Songs are the perfect ally of millions of Italians who train in the gym every month. But What is the best music for training? And what characteristics do songs have that can positively influence training? Is there the perfect workout music that can improve performance?
The best music for training (according to science)
Gensan, a historic Pisa company specializing in sports supplements, has created one in-depth study of over 1000 of the most loved songs in the gym to identify the ideal training music according to science.
THE RESEARCH – AN IN-DEPTH SCIENTIFIC ANALYSIS OF 1,132 SONGS
The analysis work started from collection of 22 workout playlistsselected among the most popular on Spotify, in Italy and internationally, for a total of 1,132 songs examined.
Using the Spotify API, they were mapped the 13 audio characteristics of all 1,132 songs. To identify the ideal song model, the data from all the songs were aggregated and the scores calculated taking into account the following characteristics:
Danceability: How suitable a song is for dancing.
Emotional charge: The positivity conveyed by a song.
Intensity: The measure of intensity and activity in music.
Spoken content index: Detection of the presence of spoken words in a song.
Sounds coming from the audience: Detection of the presence of an audience in the track.
Acoustics: The measure of how acoustic or non-electronic a song is.
By analyzing the audio profiles, standardizing the values and calculating the averages, it was outlined with scientific rigor what it takes for a song to be perfectly suitable for training.
INTENSITY, DANCEABILITY AND EMOTIONAL CHARGE – THE 3 PREDOMINANT CHARACTERISTICS IN A TRAINING SONG
The perfect song for the workout requires first of all high energy and to be fit for dancing, with a strong and regular rhythm.
The perfect workout tune is geared towards the more joyful and positive side of the scale. This suggests that songs recorded in the studio are more suitable for training than, for example, a recording of a live concert.
Finally, the typical characteristics of a workout track reveal that the perfect song is unlikely to be acoustic, with a low score of around 10 in this category.
THE IDEAL PLAYLIST FOR THE GYM – [1 ora e 18 minuti di pura energia e motivazione]
Based on the scientifically identified “perfect song” model, Gensan has also drawn up the ideal playlist to best tackle the most difficult exercises in the gym.
The playlist, containing the best 25 songs among the 1,132 analyzed, is developed following a precise order to adapt to a typical training session. It starts with songs perfect for warming up, then moves on to melodies ideal for intense training and ends with a couple of more “relaxing” tracks for the cool-down phase.
In the graph below, you can see how the 25 songs stack up against the ideal workout tune.
To view the results, the radar graph of the ideal song for training was overlaid with those of the top 25 songs most similar to the ideal profile.
“The link between music and physical exercise has been the subject of scientific studies for some time aimed at underlining the role of music in positively influencing the progress of a training session” – comments Edoardo Di Martino, CEO of Gensan. “Through this in-depth study we wanted not only to understand what were the specific characteristics that made the songs “ideal” for a training session, but also to offer Italians a practical tool to motivate them in their workouts. The ideal playlist is available to the public on Spotify and we hope it will motivate and energize thousands of Italians in their training sessions in 2024.”
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Data Source:
The analysis work started from the collection of 22 training playlists, selected among the most popular (by number of subscribers) on Spotify, in Italy and internationally, for a total of 1,132 songs examined. The Spotify API was used to collect data on various musical characteristics for a set of songs. These characteristics include danceability, positivity, energy, speechiness, liveliness and acoustics, 6 of the 13 characteristics available from Spotify’s web API. The selection of these characteristics was made based on considerations outlined in “What makes a song enjoyable?”.
READ ALSO: This is why music encourages you to do sports
Photo by juan pablo rodriguez / Alexander Redl
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2024-01-14 14:02:18
#music #training #science
