Many people including athletes and those who jog for health and recreational reasons are often in a dilemma on whether to give priority to the benefits of music while running, or the need to be aware of what’s going on in their surroundings. Many blogs and fitness articles recommend running without earphones blasting music into your ears, more so when running or jogging on busy streets and highways. Their argument is, having earphones on while running will block all the sounds coming from the surroundings thus increase the chances of accidents occurring because the runners will not hear and can’t therefore respond to avoid them. However, new earphone technologies have a remedy for this problem. They allow runners to both listen to music while comfortably hearing all other sounds coming from their surroundings, the music will be heard as if it is in the background leaving the runner completely aware of his/her surroundings. Listening to music while running has several benefits, these include:
Music increases concentration- While running with the music on, one will have no other distractions or worries. He/she will be focused on achieving his/her goal for the run, therefore run faster or longer than if he/she had some things racing through his/her mind. The focus gives a runner the psychological strength to bear the full length of the run and the ability to achieve the time goals for the run. Therefore, music is very important more so to professional runners who are out to win competitions and setting running records.
Lowers perception of effort- When running, training or doing any kind of physical activity, music will make one less conscious of the effort he/she is putting and thus remove the psychological feel of fatigue. With music on, a runner can run several miles without realizing he/she has gone that far therefore it will not occur to his/her mind that he/she should take a break or call it a day. Perceiving low effort on the part of a professional runner will make him or her up his/her speed thus becoming more competitive professionally.
Provides stimulus- Listening to high tempo music will make an athlete run faster. Studies show runners who like listening to music while training, tend to synchronize their running with the tempo of the music they’re listening to. Therefore, professional athletes can raise their speeds by consistently listening to high tempo music while training which will in the long run acclimatize their bodies to running faster and for longer.
Gives a positive feel about running- Listening to music while running is known to improve the attitudes of people towards running. This is most evident among those who jog to keep fit. Many fat people, who are advised to run so as to keep fit find running a tiring and stressful activity and thus develop a negative attitude towards it. Music makes running feel easier and more enjoyable. It also removes the idea of it being stressful from the mind, thus fat people can always look forward to it.
