The Workout Playlist That Will Make You Faster and Stronger

Find out how listening to different types of music can make you perform better during your workout—and during the rest of your day, as well.

By Corrie Pikul

 

What to Play for Your Most Dreaded Workout

Anyone who's exercised within earshot of a Lady Gaga song knows that listening to familiar music boosts feelings of happiness and energy while diminishing tension, depression and anger. For the record, this has also been confirmed in extensive research by Costas Karageorghis, PhD, a professor at Brunel University in London and a co-author of Inside Sport Psychology. Specifically, Karageorghis has found that it can improve how you feel by up to 15 percent during, say, a treadmill run. During super-challenging workouts, listening to your favorite songs can alter the way the brain interprets symptoms of fatigue, found Karageorghis, so you're more likely to stick it out.