A randomised crossover trial of 29 recreationally active cyclists reveals a striking dissociation between performance duration and physiological stress. Cyclists exercised at 80% peak power output and lasted 35.6 minutes with self-selected music versus 29.8 minutes in silence—a 20% improvement in endurance duration. Despite this substantial difference, researchers measured identical heart rates, blood lactate concentrations, and perceived exertion ratings at the point of exhaustion in both conditions.
Participants naturally gravitated toward music in the 120–140 beats-per-minute range, suggesting an optimal tempo preference for high-intensity cycling. The 17% increase in total work output with music underscores its performance-enhancing potential. However, the lack of difference in physiological endpoints challenges assumptions that music reduces exercise difficulty, instead pointing to a purely psychological mechanism of fatigue tolerance.
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