The workout playlist that's PROVEN to get results: Scientists analyse the beats in songs to reveal the perfect exercise tracks
By Victoria Woollaston
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- Sport psychologists analysed the most popular workout songs on Spotify
- They compared the beats per minute across various tracks and genres
- Rap and hip-hop music provides the best beats for stretching and running
- Dance music is better for strength training, while pop is best for cool down
If youre already struggling with your New Year plans to get fit, it may be because youre listening to the wrong kind of music during your workout.
Sports psychologists from London have discovered that specific genres of music are best suited to specific types of exercise, and listening to the wrong kind of track could hinder your performance.
They found that rap music provides the best beats per minute for stretching and running, while dance music is more suited to strength training.
Scroll down for the ultimate playlist
MATCHING MUSIC TO EXERCISE
The team analysed 6.7 million Spotify playlists containing the word workout in the title to compare the different beats per minute [bpm] and compile the ultimate playlist.
A persons typical stride rate while jogging or running is 150 to 190 strides per minute.
If these figures are halved it gives a range of 75 to 95 bpm the beat range most commonly used in urban music, particularly rap.
Whereas pop is perfect for slower, more repetitive-type tasks, including aerobic warm up and cool down because many pop songs 'have regular rhythmic patterns.'
Dance music is best suited to strength and weight training because of its fast, rhythmical, bass.
Whereas rock music should be avoid during cardio and high-intensity workouts because the different changes in tempo can affect a persons rhythm.
Pop music is best used during warm up and cool down, but rock music should be avoided during exercise due to frequent changes in tempo that can affect your rhythm.
The research was carried out by sports psychologist Dr Costas Karageorghis, the Music in Exercise and Sport Group at Brunel University in London and Spotify.
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The team analysed 6.7 million Spotify playlists containing the word workout in the title and compared the different beats per minute [bpm] to those used in certain workouts.
For example, a persons typical stride rate while jogging or running is 150 to 190 strides per minute.
If these figures are halved it gives a range of 75 to 95 bpm - the beat range found most commonly in urban music, particularly rap.
Many of the lyrics in rap music also 'imbue the physical energy' best suited to running, explained the researchers.
A person's typical stride rate while jogging or running is 150-190 strides per minute. If these figures are halved it gives a range of 75 to 95 bpm - the beat range most commonly used in urban music, particularly rapThis includes artists such as Rizzle Kicks, picturedPop music, from artists including Little Mix, pictured, is perfect for slower, more repetitive-type tasks, including aerobic warm up and cool down because many pop songs 'have regular rhythmic patterns'Whereas pop is perfect for slower, more repetitive-type tasks, including aerobic warm up and cool down because many pop songs 'have regular rhythmic patterns and beats.'
Dance music is best suited to strength and weight training because its fast, rhythmical, bass psyches people up before weight training sessions.
Elsewhere, Dr Karageorghis said that for maximum effect, people should use songs that remind them of their adolescence and early adulthood to make them feel youthful and fit.
Katy Perry, pictured, produces a mixture of dance and pop music making her songs perfect for repetitive strength training, claims studyHe said: A suitably motivational playlist can help to 'colour' the symptoms of exercise-related fatigue, like breathlessness and a beating heart, in such a way that they are interpreted in a more positive manner.
This means that at the point when your body is shouting stop, the music has the power to lift your mood and beckon you on.'
Celebrity trainer Joey Gonzalez added: 'During workouts, an hour-long mix of strength training and treadmill-based cardio intervals, we try to match our runs and exercises to the beat of our music.
For example, timing the treadmill sprints to the chorus of a track with a great hook, or playing a slower song with bass for incline jogs, and even matching steady consistent beats for long endurance runs are all part of our strategy.
Whereas rock music should be avoid during cardio and high-intensity workouts because the different changes in tempo can affect a persons rhythm.
Based on the findings, the researchers have compiled a playlist with song suggestions for cool down, aerobic warm up, varying levels of cardio intensity, strength training and cool down.
BRUNEL UNIVERSITY AND SPOTIFY'S ULTIMATE WORKOUT PLAYLIST
| Roar | Katy Perry | 92 | Pop/Rock | Mental preparation |
| Talk Dirty | Jason Derulo | 100 | R&B | Stretching |
| Skip To The Good Bit | Rizzle Kicks | 105 | Hip Hop/Rap | Stretching |
| Get Lucky | Daft Punk ft. Pharrel Williams | 116 | Disco / Funk | Aerobic Warm-up |
| Move | Little Mix | 120 | Pop | Aerobic Warm-up |
| Need U 100% | Duke Dumont | 124 | House | Cardio training [low intensity] |
| You Make Me | Avicii | 125 | House | Cardio training [low intensity] |
| Timber | Pitbull ft Ke$ha | 130 | Pop | Cardio training [moderate intensity] |
| Applause | Lady Gaga | 140 | Pop | Cardio training [high intensity] |
| Cant Hold Us | Macklemore & Ryan Lewis ft. Ray Dalton | 147 | Hip Hop/Rap | Cardio Training [very high intensity] |
| Happy | Pharrell Williams | 160 | Pop | Cardio training [very high intensity] |
| The Monster | Eminem ft Rihanna | 110 | Hip Hop/Rap | Strength training |
| Love Me Again | John Newman | 126 | Pop | Strength training |
| Its My Party | Jessie J | 130 | Dance/Pop | Strength training |
| Burn | Ellie Goulding | 86 | Pop | Warm down |
| Burn | Lorde | 85 | Pop | Warm down |
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The workout playlist that's PROVEN to work: Scientists reveal perfect exercise tracks
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