Does Music Affect Athletic Performance?

Whether it's a quick jog, or a steady run on a treadmill, listening to your favorite songs gets you through the workout. It seems impossible for you to exercise with nothing but your thoughts to keep you company. It has been proven that music can have positive effects on our mood, and mind. However, why does music improve our workouts? Also, what is the best type to listen to too get the best results? These are both crucial questions athletes ask in order to reach their workout goals.

  According to David-Lee Priest, music motivates you when you exercise. Depending on the type of music, it can push you to work out for a longer period of time, and at a harder rate. This results in a better workout. Plus, you burn more calories and fat. In addition, scientists now know that listening to music causes our brains to release the chemical dopamine, which is associated with pleasure. This is the same chemical that is released for food, sex, and drugs. With this in mind, music is one of the only tasks that require the attention of our entire brain. Scientists think that the combinations of these reactions in our brains are the reason why music improves our workouts. These pieces of information are beneficial towards a better exercise, but can be less helpful if you don’t know what type of music helps the best.

  Certain music can actually be better than some for working out. To figure out what type of music to listen to, you have to figure out a song’s BPM (Beats per Minute). Typically, the perfect range of BPM is 120-140, according to Costas Karageorghis, PhD, a sports psychology expert at Brunel University in London. This improves your endurance athletic performance, but the ideal BPM for a warm-up is 80-90 BPM. He also noted that songs with a BPM of higher than 140 have little to no effect on your workout. He concluded however, that listening to any type of music, regardless of BPM, is better than not listening to music altogether.

  While there are countless positive effects of listening to music while exercising, there are still a few disadvantages. For example, listening to music too loudly can cause damage to your ears, eventually leading to hearing loss. Plus, people who work out a few times a week, while athletes who are greatly in shape show little improvement from music. In the end, listening to music can help push you to run that extra mile, or do an extra rep. Even though not much is known about why we value music as much as we do, it is a crucial part of staying in shape, and is a great motivational tool.

 

 

NFL Scandals: The Growing Problem

The last few weeks have been nothing but a living nightmare for the NFL. Everything from Ray Rice's exposed elevator video, to Adrian Peterson's child abuse scandal has come to light. We have seen for the first time what happens behind closed doors for some of the best athletes in the world. In what seems like the blink of an eye, one of North America's best franchises has become a laughing stock, and is losing money from countless sponsors. Let's see how one of the most recognized products in the world is quickly losing its all-star status.

  The whole debacle started on September 8th, when TMZ Sports released a video which proved why Ray Rice dragged his then fiancé out of the elevator while she was unconious. The public's worst fear was true; Ray Rice had punched her in the face twice, the second causing her to hit her head on a railing, causing her to be knocked out. Originally, Roger Goodell issued a two game suspension for this. Before the video was released, there was already outrage about the lack of punishment. However, the outcry was even worse when the video was made public. The day the video was released, the Baltimore Ravens terminated their contract with Ray Rice, cutting him from the team. The NFL quickly followed suit, and suspended him indefinitely.NFL fans wanted answers, but Goodell claimed no one in the NFL "to my knowledge" had seen the tape he told a reporter. A few days later, it was discovered that someone in the NFL had seen the tape, with a voicemail from the recipient included. It lasted twelve seconds, with a startling quote. She said "You're right. It's terrible." By this point, it seemed that the entire nation was calling for Goodell's head. To make things worse, only a few days later, arguably one of the best running backs of all time had been charged with child abuse.

  On September 11th, Adrian Peterson was absent from Vikings practice. When asked about their face of the franchise's absence, the head coach Mike Zimmer simply called it a "veteran's day off." On September 12^th, he is indicted for reckless or negligent injury to a child in Montgomery County, Texas. The next day, Adrian Peterson turned himself into authorities in Montgomery County, and is later released on fifteen thousand dollar bail. Authorities reveal that he disciplined his child when he pushed his sibling off of a motorcycle game. Peterson then grabbed a tree branch, removed the leaves, and mercifully whipped the boy. Peterson referred to the branch as a “switch.” When the mother took him into the doctor’s office for a check-up, the doctor noticed the injuries. The young child had about fifteen lashes up and down his body, including on his legs and groin. On the Wednesday before their matchup with the New England Patriots, the Vikings deactivated Peterson. They originally reactivated him so he could practice with the team for their next week’s game with the New Orleans Saints, but later was placed on the exempt list. Now, there is an alleged report of abuse of another one of his children. Here, he said that the child hit his head on a car seat, rather than him hitting him. In result of this incident, Radisson Hotels have suspended their limited contract with the Vikings.

  The NFL has a lot on their plate with these scandals, with more coming out almost every day. Most of the country believes that Rodger Goodell’s lack of action towards domestic violence in the NFL should be enough for his termination from Commissioner. Whatever happens to Goodell, it will take a long time before fans fully embrace the NFL and its regulations. However, there are still those select few who still ware Rice’s and Peterson’s jerseys, and some go as far as parading the very weapon that was used to beat a child around at games. On a final note, whether you think Goodell should be fired or not, we must admit one thing; the NFL has a lot to do before it can win back their fans.