The power of auditory-motor synchronization in sports: enhancing running performance by coupling cadence with the right beats

Abstract

Acoustic stimuli, like music and metronomes, are often used in sports. Adjusting movement tempo to acoustic stimuli (i.e., auditory-motor synchronization) may be beneficial for sports performance. However, music also possesses motivational qualities that may further enhance performance. Our objective was to examine the relative effects of auditory-motor synchronization and the motivational impact of acoustic stimuli on running performance. To this end, 19 participants ran to exhaustion on a treadmill in 1) a control condition without acoustic stimuli, 2) a metronome condition with a sequence of beeps matching participants' cadence (synchronization), and 3) a music condition with synchronous motivational music matched to participants' cadence (synchronization+motivation). Conditions were counterbalanced and measurements were taken on separate days. As expected, time to exhaustion was significantly longer with acoustic stimuli than without. Unexpectedly, however, time to exhaustion did not differ between metronome and motivational music conditions, despite differences in motivational quality. Motivational music slightly reduced perceived exertion of sub-maximal running intensity and heart rates of (near-)maximal running intensity. The beat of the stimuli -which was most salient during the metronome condition- helped runners to maintain a consistent pace by coupling cadence to the prescribed tempo. Thus, acoustic stimuli may have enhanced running performance because runners worked harder as a result of motivational aspects (most pronounced with motivational music) and more efficiently as a result of auditory-motor synchronization (most notable with metronome beeps). These findings imply that running to motivational music with a very prominent and consistent beat matched to the runner's cadence will likely yield optimal effects because it helps to elevate physiological effort at a high perceived exertion, whereas the consistent and correct cadence induced by auditory-motor synchronization helps to optimize running economy.

Figure 1. Schematic overview of the experimental design, the experimental phases, and the corresponding timeline.

Note that control, metronome, and music conditions are performed in counterbalanced order on separate days, at least 48 h up to one week apart. TTE represents time to volitional exhaustion, which may vary across conditions.

Figure 2. TTE in seconds (A) and cadence consistency in steps/min (B) data of the exhaustion phase for control (black), metronome (dark gray), and motivational music (light gray) conditions.

Error bars represent the standard error while asterisks indicate significant differences across conditions.

Figure 3. Perceived exertion (A) and heart rate (B) data for the first, central, and final 1-minute segments of the exhaustion phase for control (black), metronome (dark gray), and motivational music (light gray) conditions.

Error bars represent the standard error. RPE and heart rate of each segment differed significantly from each other.

Figure 4. Spectrograms of acoustic stimuli, both at 140 bpm, as indicated by the dashed white line.

The ‘hotter’ the color, the more prominent the beat. (A) Spectrogram of the metronome, showing a constant beat. (B) Spectrogram of the motivational music track ‘He’s A Pirate’ by DJ Tiësto, where the tempo is not as constant, readily apparent, and prominent throughout the song as the beat in the metronome.