition without acoustic stimuli, 2) a metronome condition with a sequence of
beeps matching participants’ cadence (synchronization), and 3) a music condition with synchronous motivational music
matched to participants’ cadence (synchronization+motivation). Conditions were counterbalanced and measurements were
taken on separate days. As expected, time to exhaustion was significantly longer with acoustic stimuli than without.
Unexpectedly, however, time to exhaustion did not differ between metronome and motivational music conditions, despite
differences in motivational quality. Motivational music slightly reduced perceived exertion of sub-maximal running intensity
and heart rates of (near-)maximal running intensity. The beat of the stimuli –which was most salient during the metronome
condition– helped runners to maintain a consistent pace by coupling cadence to the prescribed tempo. Thus, acoustic
stimuli may have enhanced running performance because runners worked harder as a result of motivational aspects (most
pronounced with motivational music) and more efficiently as a result of auditory-motor synchronization (most notable with
metronome beeps). These findings imply that running to motivational music with a very prominent and consistent beat
matched to the runner’s cadence will likely yield optimal effects because it helps to elevate physiological effort at a high
perceived exertion, whereas the consistent and correct cadence induced by auditory-motor synchronization helps to
optimize running economy.
Citation: Bood RJ, Nijssen M, van der Kamp J, Roerdink M (2013) The Power of Auditory-Motor Synchronization in Sports: Enhancing Running Performance by
Coupling Cadence with the Right Beats. PLoS ONE 8(8): e70758. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0070758
Editor: Ramesh Balasubramaniam, University of California, Merced, United States of America
Received January 29, 2013; Accepted June 21, 2013; Published August 7, 2013
Copyright:  2013 Bood et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits
unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Funding: The contribution of Melvyn Roerdink was supported by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO, Veni Grant 451-09-024). The
funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
* E-mail: m.roerdink@vu.nl
Introduction
On February 18th 1998, the Ethiopian athlete Haile Gebrse-
lassie astonished sport spectators when he achieved a world best
time of 4:52.86 min in the 2000 m. Shortly after the race,
Gebrselassie indicated that he had coupled his running cadence
with the beat of the pop song Scatman by the late Scatman John,
which was played throughout his race at Birmingham’s National
Indoor Arena, UK.
This anecdote of Gebrselassie and Scatman testifies to the fact
that rhythmic bodily movements are often coupled with external
acoustic stimuli, such as acoustic metronomes and music, a
phenomenon known as auditory-motor synchronization [1,2,3].
Dancing to music, for example, involves the synchronization of
whole-body movements to the beat [1]. Another striking example
is our natural tendency to tap our fingers, hands, or feet along to a
beat when listening to music [2,3,4]. In fact, research demonstrates
that even young infants spontaneously sway and wiggle around
with rhythmic acoustic stimuli [5], which supports the notion that
humans have a predisposition for auditory-motor synchronization
[5,6,7].
This apparent predisposition for auditory-motor synchroniza-
tion has led to the exploitation of acoustic rhythms as a potential
means to enhance performance in practical settings, including
rehabilitation [8,9], exercise [10,11], and sports [12,13]. With
respect to the latter, pundits and experts alike consider acoustic
rhythms particularly useful in sports that are cyclic in nature, like
running, rowing, and cycling. In coxed rowing, for example, the
coxswain in the stern coordinates the stroke rate and rhythm for
the rowers to follow. Musical tempo also dictates movement rate in
popular exercise-to-music classes, like spinning, aerobics, and
Zumba. In spinning classes for example, variations in the tempo of
the music determine the pedaling rate and thereby the work rate
(i.e., music functions as an external pacemaker).
The potential scope of auditory-motor synchronization as a
performance enhancement tool has been demonstrated by the
recent development of products that help attune musical content
to the actual or desired work rate during running, cycling, rowing,
and circuit-class training (e.g., [14,15,16,17]) as well as by recent
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scientific findings in the context of sports or exercises (i.e.,
[18,19,20,21]). Specifically, Simpson and Karageorghis demon-
strated superior performance (i.e., faster times) of 400 m sprints
completed in a synchronous music condition in comparison to a
no-music control condition [20]. Likewise, Terry and colleagues
reported longer times to volitional exhaustion with than without
synchronous music in a group of elite triathletes during high-
intensity treadmill running [21]; see also Karageorghis et al. for
similar effects in treadmill walking [19]. Karageorghis and Terry
aptly summarized these insights as follows: ‘‘When athletes work in
time to music, they often work harder for longer’’ [13]. Finally,
Bacon and colleagues found that cycle ergometry at a fixed
pedaling rate was more efficient (i.e., lower oxygen consumption)
when performed synchronously with music than when the musical
tempo was set slightly slower than a visually controlled, fixed
pedaling rate [18]. These findings underscore the potential of
synchronous
music
and
auditory-motor
synchronization
to
enhance work-rate, endurance, and efficiency in cyclic sports.
Music not only provides a stimulus for synchronization, but
often also possesses motivational qualities that may enhance
performance. The body of evidence on the beneficial effects of
motivational music in sports and exercise mainly stems from
research on the use of asynchronous, background music (i.e.,
without an explicit synchronization of movements to the beat).
Research suggests that motivational music can enhance sports
performance, for example, by lifting mood and arousal levels and
by dissociation from feelings of pain and fatigue [13]. With respect
to the latter, attending to motivational music during low-to-
moderate levels of physical exertion typically reduces perceived
exertion by roughly 10% [22]. At higher intensities, attending to
music does not reduce perceived exertion. That is, at higher
intensities music does not appear to influence what one feels (i.e., a
similarly high perceived exertion) but only how one feels it (i.e., it
positively shapes the interpretation of exertion symptoms like
fatigue and pain; cf. [13]). Interestingly, not all music seems to be
equally effective in terms of motivational quality [23]. For
example, loud, fast, percussive music with accentuated bass
frequencies has stimulative effects, which increase arousal and
associated physiological responses (e.g., heart rate). In contrast,
soft, slow music has sedative effects (i.e., reducing arousal).
Attending to such music during sports may therefore adversely
affect performance. Validated, objective methods, including the
Brunel Music Rating Inventory 2 (BMRI-2; [24]), have now also
been developed to select music that is likely to yield optimal effects
for the task at hand.
It is evident that sport and exercise performance can benefit
from synchronous motivational music in terms of ergogenic (i.e.,
work-enhancing), psychophysical (e.g., perceived exertion), and
physiological (e.g., heart rate) effects. It remains unclear, however,
whether the beneficial effects are primarily mediated by auditory-
motor synchronization, by motivational quality of music, or by a
combination of both factors. The opening anecdote concerning
Gebrselassie and Scatman highlights the potential of auditory-
motor synchronization in enhancing running performance, but
motivational quality of the pop song Scatman may also play a role.
Interestingly, in a comparative study, Terry et al. [21] observed
that elite triathletes ran 18.1% and 19.7% longer, respectively,
when running in time to motivational and motivationally-neutral
music compared to exhaustive treadmill running in a no-music
control condition (see also [20]). This observation suggests that the
motivational quality of music may be less important than the
prominence of the beat of music and the degree to which
participants are able to synchronize their movements to this beat
[21]. However, the latter was not quantified.
This study aims to examine the relative effects of auditory-
motor synchronization and motivational quality of music on
running performance. Therefore, participants will perform three
running-to-exhaustion conditions on a treadmill: 1) a control
condition without music, 2) a metronome condition with a
sequence of beeps matching participants’ cadence (synchroniza-
tion) and 3) a music condition with synchronous motivational
music matching participants’ cadence (synchronization+motiva-
tion). The effects of condition will be quantified using a set of
complementary ergogenic (time to volitional exhaustion), psycho-
physical (ratings of perceived exertion), physiological (heart rate),
and behavioral (cadence consistency) outcome measures. The
latter measure is included to assess the degree to which cadence
corresponded with the rhythmic acoustic stimuli (i.e., metronome,
music), a methodological advancement to quantify auditory-motor
synchronization that has not been embraced by past studies on
performance-enhancing
effects
of
synchronous
music
[18,19,20,21]. An increased time to exhaustion is expected for
running with acoustic stimuli (i.e., both metronome and motiva-
tional music conditions) in comparison with the control condition
without acoustic stimuli. This effect is expected because acoustic
stimuli with a tempo matching participants’ cadence promote
auditory-motor synchronization, which will likely enhance running
efficiency through a more consistent cadence. We further expect a
longer time to exhaustion for the motivational music condition
(synchronization+motivation) than for the metronome condition
(synchronization) because music not only provides a stimulus for
auditory-motor synchronization but also possesses motivational
qualities that may further enhance running performance.
Methods
Participants
To establish sample size, a power analysis for a repeated-
measures design was conducted using G*Power 3.1.6 (cf. [25]).
Based on the effect sizes reported in comparable studies (e.g.,
g2
p = 0.38
[19],
g2
p = 0.24 [20]),
the
analysis
indicated
that
minimally 16 participants for an a of 0.05 and a power of 0.80
would be required. We recruited 19 students (10 males and nine
females) from the Faculty of Human Movement Sciences, VU
University Amsterdam, to participate in the study (age: 22.5 years
of age, range 19–27 years; height: 180 cm, range 163–198 cm;
weight: 69 kg, range 50–82 kg). Participants were recreational
runners in good physical condition.
Ethics Statement
The research met all applicable standards for the ethics of
experimentation and was approved by the Ethics Committee of
the Faculty of Human Movement Sciences of VU University
Amsterdam (ECB 2010-02). Participants provided written in-
formed consent prior to the experiment.
Experimental Procedure and Setup
Participants reported to the laboratory on three occasions at the
same time of day, at least 48 h and up to one week apart. In the
pre-experimental phase of the first session, participants were
acquainted to the laboratory setting and to treadmill running.
Subsequently, belt speed was progressively increased every 30
seconds from 9 km/h upwards in a 5-min protocol. At each speed
plateau, participants were asked to estimate how long they could
maintain running at that speed. The belt speed increments
depended on participants’ estimates: +3 km/h for .120 min,
+2 km/h for 60–120 min, +1 km/h for 30–60 min, and +0.5 km/
h for 15–30 min. The test speed was defined as the speed that
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participants perceived they would be able continue running at for
7–15 min. On average, test speed was 13.25 km/h (range: 9.5–
17.5 km/h). As soon as the test speed was defined, participants
completed this 5-min protocol at 9 km/h. Subsequently, partic-
ipants rested for 15 min until the start of the experiment proper,
which was similar for all three sessions.
The experiment (see Figure 1) started with a 3-min warm-up
phase in which participants ran at 9 km/h. In the subsequent
observational phase, belt speed was increased to the test speed and
participants’ cadence was determined by counting strides for a 1-
min interval in the first two minutes at the test speed. Then,
participants were instructed to run to volitional exhaustion in one
of three experimental conditions: 1) a control condition without
acoustic stimuli, 2) a metronome condition, 3) a motivational
music condition. In the latter two conditions, participants were
additionally advised to synchronize their steps to the beat of the
acoustic stimuli, yet to give priority to running as long as possible.
Experimenters did not encourage participants. The test ended
when the participant gave a stop signal.
Prior to the motivational music condition, participants were
invited to select a song from a motivational music Top 5 (see
Table 1). This Top 5 was created as follows. First, a panel of 71
students from VU University Amsterdam were asked to list three
artists or bands that produce motivational music for high-intensity
sports, like running at high intensity. Then, from each of the top-
10 listed performers, two fast songs were selected with a beat per
minute (bpm) of 130 bpm or higher following evidence-based
recommendations for motivational music (cf. [23]). The motiva-
tional quality of the 20 selected songs was rated by an independent
panel consisting of four students (mean age: 21.75 years, range 21–
22 years) using the 6-item BMRI-2 [24]). The Top 5 comprised
the songs that received the highest average BMRI-2 rating score
(cf. Table 1).
The tempo of the motivational music and the metronome was
matched to the participant’s cadence, with a beat for each footfall
to enhance auditory-motor synchronization (cf. [26,27]). To this
end, we used disk-jockey software that enabled us to alter the
tempo of the motivational music without changing other aspects of
the music (Virtual DJ Pro, Atomix Productions) and a digital
metronome (Metronome Plus 2.0.0.1, M & M - Systeme),
respectively. Acoustic stimuli were played using a stereo system
(Akai QX5690UFX micro music system) at a standardized 80–
84 dB volume (verified with Extech HD600), which is loud but still
within acceptable noise levels for working environments [28].
Participants performed the three conditions in counterbalanced
order on separate occasions. For the exhaustion phase of the
experiment we recorded for all three conditions: 1) time to
exhaustion (TTE in seconds) using a stopwatch (Oregon Scientific
C510 Digital Stopwatch); 2) heart rate every five seconds using a
heart rate monitor (Polar S610); 3) rating of perceived exertion
(RPE) every minute using Borg’s 15-grade scale positioned at eye-
level in front of the treadmill [29]; and 4) cadence on a stride-by-
stride basis using a footswitch sensor placed under the left shoe
(sampling rate 500 Hz; MA-153 Event Switches, Motion Lab
Systems, Baton Rouge, USA).
Data Preparation, Outcome Measures and Statistical
Analysis
We selected the RPE value and the mean heart rate (averaged
over the 12 samples) corresponding to the first, central, and final 1-
minute segment of the exhaustion phase for each trial for further
statistical analyses. The data collected with the footswitch sensor
were processed using custom-written Matlab software. After
determining event onsets from the footswitch-sensor data, the
inverse of event onset intervals was taken to reconstruct cadence
time series. To increase the reliability of cadence estimates, they
were extracted from n moving windows containing 19 intervals
(i.e., 20 strides) from which the average cadence was taken (in
steps/min). From the so-obtained set of n average-cadence
observations, we quantified cadence consistency by taking the
Figure 1. Schematic overview of the experimental design, the experimental phases, and the corresponding timeline. Note that
control, metronome, and music conditions are performed in counterbalanced order on separate days, at least 48 h up to one week apart. TTE
represents time to volitional exhaustion, which may vary across conditions.
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0070758.g001
Table 1. Performer and song title of the motivational music
Top 5.
Performer
Song title
bpm
BMRI-2
#selected
@bpm
Black Eyed
Peas
Pump It
153.62
32.50
2
181
The Prodigy
Omen
140.00
31.00
7
173
DJ Tie¨sto
He’s
A Pirate
140.01
30.00
3
178
Red Hot
Chili Peppers
Higher
Ground
140.78
29.75
5
171
David Guetta
feat. Juliet
Do Something
Love
134.00
29.75
2
158
bpm indicates the song’s tempo in beats per minute as verified using Virtual DJ
Pro (Atomix Productions), BMRI-2 scores the song’s motivational quality,
#selected represents the number of times that the song was selected by
participants and @bpm indicates the average played tempo of the song to
match participants’ cadence.
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0070758.t001
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mean absolute difference between each of the n average-cadence
observations and the average cadence of the observation phase
preceding the exhaustion phase of the experiment (cf. Figure 1).
Note that the tempo of the acoustic stimuli was also based on the
observed cadence recorded during the observation phase.
The so-obtained TTE, cadence-consistency, RPE, and heart-
rate data were first checked for univariate outliers (using an
absolute z-score criterion of 3.29) as well as normality to ensure
that parametric analyses were appropriate. Repeated-measures
ANOVAs with the within-subjects factor Condition (three levels:
control, metronome, music) were performed for TTE and cadence
consistency, with post-hoc paired-samples t-tests for significant
main effects. Repeated-measures ANOVAs with the within-
subjects factors Condition (three levels) and Segment (three levels:
first, central, final 60-sec segments of the exhaustion phase) were
performed for RPE and heart rate, again with post-hoc paired-
samples t-tests for significant main or interaction effects. In view of
the fact that participants are expected to run longer in the two
acoustic stimuli conditions than in the control condition, we
furthermore conducted Condition6Time repeated-measures ANO-
VAs for RPE and heart-rate data. To this end, RPE and heart-rate
values of the metronome and music conditions were anchored to
the specific time points of the first, central, and final 60-sec
segments of the control condition. Degrees of freedom were
adjusted when the sphericity assumption was violated, using either
Huynh-Feldt (if Greenhouse-Geisser e.0.75) or Greenhouse-
Geisser (if Greenhouse-Geisser e,0.75) adjustments [30]. Partial
eta squared (g2
p) was used to determine effect size. Because effects
of conditions on RPE and heart rate are generally subtle in nature,
we also determined Cohen’s d effect sizes for both acoustic stimuli
conditions against the control condition (see Terry et al. [21]).
Results
The statistical analyses for cadence consistency were based on
16 out of 19 participants as the data from three participants were
not available for the ANOVA due to a malfunctioning footswitch
sensor in one or more conditions.
Time to Exhaustion was Longer with than without
Acoustic Stimuli
The time to exhaustion differed significantly across conditions
(F(2, 36) = 5.05, p = 0.012, g2
p = 0.219; Figure 2a). Compared to the
control condition (TTE = 624 seconds), participants ran signifi-
cantly longer with acoustic stimuli (metronome: TTE = 746
seconds,
t(18) = 2.97,
p = 0.008,
music:
TTE = 733
seconds,
t(18) = 2.43, p = 0.026). The time to exhaustion did not differ
significantly
between
metronome
and
music
conditions
(t(18) = 0.318, p = 0.75).
Cadence was most Consistent in the Metronome
Condition
Cadence consistency differed significantly across conditions (F(2,
30) = 3.84, p = 0.033, g2
p = 0.204; Figure 2b). Cadence consistency
differed
significantly
between
control
(4.33
steps/min)
and
metronome (2.90 steps/min, t(15) = 2.30, p = 0.036) conditions.
The difference in cadence consistency between control (4.33 steps/
min) and music (3.17 steps/min) conditions was non-significant
(t(15) = 1.78, p = 0.095). Cadence consistency did not differ
significantly
between
metronome
and
music
conditions
(t(15) = 0.876, p = 0.39).
Perceived Exertion and Heart Rate Revealed that
Participants Ran to Exhaustion in all Conditions
A significant main effect of Segment was observed for both RPE
and heart rate (F(1.15, 20.68) = 70.94, p,0.001, g2
p = 0.798 and
F(1.09, 19.57) = 51.09, p,0.001, g2
p = 0.739, respectively). Post-
hoc analysis for RPE and heart rate revealed significant differences
between each segment (all t(18)9s.6.58, all p9s ,0.001; Figure 3).
No main or interaction effects involving the Condition factor were
observed
(all
F9s ,1.99,
all p9s.0.151,
all g2
p9s
,0.100).
Nevertheless, close inspection of Figure 3 suggests that RPE and
heart rate tend to vary somewhat across conditions. Indeed, small-
to-moderate reductions in RPE were observed for the first
(metronome:
d = 20.30;
music:
d = 20.45)
and
the
central
segment (metronome: d = 20.21; music: d = 20.43), but not for
the final segment (metronome: d = 0.13; music: d = 20.10; see also
Figure 3a). Furthermore, small-to-moderate increments in heart
rate were observed for the final (metronome: d = 0.28; music:
d = 0.49) and the central segment (metronome: d = 0.17; music:
d = 0.35), but not for the first segment (metronome: d = 0.02;
music: d = 0.20; see also Figure 3b).
When anchoring RPE values of the metronome and music
conditions to the time points of the three segments of the control
condition, we observed a significant main effect for Condition
(F(1.88, 33.91) = 7.708, p = 0.002, g2
p = 0.300), with post-hoc
analyses revealing that RPE was significantly lower in the music
condition (15.9) than in the control condition (17.1; t(18) = 1.281,
p = 0.02). RPE for the metronome condition (16.4) did not differ
significantly from control and music conditions (t(18) = 0.754,
p = 0.08 and t(18) = 0.526, p = 0.165, respectively). Furthermore, a
significant main effect for Time was observed (F(2, 36) = 70.079,
p,0.001, g2
p = 0.796); similar to the main analyses, RPE values
increased significantly as a function of time (all t(18)9s.2.018, p9s
,0.001). The Condition 6 Time interaction was non-significant
(F(2.26, 40.66) = 1.014, p = 0.380, g2
p = 0.053). Anchoring heart-
rate values of metronome and music conditions to the time points
of the three segments of the control condition again resulted in a
significant main effect Time (F(1.04, 18.66) = 44.61, p,0.001,
g2
p = 0.713; heart rate increased significantly as a function of time
[all t(18)9s.3.25, p9s ,0.001]). Main and interaction effects
involving the factor Condition were non-significant (F(2, 36) = 0.814,
p = 0.451, g2
p = 0.043; F(2.00, 35.99) = 1.946, p = 0.158, g2
p = 0.098,
respectively).
Discussion
The current experiment sought to examine the relative effects of
the motivational quality of music and auditory-motor synchroni-
zation with the beat on running performance. Participants ran to
exhaustion on a treadmill without acoustic stimuli (control
condition), with a metronome beat matched to participants’
cadence (synchronization), and with motivational music with a
beat that matched participants’ cadence (synchronization+motiva-
tion). Time to exhaustion differed significantly across conditions.
In line with our hypothesis we found that the time to exhaustion
was longer in the metronome and motivational music conditions
than in the control condition without acoustic stimulation.
Specifically, participants ran approximately two minutes longer
with acoustic stimuli in comparison with a control condition
(Figure 2a). Comparable effects have recently been reported for
elite triathletes who were instructed to run to self-selected
synchronous motivational music, synchronous oudeterous music
(i.e., motivationally neutral music) and in a no-music control
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condition ([21] see also [19] for a similar study on treadmill
walking to exhaustion). Time to exhaustion was longer with than
without music, regardless of its motivational quality. In combina-
tion, these results suggest that the motivational quality of music
Figure 2. TTE in seconds (A) and cadence consistency in steps/min (B) data of the exhaustion phase for control (black), metronome
(dark gray), and motivational music (light gray) conditions. Error bars represent the standard error while asterisks indicate significant
differences across conditions.
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0070758.g002
Figure 3. Perceived exertion (A) and heart rate (B) data for the first, central, and final 1-minute segments of the exhaustion phase
for control (black), metronome (dark gray), and motivational music (light gray) conditions. Error bars represent the standard error. RPE
and heart rate of each segment differed significantly from each other.
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0070758.g003
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may be less important than the prominence of the beat of music,
which allows participants to synchronize their pace to the
prescribed tempo of the acoustic stimulus. We additionally
expected differential effects of the two acoustic stimuli conditions
on time to exhaustion in view of the clear difference in
motivational quality between metronome and motivational-music
conditions. However, this was not the case (Figure 2a). In the
following, we will discuss motivation, synchronization, and
dissociation effects associated with the two types of acoustic
stimuli on psychophysical (e.g., perceived exertion), physiological
(e.g., heart rate), and behavioral (e.g., cadence consistency)
outcome measures to explain why we did not find the expected
superior time to exhaustion for the synchronous motivational
music condition (i.e., synchronization+motivation).
Psychophysical and Physiological outcome Measures are
Affected more by Motivational Music than by
Metronomes
With regard to psychophysical outcome measures, Terry and
colleagues [21] recently reported evidence for lower perceived
exertion during sub-maximal running to neutral and motivational
music compared to a control condition without music (Cohen’s d-
values ranging from 0.19 to 0.39). In the present study, ratings of
perceived exertion varied significantly with Segment (Figure 3a).
Similar to Terry et al. [21], we found indications for small-to-
moderate reductions in perceived exertion with acoustic stimuli,
particularly for the first 1-minute segment of sub-maximal
running, and most prominently, for motivational music (i.e.,
d = 20.45). This segment-dependent effect is in agreement with
previous studies, which indicate that motivational music reduced
perceived exertion for sub-maximal intensities [19,31] but not for
maximal intensities [22,32,33]. We further observed that the
physiological outcome measure heart rate was affected by acoustic
stimuli. In the final, near-maximal segment (Figure 3b), small-to-
moderate increments in heart rate were observed with acoustic
stimuli, particularly during the final 1-minute segment and again
most prominently for the motivational music condition (i.e.,
d = 0.49).
The combined effects of acoustic stimuli on psychophysical and
physiological outcome measures suggest that for a given sub-
maximal heart rate (as observed for the first segment) the presence
of acoustic stimuli lowered participants’ perceived exertion, a
finding in line with Terry and colleagues [21]. Interestingly, for a
given (near-)maximal perceived exertion (as observed for the final
segment) the presence of acoustic stimuli may have helped to
elevate the attainable physiological load (i.e., higher heart rate).
With acoustic stimuli, and in particular with motivational music,
participants appeared to be able to work at a higher intensity
(higher heart rate at the final segment) for longer (increased TTE)
at a comparably high-level rating of perceived exertion. When
RPE values were anchored to the time points of the three segments
of the control condition, we indeed found that attending to
acoustic stimuli reduced perceived exertion considerably, again
most prominently for the motivational music condition. This effect
was present at all three time points of the running-to-exhaustion
phase. Consistent with previous studies on the control of
physiological strain during strenuous endurance exercises (e.g.,
[34]), these findings suggest that athletes actively regulate their
relative physiological strain, that is, relative to their perceived
exertion. Assuming similar auditory-motor synchronization effects
for both acoustic pacing conditions, one would therefore expect a
superior effect of the synchronous motivational music condition on
the time to exhaustion (allowing participants to work harder for
longer) because motivational music had a stronger effect on
physiological and psychophysical outcome measures than the
metronome given the evident difference in motivational quality
between metronome beeps and motivational music. This was,
however, not the case, implying that other performance enhancing
factors were involved that were - as discussed in the following two
paragraphs - seemingly: 1) more effective for the metronome
condition
than
for
the
motivational
music
condition
(i.e.,
synchronization);
and
2)
also
effective
for
the
metronome
condition (i.e., dissociation).
Cadence is more Consistent for Running with a
Metronome than for Running with Motivational Music
For the metronome condition, running cadence was most
consistent, as evidenced by a significant difference in cadence
consistency between control and metronome conditions. En-
hanced cadence consistency may help to improve running
economy because energy loss associated with accelerations and
decelerations in cadence is reduced. Moreover, the runner is
forced to maintain the right cadence, that is, the cadence that was
adopted by the runner in the pre-experimental phase prior to the
exhaustion phase of the trial (see Figure 1), which is likely to be
near to the optimal running cadence for the imposed running
speed.
Recently, Bacon et al. [18] reported that a cyclic exercise was
performed more efficiently when executed synchronously with
music than when the musical tempo was set slightly slower than
the cyclical movement rate. Unlike the current study, in which we
quantified cadence consistency, Bacon et al. [18] did not register
the revolutions per minute. Hence it is unclear whether the
enhanced cycling efficiency with synchronous music was due to: 1)
differences in the consistency of the movement relative to the beat
of the music, 2) differences in movement tempo between slower,
synchronous, and faster music conditions, or 3) an interaction
between these two factors. As far as we know, the current study is
the first to demonstrate that movement consistency was signifi-
cantly affected by acoustic stimuli. Specifically, we showed that the
type of acoustic stimuli affected auditory-motor synchronization.
That is, running cadence was most consistent in the presence of a
metronome beat that was matched to the runners’ preferred
cadence at the imposed speed. In contrast, the difference in
cadence consistency between control and motivational music
conditions only tended toward significance (p = 0.095). This is
presumably due to the retrospective observation that the beat was
not as constant, apparent, and prominent throughout the song as
the beat in a sequence of metronome beeps (see Figure 4). Hence,
from a research point of view (but see also the Practical
Recommendations section), a limitation in the study may be that,
despite tempo matching, the motivational music only provided a
sub-optimal template for auditory-motor synchronization. As a
consequence, running cadence was more variable. It is important
to note, however, that this is an inherent feature of music.
Dissociation through Auditory-Motor Synchronization
Another well-known way in which motivational music may
influence running performance is by narrowing attention, specif-
ically by diverting it from running-induced feelings of fatigue and
discomfort [13,35]. Focusing attention on motivational music for
its distraction effect is a known and effective dissociation
technique, especially in athletes who prefer to be distracted from
physiological signals in shaping their performance (i.e., so-called
dissociators [36]). The idea behind dissociation is that people can
only process a limited amount of information at any given time.
Thus, dissociation induced by focusing on motivational music,
including its lyrical content, may alter the perception of effort,
Auditory-Motor Synchronization to Improve Running
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allowing runners to work harder for longer [13]. Likewise, the very
act of auditory-motor synchronization may also contribute to
dissociation because auditory-motor synchronization is known to
be an attention demanding process [3]. Peper and colleagues [37],
for example, recently employed a stimulus-response reaction-time
task to quantify the attentional costs of walking with and without
acoustic pacing. They showed that reaction times were signifi-
cantly longer with acoustic pacing, emphasizing the elevated
attentional demands for auditory-motor synchronization (see also
[38]). The same may be true for running with acoustic stimulation
with a beat that matches the participant’s preferred cadence,
regardless
of
the
motivational
quality
of
the
stimuli
(viz.
motivational music vs. metronome). This is an area of research
that deserves more attention, especially for its profound practical
implications in enhancing performance in sport, exercise, and
rehabilitation settings.
Practical Recommendations
Given that both the motivational quality of music and the beat
of acoustic stimuli appear to have an effect on running
performance, it is of practical importance to optimize both of
these aspects. Indeed, this is exactly what we did in the
motivational music and metronome conditions of the present
study. With regard to the former, following existing research
findings, we selected loud, fast, percussive music with accentuated
bass frequencies [23]. We employed the validated and objective
BMRI-2 [24] to optimize the selection of motivational music,
resulting in a Top 5 (see Table 1) based on the motivational music
preferences for high-intensity sports of a large student panel. A
limitation of this procedure is that we could not guarantee that
participants actually liked the selected music, which might have
diminished the motivational effect of the selected music. However,
we chose this procedure because it allowed us to select songs with
at least 130 bpm, thus adhering to evidence-based recommenda-
tions for motivational music (cf. [23]). Note that in previous
research, the music selection in the study of Terry et al. (online
appendix in [21]) may have been suboptimal because in both
neutral and motivational music conditions, the beats per minute of
the music were adjusted to the stride frequency of the participant
(i.e., a beat for one step per stride), which is much slower than
recommended for motivational music [23]. In contrast, in the
present study, we adjusted the beats per minute of the music to the
step frequency of the participant (i.e., a beat for both steps per
stride), resulting in a much faster beat, as recommended for
motivational music [23].
A second benefit of adjusting the tempo of the acoustic stimuli
to the cadence of the runner was that it created optimal conditions
for auditory-motor synchronization in general [3,25,39] and for
bipedal locomotion in particular [9,26,40], where the beat should
pace both footfalls per stride [26] and match the preferred cadence
[9,40]. For the metronome condition, these recommendations for
optimal auditory-motor synchronization was easily fulfilled by
creating a regular beat sequence. In contrast, in the motivational
music condition, we successfully modified the average tempo of the
song. However, this modification did not necessarily mean that the
resultant beat was constant, readily apparent, and prominent
throughout the song due to, for example, the fact that musical
intermezzos and other tempo irregularities are inherent to music
(cf. Figure 4). Thus, even though the beats per minute of the
motivational music were adjusted to match the preferred cadence
of the runner, the music still may have provided a less effective
reference for synchronization than the metronome. That is, in the
latter condition, the beat was always prominent, constant, and
readily apparent throughout the running-to-exhaustion phase of
the experiment.
Figure 4. Spectrograms of acoustic stimuli, both at 140 bpm, as indicated by the dashed white line. The ‘hotter’ the color, the more
prominent the beat. (A) Spectrogram of the metronome, showing a constant beat. (B) Spectrogram of the motivational music track ‘He’s A Pirate’ by
DJ Tie¨sto, where the tempo is not as constant, readily apparent, and prominent throughout the song as the beat in the metronome.
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0070758.g004
Auditory-Motor Synchronization to Improve Running
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Conclusions
Motivational quality of music positively influences perceived
exertion of sub-maximal running intensity as well as heart rates for
a (near-)maximal running intensity, which may enhance running
performance because it allows runners to work harder. Next to
motivational quality, the music’s beat may help runners to
maintain a consistent pace if they couple their cadence to the
prescribed tempo of the acoustic stimulus, which may enhance
running performance by helping athletes work more efficiently.
Therefore, running to motivational music with a very prominent
and consistent beat that is matched to the runner’s preferred
cadence will likely yield optimal effects because it helps elevate
physiological strain at a very high perceived exertion, while the
consistent
and
correct
cadence
induced
by
auditory-motor
synchronization helps to facilitate running economy. Motivational
music with the right beat may therefore help runners to work
harder and more efficiently, which is likely to enhance their
running performance.
Author Contributions
Conceived and designed the experiments: RB MN JK MR. Performed the
experiments: RB MN. Analyzed the data: RB MN MR. Contributed
reagents/materials/analysis tools: MR. Wrote the paper: RB MN JK MR.
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The power of auditory-motor synchronization in sports: enhancing running performance by coupling cadence with the right beats.
Bood, Robert Jan,Nijssen, Marijn,van der Kamp, John,Roerdink, Melvyn