The beat that keeps me going

Toronto hasn’t been hit with snow (yet), but winter has started in other cities around Canada and people are starting to shovel their driveways!

What does this mean for most athletes (runners, cyclists, rowers)?  It means that cross training has begun!  For a rower, cross training is performed on the erg, tank or rowperfect.  But if you’re lucky, you can fly out to British Columbia to train on the water all year longJ. 

When training indoors, I’ve seen that it’s a common practice to listen to music.  Truthfully I don’t know how I would get through some of my long erg workouts (1 to 2 hour sessions at a time) without listening to music.  Everyone has different taste though, so I’m very lucky that my teammates and I can listen to the same type of music and feel energized by it.  In general, anything with a beat will keep my happy, but I do like it when it’s my specific taste in music.

Even when I used to train for triathlons, I would put my music on loud to help get me through my hours of training on the bike (set up indoors on a bike trainer).  Sometimes it’s hard to get motivated to train in the winter, especially in the evening because there is no sun shining through the windows and it’s already dark by the time I get home after work - I feel like I should be going to sleep already!

So my question today is…can music help performance?  I’ve never seen athletes use their ipod’s during competition. I can see how it can be distracting with breathing – I have developed cramps before from breathing to the rhythm of my music instead of the rhythm of my stroke:S  But it’s a common practice, - I do it, and I know others do it too.  So what are the effects?

I looked at some articles and found this:

-          According to an article from 2008 in the “The Time of London”, music can:

o   Distract an athlete from fatigue

o   Act as a mood altering catalyst

o   Synchronize an athlete’s rhythm

o   Act as a trigger for learning certain motions and aid with muscle memory

-          BBC News (Health) also covered this topic.  See link below (there’s also the image of a rowerJ):

 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-10767128

Here are songs that are found on my playlist:

Levels, by Avicci

C'Mon, by Tiesto ft Busta Rhymes

We're All No One, by Nervo ft Afrojack

Raise Your Weapon, by Deadmau5

So Sick, by Neyo (slower, but I like the beat)

I'm Sexy And I Know It, by LMFAO

We Found Love, Rhianna ft Calvin Harris

Calabria, by Enur ft Natasja