To run with an iPod or not with an iPod? That is the question.
And the answer is: it depends on how good you are. Julie’s Health Club reports on the very informed opinion of British sports psychologist Costas Karageorghis, who has spent the last two decades researching the performance enhancing effects of music in sport and exercise. Karageorghis’ work, Julie tells us, suggests that music can lower your perception of effort, increase endurance by as much as 15 percent and help you get into a “flow†or “zone.†It can relieve boredom, and even pain, both good things, especially for amateur runners. But Karageorghis’s research has also shown that for elite runners, those for whom concentration plays a major role in performance, music can be distraction. Julie gives us Karageorghis’ bottom line: “music is best for those who wish to become more physically active but generally find exercise to be onerous and unstimulating.†For elite athletes, however, music should be applied “very selectively.”