Impact of Two Methods of Listening to Music During Exercise on Perceived Exertion and Overall Physical Activity

Status

Completed

Phases

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT00804700

Enrollment

Registered

2008-12-09

Start date

2008-12-31

Completion date

2009-06-30

Last updated

2010-04-23

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Sedentary Lifestyle

Keywords

synchronous, exercise, music, heartbeat, tunes

Brief summary

The purpose of the study is to compare two different methods of listening to music while performing aerobic exercise: synchronous music listening vs. asynchronous music listening. Synchronous music listening while exercising is a learned activity where the participant moves his or her body in synchrony with the beat of the music, similar to dancing or to participating in a group exercise (aerobics) class. Our hypothesis is that synchronous music listening reduces the level of perceived exertion to the exercise and motivates the subject to exercise more often. This study randomly assigns 46 subjects, age 20-55 years old to either a control group of listening to their own favorite music in an asynchronous fashion or to an intervention group of listening to prepared music in a synchronous fashion over a six week period.

Interventions

BEHAVIORALActive teaching in synchronous listening to music while exercising

Subjects will be instructed to exercise while listening to four audio tutorials that are stored on their MP-3 player. These tutorials guide the subject on how to synchronize his or her body movements to the beat of the music.

Study design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

PARALLEL

Primary purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

20 Years to 55 Years

Healthy volunteers

Yes

Inclusion criteria

* Adult employees of Georgetown University (age 20-55) who listen to music while exercising.

Exclusion criteria

: * A major medical condition that would prevent the participant from undertaking regular exercise * The use of beta blocker medication * Participation in varsity sports

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
Change in Borg Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE) from baseline to final test at 6 weeks intervention	6 weeks

Secondary

Measure	Time frame
Difference in exercise-related energy expenditure over six weeks between to intervention and control groups	6 weeks

Countries

United States

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026