F. I. T. Cutting Edge text

Keep it in the Background: Asynchronous Music 
The majority of empirical investigations have focused on the psychological and 
psychophysical effects of asynchronous music. Several of these investigations have examined 
responses to music of differing tempi. For example, Szabo, Small, and Leigh (1999) used 
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Piloerection is the raising of bodily hair. 

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The Role of Music 12 
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Beethoven‟s Symphony No. 7 (A major, opus 92) during a static cycling task to voluntary 
exhaustion. This piece of music is famed as an exploration of rhythm, featuring marked 
changes in tempo within movements. The researchers found that a switch from slow to fast 
tempo music yielded an ergogenic effect. The implication here is that a change of music 
tempo from slow to fast may enhance participants‟ motivation and work output, especially 
when work level plateaus or during the later stages of an exercise bout. Rendi and colleagues 
(2008) conducted a similar study using excerpts of the same Beethoven symphony applied to 
a 500 m rowing ergometer task. Participants completed three supramaximal bouts of exercise 
with slow tempo music, fast tempo music, and a no-music control. The best times were 
recorded in the fast tempo condition. There was also a significant effect for stroke rate, which 
was higher when accompanied by fast tempo music than during the other conditions. 
Interestingly, the slow tempo music also produced faster completion times relative to the 
control condition. A possible limitation of this study is that none of the participants reported 
previous use of music during training. Accordingly, the application of music may have 
elicited a novelty effect, which would diminish with repeated exposure. 
Atkinson et al. (2004) showed how the careful application of asynchronous music during 
a simulated 10 km cycle time-trial could help to regulate work output. The music was 
particularly effective in the early stages of the trial, when perceived exertion was low. The 
BMRI was administered to assess the motivational qualities of musical selections, with 
participant ratings supporting the prediction that the rhythmical components of music 
contribute more to its motivational qualities than its melodic or harmonic components. Lim, 
Atkinson, Karageorghis, and Eubank (2009) conducted a follow-up study in which they 
assessed the impact of an asynchronous music program in different half-segments of a 10 km 
cycle time-trial. Music was played either in the first or second half of the trial and 
experimental conditions were compared against a no-music control. It was hypothesized that 

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The Role of Music 13 
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music would wield greater influence on power output when introduced during the second half 
of the trial. However, results indicated the converse; the highest power output was evident in 
the early stages of the trial when music was played during the first 5 km. This suggested that 
foreknowledge of the introduction or removal of music may have affected participants‟ 
pacing strategy. The decision to provide participants with details about when music would be 
played may have introduced a confounding variable, although Lim and colleagues‟ approach 
did reflect how music is used in real-life sport settings.
Szmedra and Bacharach (1998) demonstrated that asynchronous music was associated 
with reduced heart rate, systolic blood pressure, exercise lactate, norepinephrine production, 
and RPE during treadmill exercise at 70% VO
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