Monday, January 22, 2018

Why you have to choose your training music wisely



Let's get straight to the point. What do you expect from the music you listen to while you train? Do you expect it to just keep you company? Or to motivate and energize your central nervous system for you to be able to 'feel' that rush of intense emotions? If it's the first, you're doing it wrong. If it's the second, you're doing it right! I'll tell you why.

When you're training, your goal is to make gains, either in power or in size, or both. You need to listen to something that literally 'supports' that goal and builds the base for it into your brain. Your brain is the main system in your body that signals all the appropriate messages for your body to produce strength and muscle size, through hormone regulation and other vital mechanisms.

What to listen to


To be able to make your brain to send all these signals for positive gains, you have to put yourself in an environment that 'makes your brain send these signals', and that environment can be achieved semi-artificially by listening to music that makes you feel empowered. The only types of music which can trigger such a response from your brain, are the types that make you feel strong and/or aggressive, like different types of Metal music, Trap, Rap, and especially 'Epic' music. These types of music can literally increase testosterone levels through your brain's signals, while simultaneously decrease cortisol levels.

What NOT to listen to


You have to avoid listening to music which induces a chilling and/or feminine feeling, like Chillout, Pop, and any other calm and 'soft' types of music. With these types of music you will force your brain (whether you want it or not) to signal hormonal changes which will do exactly the opposite of what your goal is, decrease testosterone levels, which translates to significantly lower chances to build strength and muscle size.

The psychophysiological mechanism behind this


Your brain is the organ that makes you feel various emotions, any external cause (like music) can and will affect the way your brain works towards these emotions. There have been various studies that prove that music alters your mood and emotions, a fact that eventually triggers differences in hormonal responses, whether positive or negative, depending on the type of music. An example of such a study can be found here: Influence of music on steroid hormones and the relationship between receptor polymorphisms and musical ability: a pilot study