Music won't banish the burn of HIIT

Study shows the role and limits of music during all-out exercise

Music motivates but doesn't help when you 'hiit' the pain barrier

It's hailed as a 'magic bullet' for heart health and metabolism, helping lower the risk of conditions such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes and stroke.

The short, intense bursts of exercise, followed by brief recovery periods, raise the heart rate to high levels, making muscles burn more calories than walking, swimming or weight training.

It may be a time-efficient way to work out, but high-intensity interval training (HIIT) can be tough and often rather painful.

So could listening to a specially designed playlist make HIIT nicer to do and less painful?

While motivation gets a boost of about 10%, music does nothing to downplay the discomfort these workouts can bring. That's the finding from a study just out in top-ranked journal, Psychology of Sport and Exercise.

This challenges the wide belief that music can make gruelling exercise more bearable, said Prof Costas Karageorghis at Brunel University London. "Music helps to keep you going, but doesn't make HIIT feel any easier," he noted, suggesting that while songs can get you 'in the zone', they can't erase the sensation of the effort that is invested.

Researchers studied 28 people in a demanding HIIT workout on a stationary bike, switching between intense pedalling and short active recovery periods (low-intensity pedalling). They tried four set-ups: fast music during exercise with medium tempo during recovery, fast music during exercise with no music during recovery, no music during exercise with medium-tempo music during recovery, and no music at all. Songs like Miley Cyrus's Flowers played during active recovery, while Måneskin's Beggin' pumped during intense all-out bursts.

Going on past research, the team expected the music to have some psychological benefits in the second half of each six-stage HIIT protocol -when it gets really punishing. They thought playing music during the recovery phases - something called respite-active music - would lead to better emotional responses and make the exercise feel easier compared with recovering in silence.

Results showed that while music during exercise and recovery significantly boosted motivation, it didn't reduce physical discomfort, suggesting tunes help mental staying power, even when you push your physical limits and your lungs are burning.

People clearly felt more motivated and energised when fast-tempo tunes played during intense exercise and medium-tempo music played during recovery, compared with working out in silence.

Curiously, when fast music played only during the high-intensity parts of the workout, people's heart rates fluctuated less over the course of the HIIT workout. This suggests their bodies were under more stress when the music was stopped for the active recovery periods.

The results tie into what scientists call the 'peak-end rule,' which suggests people largely judge an experience by how they felt when it got most intense (the peak) and at the end. With exercise, even if the overall workout feels tough, if there are emotional high points at the peak and end, people are more likely to view the session positively and so stick to it long term.

For people working out, Prof Karageorghis said: "If HIIT feels really unpleasant, even after weeks of classes, consider lower-intensity and longer-duration workouts, for example going for a gentle 30-minute swim, because you're far more likely to stick to these.

"Our findings showed that regardless of whether music was used or not, the HIIT workout was perceived as generally unpleasant and painful. The saving grace is that using music throughout can elevate your motivation levels in the moment by around 10%."

What's HIIT on a bike?

Indoor cycling HIIT sessions are all about short, intense bursts of pedalling, followed by quick recovery periods. You might do a maximum-effort sprint for 60 seconds, then catch your breath with a 75-second easy spin. Work-to-rest ratios can vary and sessions can be as short as 4 minutes or as long as 30.

HIIT on a bike is a way to fit in a high-calorie burn without spending ages in the gym. It boosts cardiovascular fitness and strengthens your legs and core, while workouts stay short but extremely intense.

To dial things up, adding music, interval apps, or doing a virtual class can boost motivation and make sessions a bit more bearable.

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