Fast beats make for better running

It might just be time to update your running music to include faster tunes.

Research from Brunel University in London, England is proving that working out with music can improve endurance and lessen runners’ impressions of physical exertion.

The study, led by Dr. Costas Karageorghis, took place over ten years. The team mapped the effects of tempo on athletes’ workouts. The conclusions are that working out to music does increase fitness, but there’s more than just that.

Music reduces the impression of over-exertion by 12 percent and increases endurance by 15 percent, say the researchers. It also improves the effects of the exercise by 15 percent. Fast music is apparently better than chill tunes.

Dr. Karageorghis has studied the relationship between music and athletic performance for some time. He’s a consultant of Run to the Beat, an event where scientifically -elected music is played at half-marathon races in London.